now i'm just sitting back and smiling

this IS rather funny. did they in fact want the walter reed as in walter reed medical center? did they choose walter reed MIDDLE SCHOOL by mistake?

either way, the school DID NOT want to be used as a backdrop at the rnc

School Raps McCain For Using Image As Speech Backdrop Without Permission

By Kate Klonick

Okay, the McCain-Walter Reed Middle School backdrop debacle is getting weirder by the second. Now the principal of the school is hammering McCain for using footage of the school during his convention speech without seeking the school's permission.

Here's the statement from Donna Tobin, the principal...

"It has been brought to the school's attention that a picture of the front of our school, Walter Reed Middle School, was used as a backdrop at the Republican National Convention. Permission to use the front of our school for the Republican National Convention was not given by our school nor is the use of our school's picture an endorsement of any political party or view."

One other interesting development: The California Democratic Party is actually holding a press conference in front of the school within minutes, where Dems will hit McCain for not knowing the difference between the school and Walter Reed Medical Center, which is believed to be the backdrop the McCain campaign really wanted.

Though multiple news organizations are asking for clarification, the McCain campaign is still refusing to comment on questions about whether it had hoped to use the medical center as a backdrop and accidentally used the school instead. Hard to blame them.............

hmmmmmmmm

i posted on 8/29 and 8/27 on this. i was at a loss last week and now it's becoming crystal clear to me. i can see the light. yup. i sure can. however, it's UN-EFFING-BELIEVABLE TO ME.

FBI Wanted Obama Plotters Charged, But A Rove Appointee Said No

By seanjballen -
We noticed last week that it was awfully peculiar that Colorado’s U.S. Attorney, Troy Eid, had so airily dismissed conspiracy charges against the three white-supremacist tweakers who were caught planning to assassinate Barack Obama at last week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.

..............................

Even more significant, beyond the details of the plot, was the fact that, as the Colorado Independent notes, the FBI asked for more serious charges to be filed and were turned down.

....................

Another funny thing: When a black man in prison sent a threatening letter containing baby powder to John McCain, Troy Eid brought down the full force of the law, complete with press conferences and public declarations that "We won't stand for threats of this kind in Colorado.".........

ok, i'm not from the south

i'm from the absolute opposite. not just the north, but new england. i effing know what the term 'uppity' meant and still to this day means. westmoreland was born and raised and still lives (and serves) in georgia. does he really think anyone is buying he didn't know about the 'uppity' racial overtones?
(i posted the original story yesterday)
what a crock of steamin' shite

GOP lawmaker defends use of 'uppity' to describe Obama
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A Republican congressman from Georgia who referred to Barack and Michelle Obama as "uppity" says he wasn't aware of the term's racial overtones and did not intend to insult anyone.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville, Ga., described the Obamas as members of an "elitist-class ... that thinks that they're uppity," according to The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

Asked if he intended to use the word, he said, "Yeah, uppity."

In a statement Friday, Westmoreland - who was born in 1950 and raised in the segregated South - said he didn't know that "uppity" was commonly used as a derogatory term for blacks seeking equal treatment. Instead, he referred to the dictionary definition of the word as describing someone who is haughty, snobbish or has inflated self-esteem.;....................

sometimes my walls do this

wow, read it

An Alaskan Insider Reveals...The REAL Sarah Palin?.....Interesting Reading....

Blackpearlent

The Anchorage Daily News confirms this letter's authenticity and describes her as a "stay-at-home mom, letter-to-the-editor writer and longtime watcher of [Mat-Su] Valley politics" who has been deluged with e-mail as she become's Palin's leading local critic.

...........Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved!................

whatttttttttttttttttttttttttttt???????????????????

this fuckwad is the biggest steamin' pile o' shite i have come across in a LONG TIME. wtf. wearing a skirt makes someone a woman? wearing a skirt makes someone fuckable? wearing a skirt makes someone electable? wtf. i really can't get over this. can you tell?

CNBC host praises Palin for ‘putting a skirt on’: ‘I want her laying next to me in bed.’»

