they're killing each other

they're killing us. they're switching sides. they're angry. they're frightened. why? they've been f**ked over by us. the insanity goes on. day after day. we're allowing it to happen. we're NOT demaning an immediate halt to this shite. we're not demanding accountability. i just don't get it

the news is WORSE each day. yet we leave our heads stuck in the sand.
America's allies in Iraq under pressure as civil war breaks out among Sunni
By Patrick Cockburn Saturday, 19 April 2008
"God is Great," screamed a man seconds before he blew himself up, killing 10 people in a restaurant in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province in western Iraq. A series of suicide bombings have shown over the past week that al-Qa'ida in Iraq, though battered by defections over the past year, is striking back remorselessly at Sunni Arab leaders who ally themselves to the US.
In another attack in the village of Albu Mohammed, south of Kirkuk, an elderly man thought by guards to be too old to be a bomber, walked unsearched into a tent filled with mourners attending the funeral of two Sunni tribesmen who had been killed after they joined al-Sahwa, the Awakening Council, as the pro-US Sunni group is called. The man detonated the explosives hidden under his long Arab robes, killing at least 50 people.
A vicious civil war is now being fought within Iraq's Sunni Arab community between al-Qa'ida in Iraq and al-Sahwa while other groups continue to attack American forces. In Baghdad on a single day the head of al-Sahwa in the southern district of Dora was killed in his car by gunmen and seven others died by bombs and bullets in al-Adhamiya district.
US spokesmen speak of a "spike" in violence in recent weeks but in reality security in Sunni and Shia parts of Iraq has been deteriorating since January. The official daily death toll of civilians reached a low of 20 killed a day in that month and has since more than doubled to 41 a day in March. The US and the Iraqi government are now facing a war on two fronts.........

'measured in blood and treasure'

how fitting that is. how sad but true that is.

Rumsfeld ex-aide calls Iraq war 'major debacle' whose outcome is 'in doubt'
Former senior aide to Rumsfeld delivers scathing indictment
A 48-page report written by a former aide to Donald Rumsfeld and issued by the Pentagon's premier military educational institute has called the Iraq war a "major debacle" whose outcome is "in doubt."
"Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle," the report's opening line reads. "As of fall 2007, this conflict has cost the United States over 3,800 dead and over 28,000 wounded. Allied casualties accounted for another 300 dead."
Published by the National Defense Institute's National Institute for Strategic Studies, a Defense Department research center, the report does not reflect the official views of the Pentagon or the Defense Department. But it delivers a scathing indictment from the key educational arm of the US Armed Forces.
The report was written by Joseph Collins, a retired colonel and former senior adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. It's importance cannot be overstated, because it is based in part on interviews on former senior defense and intelligence officials who spoke candidly and played roles in preparations for war........

this was so unusual i had to post it

i got it from bifurcated rivets
who got it from grit in the gears

albert kuvezin and yat-kha. who knew outer mongolia HAD rockers? had rockers reminiscent of tom waits at that?




also, i did find this rather strange and cool and disturbing video on youtube

the nutmeg grater: you know what?#links#links

the nutmeg grater: you know what?#links#links

army of dude

do stop by and say hola!
U.S. Soldier’s Controversial Blog Receiving International Attention
Written by: Jonny Glines
A U.S. soldier’s controversial blog is receiving international attention for its alternative perspective on the war in Iraq. The blog’s creator, Alex Horton, has been both praised and accused of treason for his writing. Horton spoke with KUTV.com to explain why some people are angered at his sincerity. Today’s blogosphere is an overwhelming sea of opinions. “Army of Dude” is a blog that stays afloat of most, winning second place for “best military blog” in the 2007 Weblog Awards. ........


Army of Dude
Reporting On Truth, Justice And The American Way Of War

you know, it wasn't that long ago

my boss at the time, i reported directly to a senior vp, next in line and everything.....anyway, i digress. my boss at the time, invited me to attend a series of weekly UNDERWRITING meetings in the capacity of my job. my job had NOTHING to do with being my boss' assistant (mind you there is nothing wrong with that. i just wasn't his assistant. i was a GROUP INSURANCE UNDERWRITER at the time). i remember what one of the men said to me upon seeing me standing outside the conference room (waiting for the room to free up from the previous meeting). he said, 'a rose is a rose, what are YOU doing here? did bill ask you to come and take notes?' i wanted to scream.
that happened about 10 years ago give or take....it didn't happen in 1965.

that wasn't a story about my pay. but you can rest assure i made less than any man whose job was similar. if i do the same work, i demand the same pay and the same treatment. simple as that. period, the end.

blog for fair pay

support the lilly ledbetter fair pay act

signed, sealed and delivered

the right for OUR people to torture THEIR people
remember, we're NOT animals. we're NOT savages.
(think how you'd feel if those being tortured were YOUR sons and daughters)
US Special Forces Doused Detainees with cold water and sent them out into freezing cold to die...
....................Special Operations officers in Gardez admitted to using what are known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques, which for decades American service members experienced as training to prepare for the brutal treatment they might face if captured.
Today’s documents reveal charges that Special Forces beat, burned, and doused eight prisoners with cold water before sending them into freezing weather conditions. One of the eight prisoners, Jamal Naseer, died in U.S. custody in March 2003. In late 2004, the military opened a criminal investigation into charges of torture at Gardez. Despite numerous witness statements describing the evidence of torture, the military’s investigation concluded that the charges of torture were unsupported. It also concluded that Naseer’s death was the result of a “stomach ailment,” even though no autopsy had been conducted in his case. Documents uncovered today also refer to sodomy committed by prison guards; the victims’ identities are redacted.
“These documents raise serious questions about the adequacy of the military’s investigations into prisoner abuse,” added Singh. .................

