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Saturday, December 22, 2007

holy shite

another referral from feministing

i am at a loss here. not only did they commit a heinous act, it sounds like they have NO IDEA WHAT THEY DID WAS BEYOND WRONG. they wanted her to 'take one for the team'??????

six or seven other men standing around and not doing a THING? some of those men must have mothers and wives and girlfriends and sisters and aunts. would they want the women in THEIR lives to be forcibly held down and have her underwear chopped off with a knife? i just don't understand. i don't

2 arrested after woman's underwear cut off in bar 'joke'
By Paul Walsh, Star Tribune
Two men thought it was just a joke - cutting off a woman's underwear as other men in the bar laughed and the bartender turned down her plea to come to her rescue, authorities allege.
Now, the two are facing years in prison if convicted.
Michael S. Puhalla, 39, and Russell J. Baumgardner, 40, are accused of holding down a woman against the bar in Sartell, Minn., and cutting off her underwear with a pocketknife and placing it on a fan in the bar.
They were charged Wednesday in Stearns County with second-degree sexual assault with a dangerous weapon and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in the incident Sunday.








Puhalla, when questioned by police, said that he and Baumgardner were joking around when the topic of underwear came up. Puhalla, referring to the incident, said it was time for the woman "to take one for the team."


these people are TERRORISTS

Contractor Opens Up About Abortion Protesters

hat tip to feministing for the link to the video

THEY ARE TERRORISING WHOLE NEIGHBORHOODS WITH PICTURES NO THREE YEAR OLDS SHOULD SEE. THEY ARE TERRORISING FAMILIES WHO ARE DOING THEIR JOBS (CONTRACTORS, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS). THEY ARE TERRORISTS AND WE SHOULD BE PROTECTED FROM THEM

the nutmeg grater: i had surgery a few years back#links#links

the nutmeg grater: i had surgery a few years back#links#links

this is NOT right

it's all shite. i don't have a complaint against someone in the service wanting to worship or wanting to worship ON BASE. i DO have a giant complaint about published materials including this VERY frightening video (click the link to see it) FLAUNTING ONLY a christian based evangelical type of worship that will 'save your life AND your soul. it would appear from this video the air force academy ONLY exists to promote evangelical christianity. again, it's just plain WRONG
Evangelical video shows cadets pressured to be missionaries
Katie Baker
A video made by Campus Crusade for Christ, a Christian ministry group, shows Air Force Academy cadets being pressured to participate in religious activities and become "government paid missionaries when they leave."
Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), which released the video this week,
says the video is "absolutely out of control."
"You cannot engage the U.S. government to propel your religion," said Weinstein.
The video, filmed in the summer of 2002, opens with tranquil shots of "Colorado's most frequently visited man-made attraction." The unnamed narrator describes the chapel in detail, which "resembles a formation of fighter jets shooting into the sky."
While the narrator says that students receive a "well-rounded education" at the Academy, the video focuses mainly on how stressful the environment is and not so subtly suggests that cadets can find solace in religion. ...........

i've written about this before

and i'll continue to write about it.

i have been fingerprinted for work. they're on file somewhere (as a matter of fact, i was fingerprinted in kindergarten. i don't know why. we're talking WAYYYYYYYYYYYY back in the day. there were NO amber alerts. it wasn't for that reason. odd, no?). there was a reason i was fingerprinted for work (i used to sign checks. BIG checks. that was my OLD department. i don't sign checks now). i consented. i KNOW about it.

i'm a law abiding citizen. i pay my taxes (and i really don't cheat). i don't steal. i don't own a gun nor do i want to. i don't beat any one up (although i must admit the thought has crossed my mind from time to time). i don't play loud music in my house OR my car (sometimes i do crank it up but never where anyone can be annoyed by it). i come to a full stop at stop signs (yes, even at 3 am when i am usually leaving for work). i drive the speed limit (well, ok, i TRY to drive the speed limit). i am polite and i MEAN it. i say excuse me (which, i think is something LACKING in our country. not enough say EXCUSE ME. that is a whole other story) and please and thank you. i hold the door for the person in back of me (ah, we relocated to our new building for work. we have wickedly high tech revolving doors at a couple of the entrances. i'll talk about them sometime too). i apologize if i accidentally let a door close on someone or cut across their path or whatever.

i am NOT a criminal. i am NOT a terrorist. i do NOT want secret organizations in the united states having a pattern of how i walk or knowing who i email or talk to on the phone (that's easy - not too many people i HATE HATE HATE the phone). i don't want to be spied on by my OWN country.