Donny Deutsch, host of CNBC’s Big Idea, praised Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as the “new creation” of the “feminist ideal” yesterday on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. “Women want to be her, men want to mate with her. It’s as simple as that,” he said, adding that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) failed because “she didn’t put a skirt on!”:

DEUTSCH: There is the new creation that the feminist woman has not figured out in 40 years of the feminist ideal that men can take in a woman in power and women can celebrate a woman in power. Hillary Clinton didn’t figure it out. She didn’t put a skirt on! […]

She [Palin] talked about energy. Didn’t matter! Today everybody’s running in circles — we want to have her over for dinner. I trust her. I want her watching my kids. I want her laying next to me in bed. That’s the way people vote..........

oh come on now nouri

king george spies on his OWN citizens and you're surprised he's spying on you? pa-leeze

Iraq reacts sharply to U.S. spying allegations

Woodward book says agents spied on prime minister, other officials

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government reacted sharply Friday to published allegations that the U.S. spied on Iraq's prime minister, warning that future ties with the United States could be in jeopardy if the report were true.

The allegations appear by a new book, "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008," by journalist Bob Woodward, who writes that the United States spied extensively on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his staff and other government officials.

The report emerged as the two governments are in delicate negotiations over the future of American troops in Iraq. Those talks have already extended past their July 31 deadline and have drawn sharp criticism from Iraqis who want an end to the U.S. presence........

elitist schmelitist

where da problem at? NOT with mr obama. that be fo sho

Cindy McCain's $300,000 Outfit

by Vanity Fair

..............Laura Bush
Oscar de la Renta suit: $2,500
Stuart Weitzman heels: $325
Pearl stud earrings: $600–$1,500
Total: Between $3,425 and $4,325

Cindy McCain
Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100

Wow! No wonder McCain has so many houses: his wife has the price of a Scottsdale split-level hanging from her ears.....

(All prices except Laura’s shoes and Cindy’s watch are estimates, and the jewelry prices are based on the assumption that the pieces are real.)

uh oh

ANOTHER giant whoops.

ya know, the maverick, the 'he's his own man', the outsider - he really is NONE of those things. he's king george's kissin' cousin. don't be fooled. they're REALLY close if you get my drift

Freudian slip?

whoops

i am not making light of navy seals. what i am making light of is the rnc. a bunch of lyin' two-faced weasely buffoons

Navy: SEALs should not have been recognized at RNC
From From CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Two Navy SEALs attending the Republican National Convention were there in a private capacity only and should not have been publicly recognized during the event, a Navy spokesman told CNN Thursday.

The men were acknowledged from the podium at the Xcel Energy Center Wednesday evening by Orson Swindle, a former POW cellmate of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who pointed them out and asked them to stand.

They did so, but appeared to be visibly uncomfortable.

The men, wearing civilian clothes, had been given permission to attend the St. Paul, Minnesota, event to support the family of their close friend and fellow SEAL Michael Mansoor, who was killed in action in Iraq, said Navy spokesman Cmdr. Jeff Davis.

There are very strict rules about active duty military personnel not attending political events or appearing to publicly support candidates.

The men, Lt. Leif Babin and Special Warfare Operator First Class Tom Deshazo, were legally on leave and had been granted permission to go to the convention as long as they were not in uniform and refrained from all public or media statements, Davis explained.

They were only allowed to escort the sister of Mansoor, who had asked them to be there for emotional support, the spokesman said.

Swindle's public recognition of them was a mistake, Davis said............

what, real soldiers don't die real deaths?

i know king george doesn't think so - since he's not attended ONE funeral.

they don't really count i guess if you don't go. actors playing dead soldiers don't count obviously.

Fake Soldiers Used In RNC Video

Patriotic Montage Shown At RNC Featured Actors Hired For One Day Shoot, Not Military

(CBS) CBS News Investigative Producer Michael Rey wrote this story for CBSNews.com.

---

It was a video that was supposed to elicit soaring patriotism and real emotions about the Pledge of Allegiance. But to do that, it used fake soldiers and a staged military funeral instead of the real thing.

On Tuesday night, 15-year-old Victoria Blackstone, a sophomore at the St. Agnes School in St. Paul, led the crowd at the Xcel Energy Center in the Pledge of Allegiance. The audience heard her 434-word essay, “Pledging myself to the Flag of the United States of America,” an essay she’d entered in the “Wave the Stars & Stripes” essay contest and won. The RNC turned that essay into a three and a half minute video, a visually stirring montage rolling over Victoria’s words about sharing the Pledge with Americans who have stood at important moments in history.

There’s the Continental Congress…A real WWII vet…Photos of workers at Ground Zero. A close-up of a folded flag presented to a grieving widow at a military funeral… profiles of soldiers swelling with pride in slo-motion.