my stomach is turning

and even when i DID eat meat (over 30 years ago) i NEVER ate this shite

Mystery Meat Macrophotography

A NewsTarget PhotoTour by Mike Adams

photo: Here is a 2x magnification shot, showing you a bit more detail of the salami texture. Here, you can see the fat blobs in greater detail. Note, too, that the redness of the meat in this picture comes primarily from the sodium nitrite additive, an ingredient I've written about extensively on NewsTarget.com due to its well-documented link to various health problems.DISCLAIMER: These photos are provided as "Fair Use" content under the protection of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. NewsTarget is not affiliated with the companies whose products appear here. All trademarks and brand names appearing here are the property of their respective owners. Nothing in these photos is intended to imply that these products do not meet USDA requirements for food safety.

if the military wasn't doing shite like this

perhaps they COULD afford to do right by veterans like spc hubbard (see previous posting). f**k them all

Report Finds Air Force Officers Steered Contract

By Josh White Washington Post Staff Writer
Sitting at the head of the table, Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen Goldfein, the highest-ranking officer in the room, leaned forward and told the officers and others assembled before him that they should steer a multimillion-dollar Air Force contract to a company named Strategic Message Solutions. "I don't pick the winner, but if I did, I'd pick SMS," Goldfein said to the seven-person group that was selecting a contractor to jazz up the Air Force's Thunderbirds air show with giant video boards, according to a lengthy report by Defense Department's inspector general. The head of the selection team almost immediately "caved," giving in to what he believed was a fixed process, while another member of the team called it "the dirtiest thing" he had ever experienced.
It was during that meeting in November 2005, according to the 251-page report, obtained by The Washington Post, that a controversial $50 million contract was awarded to a company that barely existed in an effort to reward a recently retired four-star general and a millionaire civilian pilot who had grown close to senior Air Force officials and the Thunderbirds. .............

i wonder if the military would have done this to 'private ryan'

ANOTHER WTF??????????????





Military Denied Benefits to Surviving Son


By GARANCE BURKE,
AP
Posted: 2008-04-17 12:26:22
Filed Under: Nation News, Politics News
FRESNO, Calif. (April 17) - Forced to leave the combat zone after his two brothers died in the Iraq war, Army Spc. Jason Hubbard faced another battle once he returned home: The military cut off his family's health care, stopped his G.I. educational subsidies and wanted him to repay his sign-up bonus..............









Army Spc. Jason Hubbard helps carry the casket of his brother Nathan Hubbard on Aug. 31 in Fresno, Calif. Military rules forced Jason Hubbard out of the service after both his brothers died in Iraq. Then the military cut off his family's medical benefits, stopped his education subsidies and tried to force him to repay his $6,000 enlistment bonus.

picture: Robyn Beck, AFP / Getty Images

oh a giant unbelievable big fat W T F???????????

oh no no no and no

Honorably discharged vet ordered back to Iraq despite disability
By Maki BeckerNEWS STAFF REPORTER

James Raymond lost the hearing in his left ear while fighting in Afghanistan. The former U.S. Army specialist later suffered a knee injury that required him to be flown back home for surgery.
In September 2004, he was given an honorable discharge and the Department of Veterans Affairs determined that he was 10 percent disabled, enabling him to receive $120 a month for the rest of his life.
So it was much to his surprise Thursday when Raymond — now a University at Buffalo student — got a call from his stepfather that he was being deployed again — to Iraq.
“I thought it was a joke, and then I was shocked,” said Raymond, 26, who is from Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester.
Raymond figured it was all just a big misunderstanding. He thought he would be able to call the Army’s human resources department, explain that he is a disabled vet and that they would cancel his redeployment.
That was not the case. Raymond is expected to report for training May 18 at Fort Benning, Ga., where he would undergo a medical and mental evaluation. Five weeks later, if he is determined to be fit to return to duty, he will be deployed to Fort Dix, N.J., where he would join up with a Reserve unit there. In September, the unit is expected to be sent to Iraq. .....

if you think i am overreacting

when i say there is ALREADY a food emergency, you're kidding yourself. if you think you are safe, think again. sure WE still have plenty of food, but the cost is going up by the second.

rice. people whose diets consist mainly of rice can barely afford it these days. RICE. i'm not talking caviar here.

the cost of gas is through the roof. how do you think your food gets to the grocery store? well a bunch of stuff happens first, THEN it gets loaded on a truck. what makes that truck run? you got it.

i heard on the news the other day, company owners are doing everything in their power to get the most out of the truck runs. waiting until that truck is ABSOLUTELY filled (for one), putting regulators on them so they can't go over 62 mph and adding something to the roof that makes it aerodynamically better. (this is all good practice ANYWAY. we should have been doing these things all along)

wait a couple of weeks and check your grocery tab out. it's hard now. wait
(if YOU are having a hard time putting food on YOUR table, think about someone who is trying to support a family on minimum wage OR LESS)