FBI Prepares Vast Database Of Biometrics
$1 Billion Project to Include Images of Irises and Faces


By Ellen Nakashima Washington Post Staff Writer
CLARKSBURG, W. Va. -- The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.
Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law. ........

Friday, December 21, 2007

chris,




i love you dearly but there is NO need for this. it's just WRONG

(how often DO you go snowboarding?)


Burton teamed up with the tech gurus at Motorola® to create the world's pinnacle wearable communication and entertainment system.
This breakthrough Bluetooth Stereo technology creates a seamless communication link with Bluetooth-compatible mobile phones. Bluetooth Stereo even allows you to stream downloaded music wirelessly from your phone to your jacket. No music phone, no worries – the jacket comes with an iPod®-compatible cord.
Built-in DJ-style speakers in the hood, or the integrated headphone jack, let you crank up the music and pick up phone calls without ever taking off your gloves or unzipping any pockets.

hmmmmmm

fixing trains AND table dancing? now THAT'S a reneissance man woman BOT

Russian railways seek help from dancing robots
Russian railways want tiny robots to replace humans in difficult maintenance work, and they want Russian-made androids that can dance and talk.
Prototypes of tested Russian robots "surpass foreign-produced robots with their technical characteristics," according to a statement from Russian railways on Thursday...........


.............Russian television on Thursday showed the robots dancing on tables in front of amazed members of the public. One robot said "Hello" and a few words on its capabilities. ........

makes ya wanna go

w t f ?????????????????????

IRS paid $188,000 for $38,000 clerk
IRS Paid Contractor $188,000 to Provide $38,000 Clerk

JIM ABRAMSAP News
The Internal Revenue Service paid a contractor $188,000 to provide one person to do clerical work over 11 months
The contract was included as one example of financial waste in a government report Thursday on the tax agency's involvement in a new program ordered by President Bush in 2004 to develop more secure ID cards for federal workers.
The Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration said the IRS also needlessly spent almost $2 million on a computer security system that the tax agency doesn't plan using at this time.
The IRS was responsible for developing and implementing the program for providing more secure identification cards to some 150,000 employees at the Treasury Department. The projected cost of the Treasury program was put at $421 million over 14 years.............

tell the truth?

we can't handle the truth! apparently if you DO tell the truth, you get kicked in the 'junk'

(oh i MUST add this now - THE US DOES NOT TORTURE [yeah right])
CIA Seeks Investigation Of Ex-Officer's Claims
Waterboarding Statements Raise Concern


CIA Seeks Investigation Of Ex-Officer's Claims
Waterboarding Statements Raise Concern

The CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate whether a former agency officer illegally disclosed classified information in describing the capture and waterboarding of an al-Qaeda terrorism suspect, officials said yesterday.
In interviews last week with The Washington Post and other news organizations, former CIA officer John Kiriakou discussed details of the capture of Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein alleging that he resisted cooperating with interrogators until he was subjected to waterboarding, which makes a captive believe he is being drowned. ........

Thursday, December 20, 2007

please at the VERY LEAST

we must protect and help ALL of our men and women serving. there should never again be another Pvt. 1st Class Jason Scheuerman. it is our duty and responsiblity to care for ALL of our service people AND veterans too.

this is a wicked sad story. i am sorry for this loss (as well as every other one)

AP Special Report: Soldier Who Killed Himself in Iraq Had Been Ignored and Mistreated
SANFORD, N.C. -- Pvt. 1st Class Jason Scheuerman nailed a suicide note to his barracks closet in Iraq, stepped inside and shot himself.“Maybe finaly I can get some peace,” said the 20-year-old, misspelling “finally” but writing in a neat hand.His parents didn’t find out about the note for well over a year, and only then when it showed up in a government envelope in his father’s rural North Carolina mailbox.The one-page missive was among hundreds of pages of documents the soldier’s family obtained and shared with The Associated Press after battling a military bureaucracy they feel didn’t want to answer their questions, especially this: Why did Jason Scheuerman have to die?What the soldier’s father, Chris, would learn about his son’s final days would lead the retired Special Forces commando, who teaches at Fort Bragg, to take on the very institution he’s spent his life serving — and ultimately prompt an investigation by the Army Inspector General’s office.The documents, obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests filed by Chris Scheuerman, reveal a troubled soldier kept in Iraq despite repeated signs he was going to kill himself, including placing the muzzle of his weapon in his mouth multiple times................