But CBS News found that the footage of the ‘funeral’ and soldiers is what is called ‘stock’ footage. The soldiers were actors and the funeral scene was from a one-day film shoot, produced in June. No real soldiers were used during production...........

......A veteran’s advocate said that with soldiers still deployed and in harm’s way, there is an obligation not to sugar coat reality.

“What it does reveal is a serious lack of understanding and a lack of personal connection to the military,” said Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America........

oh no he di-ent

oh yes he DID

you just KNOW 'these people' are dying to use the 'n' word. they really are. well i'm sure they use it, just not out loud. not yet that is. soon, someone is gonna slip up

we all know what word comes directly after 'uppity' don't we?

Westmoreland calls Obama ‘uppity'
By Mike Soraghan
Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term "uppity" to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.

Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.

"Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”
............

once again my boyfriend jon stewart

gets it so much more right than anyone else could even hope to.

why don't the msm point out what the daily show points out? it's obvious ALL of these people are double speakers.

this excerpt from the show the other day is wicked wicked wicked on the mark!
Daily Show skewers right wing hypocrisy following Palin nomination
David Edwards and Nick Juliano
So here's a news flash: political talking heads will say whatever they need to advance the case for their candidate and disparage the opposing candidate -- if the sky needs to be green for John McCain to get elected, Karl Rove will go on Fox News preaching to anyone who will listen about the emerald hue above.

Naturally, this should come as no surprise. But the rank hypocrisy on display over the last few weeks has been so blatant -- as conservatives backtrack from months of harping against inexperience, claims of misogyny and the evils of teen pregnancy in the wake of Sarah Palin becoming their vice presidential nominee -- that Daily Show host Jon Stewart couldn't resist a package lampooning the doublespeak Wednesday night. ............
..............

it's friday with booker t and the mgs

that steamin' pile formerly known as da liebs

is outdoing even what i thought he was capable of. now he's personally advising sarevil? wow

and another reminder to the steamin' pile. YOU ARE AN AMERICAN. AMERICA COMES FIRST AND FOREMOST. NOT ANY OTHER COUNTRY. AMERICA. got that steamin' pile?

sarevil? you couldn't possibly find anyone 'better' to advise you than the steamin' pile. you both deserve each other

Experts Helping Palin Brush Up on Foreign Policy

By Michael Abramowitz and Juliet Eilperin

Washington Post Staff Writers
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 4 -- Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman is among several national security experts helping brief Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on foreign policy issues as she prepares to hit the campaign trail while cramming for a debate with her Democratic opponent, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), in less than a month, according to officials from Sen. John McCain's campaign.
Lieberman, who was the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee but is now an independent, has helped introduce Palin to officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the leading pro-Israel lobby. In a meeting Tuesday, the day before she delivered her prime-time address at the Republican National Convention here, Palin assured the group of her strong support for Israel, of her desire to see the United States move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and of her opposition to Iran's aspirations to become a nuclear power, according to sources familiar with the meeting. ...........

from store front windows

a cool new obama poster!!!

(check out his other work. it's pretty damn good)

rage rage rage

against the machine (from boing boing)

america?

man that po-leece chief is trying to dance, but it appears he forgot to pay the piper.

the scoop on sarevil keeps getting better and better

not to be confused with vetted and vetted....mind you

Archives of Alaska Papers Reveal Disturbing -- And Goofy -- Details from Palin's Past
By Greg Mitchell
NEW YORK The McCain team may not have vetted Sarah Palin with boots on the ground in Alaska, but the Democrats sure did -- two years ago when she ran for governor. The oppo-research, compiled in a 62-page document with countless summaries or direct quotes, largely from local newspapers, covers all of the important issues you would expect to see, from her views on abortion and abstinence to tangled oil pipeline questions. ..........

......DEATH PENALTY

Palin Said "Hang 'Em Up" When Asked About the Death Penalty. Asked about the death penalty, in extreme cases such as the murder of a child, Palin said, "My goodness, hang 'em up, yeah." [Anchorage Daily News , 8/18/06]

RELIGION

Palin wrote a Letter to the Editor saying only, "San Francisco judges forbidding our Pledge of Allegiance? They will take the phrase 'under God' away from me when my cold, dead lips can no longer utter those words. God bless America." [Juneau Empire, 6/30/02]