As Hunger Rises, Chew on This
By Terry J. Allen
A diet of bread and water used to be emblematic of poverty. Now a global food crisis is transforming that meager meal into a luxury for much of the world.
The prices of the world’s three main grains — corn, rice and wheat — more than doubled last year. The causes include poor harvests linked to climate change, diversion of cropland to biofuels, population increases, rising meat consumption, emerging diseases and soaring fuel prices.
In a globalized economy, issues of food scarcity and inflation should be a matter not only of humanitarian concern, but also of national security. A food crisis is exploding.
Last year, spiraling food prices sparked protests and riots in Cameroon, Egypt, Guinea, India, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
Children in Yemen marched to draw attention to their hunger. Farmers in Thailand slept in fields to prevent rice crop theft. Hundreds of construction workers in the United Arab Emirates torched cars and ransacked buildings to demand higher wages to counter surging inflation.
The problem is not just price but actual shortage. World grain stores have not been this low since the end of World War II. Argentina and Vietnam have risked treaty violations to impose protectionist trade caps and taxes aimed at stabilizing supply and stanching inflation. The Philippine government asked fast food restaurants to serve less rice to ease shortages.
The poorest are the worst hit, especially as the lifeline U.N. World Food Program (WFP) frays. In late March, it warned that unless donor countries immediately kick in $500 million to offset price hikes, WFP will start rationing food aid that feeds 73 million people — from Darfur’s genocide refugees to Haiti’s children......

on my way into work this morning

on wwuh - university of hartford radio i heard some nina. i am ALWAYS in the mood for nina. here are some videos. the bottom two are long by the way. if you have the time, give them a listen. one is part of a documentary the other is a filmed performance. enjoy

msm = big fat stupidheads

man, loads o' those out there, no? (yes)
Clinton-Obama Debate: ABC Decides Top Issues Facing Americans Are Gaffes, Flag Pins and '60s Radicals
By Greg Mitchell
NEW YORK In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia.Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the health care and mortgage crises, the overall state of the economy and dozens of other pressing issues had to wait for their few moments in the sun as Obama was pressed to explain his recent "bitter" gaffe and relationship with Rev. Wright (seemingly a dead issue) and not wearing a flag pin while Clinton had to answer again for her Bosnia trip exaggerations. Then it was back to Obama to defend his slim association with a former '60s radical -- a question that came out of rightwing talk radio and Sean Hannity on TV, but delivered by former Bill Clinton aide Stephanopolous. This approach led to a claim that Clinton's husband pardoned two other '60s radicals. And so on.More time was spent on all of this than segments on getting out of Iraq and keeping people from losing their homes and other key issues. Gibson only got excited when he complained about anyone daring to raise taxes on his capital gains. .........

Disastrous Debate reprise
by
makeprofilelink("Joe Sudbay (DC)");
Joe Sudbay (DC) ·
Wow. What the hell was that? Seriously, I'm a bit stunned. The level of discourse has reached a new low -- a very new low. To be clear, I don't think the debate was a disaster for Obama. He did fine. I think it was a disaster for our political system. It was the worst debate ever. Gibson and Stephanopoulos were horrible. The questions were literally right out of right wing talk radio. Atrios provides an opportunity for action:
Complain about this atrocity.Main ABC switchboard: 212-456-7777 Update: Use this number: (818) 460-7477 Comment via the ABC Web site here And, for Hillary Clinton to get so giddy about the Wright question was really just sad. She was the official purveyor of fringe talking points. Shockingly so. And, she seemed to enjoy it. There's a reason people think Clinton is dishonest as we saw today in the findings of the Washington Post-ABC News poll. She's not only in this to win, she's in it to win dirty -- and to destroy Obama. She invoked Louis Farrakhan tonight for no reason -- just to say it. Give me a break. Throughout this campaign, Clinton has pursued GOP attacks against Obama. He has not gone there against her. ........

ms hamilton gets it right

(in a way that is). of course we could stop a LOT of this shite if we (canada included) PROSECUTED polygamists. it's against AMERICAN LAW AND CANADIAN LAW. when one knows 13 and 14 and 15 year old girls are FORCED into 'marriage' and raped and FORCED to have children and young teen aged boys are FORCED to leave the only world they know and one does nothing, one deserves to be publicly flogged (figuratively, that is). f**k 'religious' rights. when you're torturing children, THEIR rights take precedence. ms hamilton is wrong in her thinking we actually WILL start prosecuting more of these cases. hell, our politicians are committing THE most heinous crimes and we're letting THEM get away with it. why should we make another bunch of old white guys pay for THEIR crimes? (my anger is not only directed at THIS religious sect but ALL religious sects who abuse children - or even adults - in the name of THEIR god)