just don't let the good ol' boys

and grrrls from blackwater near 'em (see a couple of postings ago where blackwater blew away a dog belonging to the nyt)

US troops in Iraq to get some doggie love
The US army will for the first time send skilled therapy dogs to Iraq to help comfort traumatized soldiers struggling to overcome mental health problems.
Black labrador retrievers, Boe and Budge, who have been in training for months, will be stationed with the Army's combat stress units in the Iraqi towns of Tikrit and Mosul to provide "emotional comfort" to the troops.
The two dogs were given to the 85th Medical Detachment by America's VetDogs, a subsidary of the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, which provides dogs to veterans.
"Dogs have been the unsung heroes of our war efforts. Bringing therapy dogs into
Iraq will take dogs to the next level on the battlefield," said Major Stacie Caswell, the commander of the 85th.
"The therapy dogs will be another method that our Combat Stress teams can use to break down mental health stigma -- to assist soldiers so that when they go home 'Iraq is not on their backs.'"............

how many times

does this have to be printed (in little headlines, off of front pages, NOT on the front pages of the nyt or wapo or whatever) for us to finally (well not US, i say it out loud. i guess by us i mean king george and his court AND the bulk of the american peeps) say al qaeda is full of saudis? the 9/11 terrorists (most of them) were trained in saudi arabia. saudi arabia not only doesn't allow women to drive OR HAVE SURGERY WITHOUT THEIR HUSBAND'S PERMISSION but JAILS AND PUNISHES FEMALE VICTIMS OF RAPE? why did we attack iraq? why aren't we making king george AND his buds in places like saudi arabia accountable? why are WE suffering? why are our men and women dying? why did we allow millions of iraqis to be displaced? why did we systematically destroy their country? why are we allowing them to be killed and tortured? WE DID ALL OF THIS. WE DID

yet we are turning a blind eye and allowing all of this shite to continue

Saudis biggest group of al Qaeda Iraq fighters-study
By Kristin Roberts
WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Most al Qaeda fighters in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia and Libya and many are university-aged students, said a study released on Wednesday by researchers at the U.S. Army's West Point military academy.
The study was based on 606 personnel records collected by al Qaeda in Iraq and captured by coalition troops in October. It includes data on fighters who entered Iraq, largely through Syria, between August 2006 and August 2007.
The researchers at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center found that 41 percent of the fighters were Saudi nationals.
Libyan nationals accounted for the second largest group entering Iraq in that time period with about 19 percent of the total, followed by Syrians and Yemenis each at 8 percent, Algerians with 7 percent and Moroccans at 6 percent...........

is this the REAL

DON'T ASK - DON'T TELL???

Mukasey Limits Agency's Contacts With White House

By Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writer
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey issued new restrictions yesterday on contacts between Justice Department and White House officials regarding ongoing criminal or civil investigations, implementing his first major policy revision since taking office on Nov. 9.
Mukasey had promised to institute new guidelines in the wake of the U.S. attorney firings scandal, in which lawmakers and some prosecutors alleged that White House political aides and other officials were inappropriately informed about details of criminal or civil probes. .........

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

am i on crack?

i swear i am NOT on crack.

how come i NEVER KNEW ABOUT THIS? i swear i never did.

i accidently JUST came across this.

i have to go now - i need some crack

(it's a man's world, BUT it wouldn't be nothin' NOTHIN' without a woman or a grrrrrrrrrrllllllll)


bbc you made the right decision

it's part of the song. it's IN CONTEXT. if you LISTEN to the song you'll see that. they're drunk, they're fighting. i don't like the words but it fits the song
it is my fourth favorite christmas song of all time.

my third is: the first noel by crash test dummies
my second is; The Hallelujah Chorus by the roches
my first is: the christians and the pagans by dar williams (a sure way to get me to cry is to play this OR talk about the movie field of dreams OR the wizard of oz OR.....)