Prosecuting Polygamy
By Marci Hamilton, Huffington Post
There is nothing so dangerous for a child as an insular, patriarchal religious organization, and the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, whose compound in El Dorado, Texas, is now under control of the Texas authorities, is one of the scariest examples. It took the extraordinary bravery of a 16-year-old girl to set in motion a chain of events that should have happened long ago.
She reported that she had been "married" to a 50-year-old man, forced to have sex, get pregnant, and have a baby. Because of her, Texas authorities have taken hundreds of children and women to safety. From all reports, they have yet to find her.
I give the Texas law enforcement and child protective agency officials a great deal of credit for moving in on the compound. They bucked the three trends in our culture that have kept these children at risk for far too long.
First, authorities in general are too fearful of intervening in religious enclaves, even when the harm is so awful and apparent. Yet, there is no right of religious liberty to engage in child and spousal abuse, or polygamy for that matter. The taboo against holding religious entities accountable is simply foolhardy.
In fact, enforcement of the polygamy laws could have stemmed many of these abuses. Yet, it is the rare prosecutor who will prosecute on the basis of the polygamy laws, despite the fact those laws are utterly clear and repeatedly have been upheld against constitutional attack. The largest enclave of FLDS resides in Bountiful, British Columbia. A misguided Canadian public official announced just yesterday that the government cannot go forward with a prosecution of polygamy against the FLDS (where the accounts of abuse are legendary), because of concerns about religious liberty. If Canadian law, though, protects polygamy, it also protects the child and spousal abuse that inevitably follow. That is not religious liberty, but rather religious licentiousness. American prosecutors have been marginally better, though there are many more cases out there that they ignore on daily basis..........

this isn't the first time

this has happened nor will it be the last time. i'm not faulting the iraqis. i'm faulting king george and his court. we invaded THEIR country. we then decided who to give guns to and set 'em loose. why should they fight? for us? for our embassy? for the oil pipelines going directly into the pockets of big bid-nez (that's big AMERICAN bid-nez). why are we surprised?

why are we ALLOWING this illegal unjust and immoral war to continue?
Iraqi Unit Flees Post, Despite American’s Plea
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
BAGHDAD — A company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions on Tuesday night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers who implored them to hold the line against Shiite militias.
The retreat left a crucial stretch of road on the front lines undefended for hours and led to a tense series of exchanges between American soldiers and about 50 Iraqi troops who were fleeing.
Capt. Logan Veath, a company commander in the 25th Infantry Division, pleaded with the Iraqi major who was leading his troops away from the Sadr City fight, urging him to return to the front.
“If you turn around and go back up the street those soldiers will follow you,” Captain Veath said. “If you tuck tail and cowardly run away they will follow up that way, too.”
Captain Veath’s pleas failed, and senior American and Iraqi commanders mounted an urgent effort to regain the lost ground. An elite Iraqi unit was rushed in and with the support of the Americans began to fight its way north.
This episode was a blow to the American effort to push the Iraqis into the lead in the struggle to wrest control of parts of Sadr City from the Mahdi Army militia and what Americans and Iraqis say are Iranian-backed groups.........

ben stein = mr bullshite

it would appear. i know he was a former political speechwriter. perhaps now he should just stick to GAME SHOWS
Scientist: Ben Stein's 'Expelled' should really be 'Flunked Out'
Muriel Kane
Comedian and former Nixon speechwriter Ben Stein's new documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, will not open until this Friday, but it has already been widely blasted for its alleged dishonesty and looseness with the facts.
Stein has recently emerged as a prominent spokesperson for so-called "intelligent design," a pseudo-scientific gloss over the religious philosophy of creationism. Using film-making techniques clearly borrowed from Michael Moore, Stein set out to confront scientists and educators about their alleged persecution of supporters of intelligent design, whom Stein claims have been "targeted for retaliation and harassment."
However, the National Center for Science Education has performed an extensive investigation of the "martyrs" profiled in Stein's file and has found a consistent pattern of misrepresentation. ...........

i don't know that much about dan froomkin

i DO know he has some clear insight in the following
Not to Be Trusted

By Dan FroomkinSpecial to washingtonpost.com
The Bush administration's latest story line about Iraq -- that Iran is now the primary problem there -- should be greeted with profound skepticism.
Not only is it the latest in a series of rationales for U.S. involvement in Iraq, most of which have turned out to be based on flawed intelligence, misrepresentations or outright dishonesty.
But there are at least two illegitimate reasons why the White House would want the American public to see Iran as a threat right now.
One is that President Bush needs a definable, demonizable enemy for public-relations purposes, to take attention away from the reality that U.S. troops remain perilously and indefinitely astride several civil wars and resistance movements. .......... (please DO read the whole thing. it's well worth it. how we can be so complacent and NOT challenge this buillshite is beyond me. i know the american people are smart enough NOT to believe it - weapons of mass destruction, COME ON NOW - but they're not brave enough or strong enough to say STOP. we've had it. this is BEYOND enough)

in my personal opinion

'dunderheaded' sure doesn't get used NEARLY enough!
i would use (and do use, daily) much STRONGER words when speaking of hillary

Hillary Clinton's Strategically Delayed Gratification
Submitted by pmcarpenter
Some folks in this increasingly cartoonish democracy are, fittingly, like the 'Peanuts' character with his blanket. They demand change and truth with a capital "t" from a political class that's oppressively top-heavy from status-quo prevaricators, but when a candid pol does amble by to say, OK, change is possible, but only after the country's raft of falsely reassuring securities is stripped bare, they cower in apoplectic fits of shock, disillusionment and emotional deprivation.
Then they race out and vote for yesterday. ...........

........The Politico's John Harris and Jim VandeHei think they know, based on interviews from Hillary's friends, who of course would never try to mislead the media. And I must say, the reporters' speculation is even more amusing than the media's farcical coverage of Obama's reflections on electoral bitterness. Because their speculation is this: Hillary is sincere.
Not only that, she has been, for reasons left unexplained, pulling her punches.
I told you it's amusing. Don't believe it? Read it yourself:
She and Bill Clinton both devoutly believe that Obama’s likely victory is a disaster-in-waiting. Naive Democrats just don’t see it. And a timid, pro-Obama press corps, in their view, won’t tell the story. But Hillary Clinton won’t tell it, either.... Our conversations with Democrats who speak to the Clintons make plain that their public comments are only the palest version of what they really believe: that if Obama is the nominee, a likely Democratic victory would turn to a near-certain defeat.... Republicans will ... ruthlessly exploit openings that Clinton — in the genteel confines of an intraparty contest — never could. Top targets: Obama’s radioactive personal associations, his liberal ideology, his exotic life story, his coolly academic and elitist style.... That is why some friends describe Clinton as seeing herself on a mission to save Democrats from themselves.
There is so much that is not only counterintuitive but strikingly dunderheaded with that analysis, little remedial analysis is needed. It's that evident, starting with the last sentence of Hillary "sav[ing] Democrats from themselves" by going into a general election with the highest, virtually unyielding negatives ever registered by a presidential candidate. Some salvation....................

we all know

bill o'wrongly is a steamin' pile
Last night, O'Reilly attacked companies doing business without Iran. But, once again, he left out his boss, Rupert Murdoch

Last month, AMERICAblog exposed yet another act of hypocrisy from Bill O'Reilly. We also showed he's a wimp who is afraid of his own boss:
Earlier this year, arm chair terrorism fighter Bill O'Reilly blasted the chair of General Electric for doing business with terrorist countries like Iran. Bill was in rare form when he took on this issue. But, Bill needs to have on another guest and blast him for cavorting with Iranians and Syrians, possibly even aiding in the recruitment of terrorists and certainly facilitating the spewing of hatred against Israel.That guest would be Rupert Murdoch, the head of FOX News.Murdoch owns FOX, for whom O'Reilly works. Murdoch also owns MySpace.com. Therein lies the problem. An astute observer pointed us to some of the users of Mr. Murdoch's site. There are numerous users of MySpace.com in states that sponsor terrorism, like Iran, Syria and Sudan. That alone should warrant intervention from O'Reilly using his own standards for doing business with terrorist nations. But, that's not the biggest problem. It's the Web sites honoring terrorist organizations that give us pause. There is the self-described "Offical Hezbollah MySpace" page. ..............

even if this compound was in my town center

i not only wouldn't work in it, i'd not even enter it. there is nothing they can do to convince me it's genuinely certified for occupancy.

New U.S. Embassy in Baghdad ready — six months late
By Warren P. Strobel McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — The State Department on Monday certified the new $740 million U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as ready to open, more than six months behind schedule.
Richard Shinnick, the department's buildings chief, said problems with the mammoth, 27-building complex's fire-safety systems have been fixed, and the embassy compound will now be turned over to U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy signed the formal certificate of occupancy Monday, Shinnick said in an interview. Diplomats will begin moving into the compound next month.
The heavily fortified complex, the United States' biggest embassy, will provide working and living quarters for more than 1,000 U.S. diplomats and military personnel, many of whom have been posted on the grounds of a former palace of late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
During a recent round of violence linked to the Iraqi government's military offensive in the southern city of Basra, the former palace came under intensified rocket and mortar fire, and Crocker authorized some U.S. personnel to spend the night in the new compound............

...........After McClatchy reported in January that the embassy's fire-fighting system was defective and that experts' concerns were overruled in an apparent rush to declare the facility completed..............

isn't it too late?

shouldn't the 'further study' have come BEFORE allowing this product out? there are things the government will NOT approve (and you cannot convince me it has nothing to do with big bidnez not being involved) and things they'll say yippee let's get it on the market BEFORE testing is done. they're a bunch of big fat stupidheads just like everyone else and who pays? we do that's who. if we don't make it unsafe in our OWN country, let's send the job out to ANOTHER country who'll not only make it UNSAFE, they'll make it CHEAPLY and UNSAFE(ly)
F**K 'em all

Report Raises Alarm About Chemical Found in Plastics

By Lyndsey LaytonWashington Post Staff Writer
For the first time, the federal government is raising health alarms about bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical in plastics that is used in such varied items as dental fillings, baby bottles and sports water bottles. The National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, released a draft report today that says exposure to the chemical may be linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer, early puberty in girls and such behavioral changes as hyperactivity. It urged further study.
The report marks a significant departure from earlier positions taken by the government, which had maintained there was a negligible human health risk associated with BPA.
"This is breaking new scientific ground," said Anila Jacob, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit public health group. "It says that at very low doses, similar to what people are exposed to now, BPA poses a risk of adverse health conditions."
Steven G. Hentges, executive director of the Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group at the American Chemistry Council, said the new report does not mean BPA is unsafe. ..........

i'll bet

cvrick would stand in line to watch this

more

stairs. it was a coincidence i came across these right after i came across the ones in the previous posting (really it was)

(shout out to dark roasted blend)

wicked cool stairs!

for a cramped space

from curbly (post by diy maven)

serious - - - - - - - - BULLSHITE that is

yes, this is real. (shout out to boing boing)

big giant stupid fathead (the principal)

8-Year-Old Colorado Boy Suspended For Sniffing Marker
Web Editor: Rhonda Erskine, Online Content Producer
WESTMINSTER, CO (NBC) -- A Colorado school district is defending its decision to punish a third grader for sniffing a Sharpie marker. Eight-year-old Eathan Harris was originally suspended from Harris Park Elementary School for three days. Principal Chris Benisch reduced the suspension to one day after complaints from Harris' parents. Harris used a black Sharpie marker to color a small area on the sleeve of his sweatshirt. A teacher sent him to the principal when she noticed him smelling the marker and his clothing. "It smelled good," Harris said. "They told me that's wrong." ........