Radio 1 backs down in Pogues row

BBC Radio 1 has said it will allow the Pogues' Fairytale of New York to be played on the station uncut, after criticism of a decision to censor it.
The words "slut" and "faggot" had been dubbed out from the 20-year-old festive hit by station executives.
But after a day of criticism from listeners, the band, and the mother of singer Kirsty MacColl, they changed their minds.
Controller Andy Parfitt said the original decision was "wrong".
The BBC had said that an edited version would be played because "some members of the audience might find it offensive". .........

(i miss you kristy mccoll)







wicked cool

internet radio station (FOR FREE) pandora

you can create your own 'stations'. i typed in van morrison and i'm getting a nice bunch of tunes. everything from of course van to otis redding and an occasional stones tune, allman brothers, fiona apple, bob dylan (stuck inside of mobile is playing RIGHT NOW) and on and on. when something comes on you don' t like (let's say u2, whom i dislike with my whole heart and soul, you can nix the tune). give it a try, really!

(update: hey rick, i just created a buffy station! piney wood hills just came up. we'll see who else and what else plays)

................The Music Genome Project®
On January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.
Together we set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like.
Since we started back in 2000, we've carefully listened to the songs of tens of thousands of different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time. This work continues each and every day as we endeavor to include all the great new stuff coming out of studios, clubs and garages around the world.
It has been quite an adventure, you could say a little crazy - but now that we've created this extraordinary collection of music analysis, we think we can help be your guide as you explore your favorite parts of the music universe.
We hope you enjoy the journey.
Tim Westergren

Founder
The Music Genome Project ...................

et tu democratic senators?

yup! (remember this - i'm pissed AND i vote)
Iraq Funds Approved In Senate Budget Bill
Antiwar Democrats Rebuffed in 70-25 Vote


By Paul Kane and Jonathan Weisman Washington Post Staff Writers
The Senate last night approved a $555 billion omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, shortly after bowing to President Bush's demand for $70 billion in unrestricted funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Democrats had vowed only weeks ago to withhold any Iraq-specific money unless strict timelines for troop withdrawal were established, but they instead chose, on a 70 to 25 vote, to remove what appeared to be the final obstacle to sending the spending bill to the White House, where Bush has indicated he will sign it. Senators then passed the omnibus bill, 76 to 17. ...

i guess shooting people isn't good enough

now those f**kers are shooting dogs (a dog that belonged to the nyt)

Guards Shoot Dog at Baghdad Bureau
By Maria Newman

Investigators from the State Department have made two visits to The New York Times’s news bureau in Baghdad as they look into the shooting of one of the bureau’s dogs by Blackwater bodyguards last week.
Employees of the bureau said that the Blackwater guards shot the dog, named Hentish, during a search of the Times compound for explosives. A security team was conducting the search ahead of a visit by an American diplomat.
Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for Blackwater, the private security firm, told
Reuters that the dog had attacked one of Blackwater’s bomb-sniffing dogs.
“The K-9 handler made several unsuccessful attempts to get the dog to retreat, including placing himself between the dogs,” she said in an e-mail to Reuters. “When those efforts failed, the K-9 handler unfortunately was forced to use a pistol to protect the company’s K-9 and himself.” ...........

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

QUESTION: how does one lose SIX GARBAGE TRUCKS?

answer: AX THE US ARMY

US Army loses another 12,000 guns and trucks

IAN BRUCE, Defence Correspondent
The US military in Iraq has lost track of another 12,000 weapons, including more than 800 machine-guns, and everything from 2100 new electricity generators to half a dozen garbage trucks...........







.........Six modern garbage trucks from a delivery of 18 on Baghdad's rubbish-strewn streets could not be located. They were valued at £350,000.
The auditors said that the Multi-National Security Command Iraq could not give reasonable assurance that money for the Iraqi forces was being used properly and properly protected from "waste and mismanagement"..............


if i had a son (or daughter)




and they were in a bit of trouble, i think i'd try to help them out. HOWEVER if it was a moral matter or an over the top legal matter or something of real importance, i'd NOT deny my child's wrongdoing. it would be important to me for my child to acknowledge their wrongdoing and PAY for it (not necessarily by money but in some form or another). then again, i don't think i could EVER HAVE A CHILD WHO HUNG A DOG (and let's say i DID have a child who was capable of hanging a dog. I WOULD NEVER LET HIM OR HER OFF. I'D MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTOOD WHAT THEY DID WAS WRONG, I'D FIND OUT WHY THEY DID IT. I'D MAKE THEM ACCOUNTABLE AND I'D MAKE THEM PAY)