...........In his letter suspending the child, Benisch wrote that smelling the marker fumes could cause the boy to "become intoxicated." A toxicologist with the Rocky Mountain Poison Control Center says that claim is nearly impossible. Dr. Eric Lavonas says non-toxic markers like Sharpies, while pungent-smelling, cannot be used to get high. ...........

hey look!

my FAVORITE beverage MEAT WATER has a new flavor!

escargot - YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

(shout out to bifurcated rivets)

an on the mark

analysis of obama's words; well the MEDIA'S reaction to them
Media shit storms and heartland reality

by Joe Bageant
There seems to be no end to the media mediocrity we must suffer in this country. Now we have the Obama Guns, God and Bitterness shit storm, with the shit pouring forth from the same media scuppers (scuppers are outlet sewage blowholes on the sides of ships) as usual: The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, CNN.com, the Associated Press, Fox News, Reuters, Politico, the Lou Dobbs Show, Hardball, Olbermann's Countdown, The Atlantic.com, The DailyKos, TalkingPointsMemo…
And all because Obama mentioned something we've known for at least a couple of decades now: That the government has been fucking over the nation's heartland towns and the "little guy" Americans inhabiting them.
To quote Obama:"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. ... And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not."
So what the hell else is new?
Then Obama adds: "And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
While not precisely correct, it's a good enough generalization for an American audience not really listening anyway. Obama's remarks were not in the least controversial and just plain boring in terms of content. Certainly not newsworthy.
Yet he had no sooner closed his mouth than this media manufactured hell broke loose. "Oh my gawd," they screamed. This guy has the unmitigated gall to suggest that their might be some bitterness out here in the lily white realms of Grant Wood, grange halls and Methodist church suppers! ...........

the top video is the real one (even though it seems like a comedy video take off) the bottom one is the parody

i am missing something here. our sons and daughters are being killed in an unjust, illegal and immoral war. we're torturing people and committing crimes against humanity. murder and rape is rampant in the united states. our children are lacking health coverage. our bills are becoming overwhelming YET THESE F**KING ID-JITS are worried about 'THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA'? worried that 'THE GAYS' are taking over the country? WTF?????????????

heed this warning from me my peeps - LOCK UP YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS - 'THE GAYS' ARE COMING

Right wing video warns: Gays are plotting to invade City Hall
by Nick Langewis
The town of Eureka Springs is turning into the "San Francisco of Arkansas," warns the American Family Association, and it can happen in your town too.
The presentation in the AFA trailer below, "They're Coming to Your Town," tells the tale of an uncharacteristically diverse resort town's government infiltrated by "a handful of homosexual activists" and bent to their will through the enactment of the town's domestic partner registry on June 22, 2007.
"Watch, and learn," says the trailer, "how to fight a well-organized gay agenda to take over the cities of America, one city at a time."
Eureka Springs, most recently, has gotten an honorable mention from unlikely celebrity and Oklahoma House Rep. Sally Kern, who propped it up as an example of the "gay agenda" that she has called a "death knell" and a larger threat than international terrorism, in addition to comparing such an "agenda" to cancer..........

everything else aside

this ALONE would make me vote for him (although i'd vote for him anyway)

Obama would ask his AG to "immediately review" potential of crimes in Bush White House

Tonight I had an opportunity to ask Barack Obama a question that is on the minds of many Americans, yet rarely rises to the surface in the great ruckus of the 2008 presidential race -- and that is whether an Obama administration would seek to prosecute officials of a former Bush administration on the revelations that they greenlighted torture, or for other potential crimes that took place in the White House.
Obama said that as president he would indeed ask his new Attorney General and his deputies to "immediately review the information that's already there" and determine if an inquiry is warranted -- but he also tread carefully on the issue, in line with his reputation for seeking to bridge the partisan divide. He worried that such a probe could be spun as "a partisan witch hunt." However, he said that equation changes if there was willful criminality, because "nobody is above the law."
The question was inspired by a recent report by ABC News, confirmed by the Associated Press, that high-level officials including Vice President Dick Cheney and former Cabinet secretaries Colin Powell, John Ashcroft and Donald Rumsfeld, among others, met in the White House and discussed the use of waterboarding and other torture techniques on terrorism suspects..........

we can't afford to fill our cars up

to heat our homes, to feed ourselves and now our jobs are disappearing at an alarming rate.

anyone notice a trend?
(by the way, i was looking for something in my local news sites this morning. i found an article that said even the CASINO's revenues at the slots were down)

Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies
By MICHAEL BARBARO
The consumer spending slump and tightening credit markets are unleashing a widening wave of bankruptcies in American retailing, prompting thousands of store closings that are expected to remake suburban malls and downtown shopping districts across the country. Since last fall, eight mostly midsize chains — as diverse as the furniture store Levitz and the electronics seller Sharper Image — have filed for bankruptcy protection as they staggered under mounting debt and declining sales.
But the troubles are quickly spreading to bigger national companies, like Linens ‘n Things, the bedding and furniture retailer with 500 stores in 47 states. It may file for bankruptcy as early as this week, according to people briefed on the matter.
Even retailers that can avoid bankruptcy are shutting down stores to preserve cash through what could be a long economic downturn. Over the next year, Foot Locker said it would close 140 stores, Ann Taylor will start to shutter 117, and the jeweler Zales will close 100.
The surging cost of necessities has led to a national belt-tightening among consumers. Figures released on Monday showed that spending on food and gasoline is crowding out other purchases, leaving people with less to spend on furniture, clothing and electronics. Consequently, chains specializing in those goods are proving vulnerable..............

this needs no further comments from the likes

of me

CBS: Iraqi government corruption funds insurgents who kill Americans
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
The government of Iraq is facing many challenges to its ability to run the country, both internal and external. According to a new report by 60 Minutes, "one of the biggest problems is corruption, which is robust even by Middle Eastern standards."
"Bribery and outright theft are flourishing in virtually every Iraqi ministry," notes CBS's Steve Kroft, "and some of those ill-gotten gains are being used to kill American troops."
State Department official James Mattil told CBS that the corruption is "across-the-board." Much of the stolen money finds its way to Iraqi insurgents or militias, while "in other cases, it is the militias and insurgents themselves who control some of the ministries who are involved in the corruption."
"It's known and tolerated by the prime minister and other officials within the government," emphasized Mattil, who observed the corruption first-hand while assigned as an advisor to Iraq's former Commissioner of Public Integrity, Judge Radhi al-Radhi.
Judge Radhi himself told CBS during an interview in 2006 that more than half a billion dollars had been stolen from the Iraqi defense ministry. Following that interview, he attempted to widen his investigation to other ministries, but was met with death threats and the murder of thirty-one members of his staff. In July 2007 a missile was fired at his house. He and his family finally left Iraq last September and are now living in the suburbs of Washington, DC............

monday morning humor

by the way, i filled my car up yesterday (only 1/2 tank give or take) and i have a lil' subaru, it was approximately $23.00. oh, and i didn't torture anyone either. just an fyi

Chevron adds former Pentagon legal chief to legal staff
East Bay Business Times - by Mavis Scanlon
Chevron Corp. has hired as its chief corporate counsel William Haynes II, who until February was general counsel for the Department of Defense. Haynes, who will report to Chevron General Counsel Charles James, replaces former chief corporate counsel William Buck, who retired, according to Chevron spokesman Kent Robertson.
As reported in Newsweek, Harper's and elsewhere, Haynes, who was general counsel at the Pentagon from 2001 until his resignation in February, is under Senate scrutiny for his role at the Pentagon, specifically for his role in crafting policies that led to alleged abuses of detainees and terror suspects at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.
In an April 5 article, Newsweek reported that Haynes had requested a memo from the Justice Department that concluded that federal laws against torture, assault and maiming would not apply to suspects interrogated overseas. "The memo's disclosure raises new questions about the role that Haynes and other Bush administration lawyers played in crafting legal policies that critics say led to abuses at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere," Newsweek wrote. Haynes has hired criminal defense attorney Terrence O'Donnell and has agreed to be interviewed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to Newsweek.
In his new role at Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Haynes, who is 50, will supervise Chevron's staff of more than three dozen attorneys.
Haynes is considered an ally of Vice President Dick Cheney and a longtime supporter of President George Bush; he even volunteered to make calls on Bush's behalf when Bush was up for election in 2000, according to a Senate questionnaire Haynes submitted when he was nominated in 2003 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va. ...........

person of the month:

Nojoud Muhammed Nasser. who is she? she is an EIGHT YEAR OLD GIRL in yeman. why is she the person of the month? because she had the courage to bring her father to court for forcing her to marry a 30 year old man. even better, the judge (IN YEMAN) actually prosecuted her father AND her husband.
8-year-old girl asks for divorce in court
SANA’A, April 9 - An eight-year-old girl decided last week to go the Sana’a West Court to prosecute her father, who forced her to marry a 30-year-old man.Nojoud Muhammed Nasser arrived at court by herself on Wednesday, April 2, looking for a judge to handle her case against her father, Muhammed Nasser, who forced her two months ago to marry Faez Ali Thamer, a man 22 years her senior. The child also asked for a divorce, accusing her husband of sexual and domestic abuse. According to Yemeni law, Nojoud cannot prosecute, as she is underage. However, court judge Muhammed Al-Qathi heard her complaint and subsequently ordered the arrests of both her father and husband.“My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn’t stop the marriage,” Nojoud Nasser told the Yemen Times. “I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, ‘We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.’ So this is what I have done,” she said. ..............

..............Thamer is in jail now. “Yes I was intimate with her, but I have done nothing wrong, as she is my wife and I have the right and no one can stop me," he said.................
(shout out to feministing)

we did it. we're doing it. we will continue to do it

unless we step up to the bar and make those responsible for these atrocities PAY for their crimes.