By Michael Isikoff and Holly Bailey NEWSWEEK



As Mike Huckabee gains in the polls, the former Arkansas governor is finding that his record in office is getting more scrutiny. One issue likely to get attention is his handling of a sensitive family matter: allegations that one of his sons was involved in the hanging of a stray dog at a Boy Scout camp in 1998. The incident led to the dismissal of David Huckabee, then 17, from his job as a counselor at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, Ark. It also prompted the local prosecuting attorney— bombarded with complaints generated by a national animal-rights group—to write a letter to the Arkansas state police seeking help investigating whether David and another teenager had violated state animal-cruelty laws. The state police never granted the request, and no charges were ever filed. But John Bailey, then the director of Arkansas's state police, tells NEWSWEEK that Governor Huckabee's chief of staff and personal lawyer both leaned on him to write a letter officially denying the local prosecutor's request. .............




picture: Pulaski County Sheriff-AP
Dogged: An incident involving his son David could hurt Huckabee


UPDATE: shoot, this is TOO GOOD to be true. i JUST now came across this (after i posted the above). Mike Huckabee: Playing Both Sides of the Pulpit

By David Corn

..............The book, Kids Who Kill: Confronting Our Culture of Violence, was hardly a call to come together. Huckabee wrote it with George Grant in response to the March 24, 1998, school shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The book was published in early June of that year, its cover featuring a blurry photograph of a young boy pointing a gun at the reader.
In Kids Who Kill, Huckabee argued that school shootings were the product of a society in decline, a decline marked (and caused) by abortion, pornography, media violence, out-of-wedlock sex, divorce, drug use, and, of course, homosexuality. Huckabee and his coauthor bemoaned the "demoralization of America," observing, "Despite all our prosperity, pomp, and power, the vaunted American experiment in liberty seems to be disintegrating before our very eyes." Huckabee, who was governor at the time and a well-known social conservative, blasted away at those whom he held responsible for America's ills, and he took a rather tough stand against government social programs and their advocates. In lamenting the "cultural conflicts" besetting the country, he wrote............
and then when i googled david huckabee - i found THIS:

HEY MIKEY HAS ANYONE TOLD YOU KIDS WHO GROW UP TO KILL PEOPLE USUALLY KILLED ANIMALS AS KIDS?
oh and if you're wondering HOW two 17 or 18 year old boy scouts killed that dog
.............I believe the following is the faxed description of the “particular process.” It’s on a reputable site, Utopia Animal Rescue, which is run by, of all people, Kinky Freidman:
(Miller County, Arkansas) Two boy scout counselors, 17 year old Clayton Frady and 18 year old David litickabee, the son of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, have admitted to catching a stray dog during their summer session at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, AR, and hanging the dog by his neck, slitting his throat and stoning him to death.
Why do I believe that this post came from the fax? Because “litickabee” for “Huckabee” is exactly the kind of error you’d get if you ran a fax through your scanner to get it into your computer for posting.
Now, that’s a pretty gruesome “particular process.” Could it be true? Again, the adults don’t give details. Frady’s father says:
… the younger Frady helped “put it out of its misery.”
But that doesn’t say how Huckabee and Frady did it. However, in our earlier thread on
killing dogs, consensus seemed to be that at least in the country dogs, when “put out of their misery,” are generally shot, if no animal control officer is available.
Now, for whatever reason, Huckabee and Frady didn’t decide to call animal control (or any of the 65 staff members at the Camp), and it’s unlikely they were carrying guns. (There’s no indication that they were getting merit badges in
rifle or shotgun shooting that day.)
More plausibly, Huckabee and Fraly could simply have used the tools that came to hand: Their (Boy Scout) knives, for the throat-slitting; a (Boy Scout) belt or rope, for the hanging; and surface rocks, for the stoning. So there you are. Frankly, when I started this post, I thought that the Utopia Animal Rescue post just had to be over the top, but as soon as you ask yourself How did they kill the dog with no adult supervision and no gun, it becomes much, much more plausible.
No, I wouldn’t call their actions “kind.”........................