Died hanging from wrists and gagged, with over 25 rib fractures

you see that headline above? who do you think is responsible? some 'savage' nation? yup. it's US.

Posted by Kathy
I want to bring to your attention an important blog entry by bewart. Keep in mind the recent revelations that George W. Bush authorized the use of torture. See Larisa's post here:
This is my first of a series of diaries about prisoners murdered by US forces. It will tell the story of an Iraqi man who died hanging by his cuffed wrists from a door frame, gagged, and beaten to death by his US interrogators. As the Final Autopsy Report noted:
The remains are received clad in a white shirt, white pajama type pants, and white undershorts. Feces covers the clothing from the waist down....There is gauze dressing on the left wrist. No other evidence of medical intervention is noted.... The right chest wall has fractures of ribs three through seven anteriorly and ribs six through twelve posteriorly. The left chest wall has fractures of ribs two through nine anteriorly and ribs seven through twelve posteriorly. There are fractures of the lateral aspect of ribs nine and ten on the left side. There is a horizontal fracture through the mid-portion of the body of the sternum.
Yes, our tax dollars are paying for this. Hung up by the wrists and beaten so badly that he not only had over 25 separate rib fractures, many slicing into his lungs, he also had a fractured sternum. The thick, solid bone protecting your heart................................

national enquirer headline?

does it rank up there with the batboy? no, it's REAL
Polygamist sect gets millions from U.S. government
By Jack Douglas Jr. McClatchy Newspapers
FT. WORTH, Tex. _American taxpayers have unwittingly helped finance a polygamist sect that is now the focus of a massive child abuse investigation in West Texas, with a business tied to the group receiving a nearly $1 million loan from the federal government and $1.2 million in military contracts.
The ability of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, to operate and grow is largely dependent on huge contributions from its members and revenue from the businesses they control, according to a former accountant for the church, and government officials in Utah and Arizona, where the sect is primarily based.
One of those businesses, NewEra Manufacturing in Las Vegas, has been awarded more than $1.2 million in federal government contracts, with most of the money coming in recent years from the Defense Department for wheel and brake components for military aircraft.
A large portion of the awards were preferential no-bid or "sole source" contracts because of the company's classification as a small business, according to online databases that track federal government appropriations..........

standard operating procedures

we're just too f**king complacent.

Why Americans Are Tuning out the Disaster in Iraq
By Frank Rich, The New York Times
The night before last week’s Senate hearings on our “progress” in Iraq, a goodly chunk of New York’s media and cultural establishment assembled in the vast lobby of the Museum of Modern Art. There were cocktails; there were waiters wielding platters of hors d’oeuvres; there was a light sprinkling of paparazzi. Then there was a screening. We trooped like schoolchildren to the auditorium to watch a grueling movie about the torture at Abu Ghraib.
Not just any movie, but “Standard Operating Procedure,” the new investigatory documentary by Errol Morris, one of our most original filmmakers. It asks the audience not just to revisit the crimes in graphic detail but to confront in tight close-up those who both perpetrated and photographed them. Because Mr. Morris has a complex view of human nature, he arouses a certain sympathy for his subjects, much as he did at times for Robert McNamara, the former defense secretary, in his Vietnam film, “Fog of War.”
More sympathy, actually. Only a few bad apples at the bottom of the chain of command took the fall for Abu Ghraib. No one above the level of staff sergeant went to jail, and no one remotely in proximity to a secretary of defense has been held officially accountable. John Yoo, the author of the notorious 2003 Justice Department memo rationalizing torture, has happily returned to his tenured position as a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley. So when Mr. Morris brings you face to face with Lynndie England — now a worn, dead-eyed semblance of the exuberant, almost pixie-ish miscreant in the Abu Ghraib snapshots — you’re torn. .........................

wow the world bank

is actually saying something that matters.

people are starving all over (including the u.s. on tv the other day, i saw someone in a grocery store shopping. a newscaster was with her. the shopper had to make up her mind between buying a full gallon of milk OR buying her daugher a couple of bagels. the daughter won. they got a 1/2 gallon of milk. that had to last them a week - which she said would not happen). there is a crisis out there. it's spreading and NOT getting any better. it's knocking on OUR door right now.


unfortunately, WE can't help feed the hungry of the world. we're far too busy destroying it
World Bank Chief Calls for Immediate Action on Deepening Global Food Crisis

By Harry Dunphy
Associated Press
The president of the World Bank yesterday urged immediate action to deal with sharply rising food prices, which have caused hunger and violence in several countries.
Robert B. Zoellick said the international community has to "put our money where our mouth is" now to help hungry people. Zoellick spoke as the bank and its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, ended two days of meetings in Washington.
He called on governments to rapidly carry out commitments to provide the U.N. World Food Program with $500 million in emergency aid by May 1. Prices have only risen further since the program issued that appeal, so it is urgent that governments step up, he said.
Zoellick said that the fall of the government in Haiti over the weekend after a wave of deadly rioting and looting over food prices underscores the importance of quick international action.
He said the bank is granting an additional $10 million to Haiti for food programs. .......

shoot, i can't even WATCH it

as quickly as he's DOING it - the x20 test via hot milky drink

norwegian graffiti

via wooster collective