we have two senators in connecticut

a halfway (well a little bit more than halfway) decent one, chris dodd and of course the OTHER one, da liebs (who is a steamin' pile)
(now if all of 'em, including dodd can grow a set an filibuster against ALL of king george's crap, THEN we'd have some representation)

Dodd's filibuster threat scuttles immunity in Senate, for now
Nick Juliano
Senate to return to controversial FISA update after new year
After nearly 10 hours of discussion Monday, the Senate decided to delay a final vote on a controversial domestic spying bill until the new year, under the threat of a protracted filibuster from Sen. Chris Dodd.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spent the afternoon Monday huddling with Senate leaders and fellow Democrats to try to work out a deal over an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As the FISA update was written, it included a provision for legal immunity to telecommunications companies that facilitated a warrantless wiretapping scheme that Dodd and other Democrats said was illegal...........

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

i could have SWORN i heard them (them being the u.s.) DENY helping turkey (who, by the way are our buds ONLY because of their location. they are OFF of my christmas card list until they admit the genocide of armenians.) i actually DID hear it several times. what happend? why tell the truth now? perhaps because turkey INSISTED we (the u.s.) helped them? THAT they won't deny

can anyone else see how this is especially f**king up EVERYTHING MORE? (if that's possible)

U.S. Helps Turkey Hit Rebel Kurds In Iraq
Intelligence Role Could Complicate Diplomacy


By Ann Scott Tyson and Robin Wright Washington Post Staff Writers
The United States is providing Turkey with real-time intelligence that has helped the Turkish military target a series of attacks this month against Kurdish separatists holed up in northern Iraq, including a large airstrike on Sunday, according to Pentagon officials.
U.S. military personnel have set up a center for sharing intelligence in Ankara, the Turkish capital, providing imagery and other immediate information gathered from U.S aircraft and unmanned drones flying over the separatists' mountain redoubts, the officials said. A senior administration official said the goal of the U.S. program is to identify the movements and activities of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which is fighting to create an autonomous enclave in Turkey. .............

Monday, December 17, 2007

monday humor

Bolton: Bush must 'rein in' Rice
Former American ambassador to UN slams president's foreign policy, says Bush 'doesn't supervise Secretary of State Rice enough'

US President George W. Bush's foreign policy is in free fall and puts the nation's security at risk, former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told a German magazine on Sunday.
Bolton , who was a leading hawk in the US administration and favored a tough stance against Iran, North Korea and Iraq, told the Der Spiegel weekly that Bush needed to rein in Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"His foreign policy is in free fall. The president is acting against his own judgment and instincts (and is) under the influence of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice," he was quoted as telling the magazine.
Bolton said Rice's was the dominant voice on foreign policy and that she was a channel for the views of liberal career bureaucrats in the foreign ministry. .......

the nutmeg grater: da liebs

the nutmeg grater: da liebs

blood brothers

a four part series from the army times.

part i, adhamiya and back

part ii, i've seen enough (accessible from the link above, as all other parts are)
part iii, we're not going
part iv, picking up the pieces

shite, she shouldn't have been there any damn way

she should have been HOME cooking for her husband

the other day when kbr released a statement on the OTHER rape accusation from ms jones, they included a statement about ms barker. well here is ms barker's story and it ain't any better

i don't know if mr mokhtare is guilty or innocent. what i DO know is a THOROUGH investigation never took place


EXCLUSIVE: No Prosecution for State Dept Official Accused of Sexual Assault
Justice Department Says Case 'Declined for Prosecution,' Request to Suspend Official's Security Clearance Denied

By BRIAN ROSS, MADDY SAUER and JUSTIN ROOD

The Department of Justice declined to prosecute a State Department employee who allegedly sexually assaulted a female Halliburton/KBR worker in Iraq, despite a recommendation from the State Department that he be charged, according to an internal document obtained by ABC News. Ali Mokhtare, who is still employed by the State Department, was investigated in 2005 after a female Halliburton/KBR employee said he sexually assaulted her at the company-run camp in Basra, Iraq. Mokhtare was a diplomatic official in Basra who first came to Iraq as a Farsi translator interviewing detainees.
The U.S. Diplomatic Security Service investigated the allegations against Mokhtare and presented the case to the Justice Department for prosecution, but "the case was declined for prosecution" states the document..........


kbr statements

at this point i'm not sure you should even bother

our constitution is ripped to shreds, we're being spied upon without warrants, our king is lying to us each and every day, our people are not being helped after natural disasters, our covert cia agents are being exposed, our children aren't getting health care, we're attacking countries who NEVER did anything to us, we're NOT helping countries that need our help, we're allowing women to get raped then jailed and humans and dinosaurs existed at the same time. oh, and no one gives a flying f**k

Congress will defy Justice Dept. on destroyed CIA tapes; Harman: 'We're in Constitutional crisis'
Mike Sheehan and David Edwards
Despite the Justice Department's objections, a Congressional panel will press ahead with its investigation into destroyed CIA interrogation tapes, according to a key Republican on the panel.
"I think we will issue subpoenas," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), the House Intelligence Committee's ranking Republican, on Fox News Sunday (video below). "And once these witness appear in front of the committee, then I think we'll have to make the decision as to whether we're going to provide them with immunity or not. But our investigation should move forward."
As
RAW STORY reported earlier, the Justice Department has refused outright to hand over any information about interrogation tapes destroyed by the CIA two years ago.
"The CIA did not tell us about the existence of these tapes," Hoekstra argued. "They did not tell us that they were going to be destroyed. ... [T]here's a Constitutional responsibility for them to keep Congress informed and they have not and we need to hold them accountable.".......

Sunday, December 16, 2007

for YOU

cv rick



i know it won't change your mind about blogger, but i HAD to post it.



The latest from Blogger Buzz
OpenID Commenting
December 13, 2007 — permalink
After just two short weeks of testing on Blogger in draft, OpenID commenting is now available for all Blogger blogs. This means that your friends and readers can leave authenticated comments on your blog using their blog URLs from OpenID-enabled services such as WordPress.com, LiveJournal, and AOL Journals, or with their AOL/AIM accounts.We've chosen a few popular OpenID providers to highlight on the comments form, but OpenID is, well, "open"! You can use any OpenID service to post a comment by choosing "Any OpenID" and filling in your OpenID URL..............................

birthday meme (which i added poetry to - BAD poetry)








i saw the danger sign, i didn't care


who needs to beware?


i don't need a train or crane


i need my dark oven under the terrain


i set my timer for 30 mins

and popped the muffins from my tins

(i couldn't resist. the meme is from cv rick who got it from a ton of folk such as; This is a meme that's been going around. I first saw it on Sideon's Site. He got it from Sara Sue and she got it from Tethered Cow. Then I saw it over at Cele's Site and at E.F's blog, but JulieAnn raised the bar by making this meme with accompanying haikus.
Here is the meme...Go to Google Images and enter your birth date as six figures: ddmmyy (or mmddyy if you are an illogical American). Pick any five pictures from the first page of results only. Then post them somewhere we can see.)
check our rick's meme and all the others. very interesting and cool as well!

having trouble with those hard to please peeps

on your christmas list? well, NOT TO WORRY. here's a list of things that will solve ALL of your problems. please be sure to click on the operation iraq freedom silver ingot. it's everything and more and all that AND a bag o' chips

Holiday Gifts from Hell
By Nick Turse
It's that time of year, again. Time to wander the web searching for Holiday gifts for all those hard-to-buy-for folks, the usual cast of characters who make the holidays especially nerve-wracking. Well, have no fear and wander no more. This year Tomdispatch takes care of all the fuss and muss. We've scoured the web and assembled a one-stop-shop that will make your gift-buying a breeze. So forget about that already over-the-Hillary Clinton nutcracker or the Rudy Giuliani head that you affix to a tree so it appears the Republican front-runner is a stalker lurking in your yard—both so last year—and enjoy the Fifth Anniversary TomDispatch Holiday List from Hell. Because if you don't, the terrorists win.
Black(water) Xmas
Let's face it, nobody wants a
White Christmas DVD these days, so how about making it a Black(water) Xmas? Some, no doubt, think Jeremy Scahill's bestselling book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, is a suitable gift. But we here at TomDispatch have a tad more imagination than that. So, head with us to Blackwater's own website and purchase that wonderful "cuddly black bear… sporting a Blackwater logo t-shirt." It's sure to be a hit with your young mercenaries-in-training or anyone else who likes to snuggle with a plush toy totally unaccountable to the laws of war. ...........

how many more

32 million dollar incomplete projects ARE THERE? it's OUR money. i don't want it going to the further destruction of iraq (well since we DESTROYED it i think we're liable to help rebuild it). we have returning vets (on top of a whole LIST of things we could use 32 million for) that sure could use that money for treatment, job training, homes, education and on and on

MAKE THEM ALL ACCOUNTABLE NOW
U.S. paid $32M for Iraqi base that wasn't built
By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military paid a Florida company nearly $32 million to build barracks and offices for Iraqi army units even though nothing was ever built, Pentagon investigators reported.
The project had to be abandoned because the Iraqi Defense Ministry couldn't obtain rights to the land where the headquarters were to be built, according to a report released this month by the Defense Department's Office of Inspector General. Contracting records show the buildings would have housed one brigade and three battalions of the Iraqi military in Ramadi, a hotbed of the Sunni Muslim insurgency and capital of Anbar province.
Still, the Air Force agency overseeing the project paid contractor Ellis Environmental Group $31.9 million of the $34.2 million obligated for the project, the report said.
An Air Force spokesman, Michael
Hawkins, said in an e-mail that Air Force auditors are reviewing the contract...............

why charge 1000 a month,

when you can charge 2,000 for FOUR DAYS? it's silly isn't it? it doesn't take MONTHS to 'cure' homosexuality. it only takes FOUR DAYS dammit!

Christian 'Ex-Gays' Brainwash Thousands
By Casey Sanchez, Intelligence Report
John Smid has a high school diploma, a minister's license and five acres of land outside Memphis, Tenn., where he "cures" homosexuals. For most of the past two decades, Smid's residential "ex-gay" program was known as Love in Action. The majority of the young men who entered the program came from the kind of conservative religious upbringing where being gay is a sin that will cast a person out of church, family and home. To rid themselves of "unwanted same-sex attractions" they paid $1,000 a month, with some staying at the facility for years.
At LIA, as it was known, staff would lead clients in group sessions to trace out childhood trauma alongside lessons in throwing footballs, changing motor oil and learning how to cross their legs in a manly fashion. In much of the world of ex-gay ministries, same-sex attractions are thought to result from childhood sexual abuse or parents who failed to instill masculinity in their sons. Since the goal is to rewire parent-child dynamics, LIA clients were forbidden to call their families. ..............


...........Love In Action no longer describes itself as therapy but as a "ministry." It ditched its residential program in favor of a $2,000, four-day "intensive" encounter for families and teens called Refuge. Focus on the Family, the largest and wealthiest Christian Right organization in the country, now hires Smid to appear several times a year on an ex-gay lecture circuit called Love Won Out, where he speaks on masturbation and "healing homosexuality.".........

a big shout out to the states

couragous and smart enough to say STOP IT, IT DOESN'T WORK. give us the money, but for REAL sex education, comprehensive sex education, NOT abstinance only programs. they DO NOT work. they have NEVER worked and they NEVER will work.

stan koutstaal is a dreamer if he thinks these programs work. it's an insult AND a waste of MILLIONS of dollars (which is something america does very well.). shame on YOU TOO congress for wanting to boost funding for ABSINENCE ONLY education. it's NOT education, it's a joke and a waste

Abstinence Programs Face Rejection
More States Opt to Turn Down the Federal Money Attached to That Kind of Sex Ed


By Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer
The number of states refusing federal money for "abstinence-only" sex education programs jumped sharply in the past year as evidence mounted that the approach is ineffective.
At least 14 states have either notified the federal government that they will no longer be requesting the funds or are not expected to apply, forgoing more than $15 million of the $50 million available, officials said. Virginia was the most recent state to opt out.

Two other states -- Ohio and Washington -- have applied but stipulated they would use the money for comprehensive sex education, effectively making themselves ineligible, federal officials said. While Maryland and the District are planning to continue applying for the money, other states are considering withdrawing as well.
Until this year, only four states had passed up the funding.
"We're concerned about this," said Stan Koutstaal of the Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the program. "My greatest concern about states dropping out is that these are valuable services and programs. It's the youths in these states who are missing out." .........................

as luck would have it


the pbs nature special on ravens just happens to be on right now. it was a coincidence i came across it. wonderful show. ravens are my favorite non-canine animals