WALMART

Palin Presided Over a Wedding at a Walmart. He worked in the pets department. She was a cashier. A romance blossomed. And when it came time to say ''I do,'' they chose -- where else? -- an aisle next to menswear. Sandwiched between racks of cotton pants and surrounded by ''Back-to-School Specials'' signs, Jake McCowan and Rosalyn Ryan exchanged vows last week at the place where they met, work and fell in love: the Wasilla Wal-Mart. A crowd of 200, including passengers from a tour bus and several dozen curious shoppers, watched the two employees tie the knot in an afternoon ceremony officiated by Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin. ''It was so sweet,'' said Palin, who fought back tears during the nuptials. "It was so Wasilla." [Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), 8/28/99]

Palin Delivered "Non-Answers" On Expanding Health Care Coverage and Walmart. "Asked about expanding health care coverage and about Wal-Mart's corporate conduct, she delivered non-answers with a disarming smile." [Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), 1/30/06]

USED PUBLIC FUNDS FOR POLITICAL GAIN

In her 2002 Lt. Governor bid, Mayor Palin used city employees, telephones, computers, fax machines for campaign fundraising and literature. On her candidate registration form, she used her City Hall fax number, and her mayoral e-mail address. Records show that Wasilla city property was used to contact supporters, donors, media contacts, and media purchasing. [Anchorage Daily News, 7/21/06].........


............Palin Exaggerated Work Experience for Mayoral Campaign. In 1997, Frontiersman columnist Paul Stuart wrote that after Palin had criticized her opponent for using City Hall resources for political gain, "when Palin was asked back then (by me) why the lodge where she claimed, in her campaign, to have gained her management experience, had no record of a borough business license or of paying any bed tax, she paused and said it might have been because the place had no clients for a year or so." In an article describing the possibility of recalling Palin, the Frontiersman wrote the "reasons include Palin's alleged falsification of her credentials during the campaign last fall." [Frontiersman, 1/22/97, 2/5/97]...................

the.......reformed....... pirate: waulking the wool: today's history lesson, clò mór

the.......reformed....... pirate: waulking the wool: today's history lesson, clò mór

THE absolute best comment i've seen

on sarevil palin? here it is:

OMG. John McCain has chosen Britney Spears as his running mate.

Posted by: goatchowder | September 4, 2008 1:03 AM

Palin Scrubbing Turns Up an Undeclared Car Wash

By Matthew Mosk
ST. PAUL -- In addition to being a mayor and raising four children, Sarah Palin found time for another venture in her Wasilla years -- she was part-owner of an Anchorage car wash.

Palin and husband Todd each held a 20 percent stake in Anchorage Car Wash LLC, according to state corporation records filed in 2004.

A review of Palin's gubernatorial disclosure filings indicates that she failed to report her stake in the company on the form that requires candidates for governor to disclose any interest in a nonpublicly traded company.

The car wash venture was not entirely smooth sailing. State records show the business ran into trouble with Alaska's division of corporations business and professional licensing after Palin became governor of the state in 2006.

A Feb. 11, 2007 letter to the governor's business partner advises that the car wash had "not filed its biennial report and/or paid its biennial fees," which were more than a year overdue.

The warning letter was written on state letterhead, which carried Palin's name at the top, next to the state seal.

............Palin's gubernatorial disclosure filings also reveal her involvement in another failed startup -- a marketing business which was to go by the name Rouge Cou, which evidently is a literal French translation of "red neck." On the 2005 form, Palin describes the firm as one for which she secured a license but did not conduct any business.............

you know i said to my friend michele just yesterday, i really CAN see her in a sheet with a noose in her hands. yes, i mean that

ok peggy it's obvious

how you REALLY feel. we heard you when you 'accidentally' spoke the truth on open mike. why then when you write your articles do you lie PRETEND about evil sarah? for instance - why are you giving her credit for being a feminist? cause she works and has a gun? a woman who works is NOT necessarily a feminist. a woman with a gun* is just a downright danger (unless she is a police officer or a member of the armed services).
Reagan speechwriter Noonan pans Palin: 'It's over'
David Edwards and Mike Sheehan
Peggy Noonan--author, columnist and former speechwriter for Pres. Ronald Reagan--made some startling observations about McCain vice presidential pick Gov. Sarah Palin on the MSNBC set at the Republican National Convention today.

Overheard on open microphones along with fellow conservative Mike Murphy after an interview with Chuck Todd, Noonan says "it's over" in reference to the presidential race.

Todd is heard to say, "I mean, is [Palin] really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?" Noonan replies, "The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives and youthfulness and the picture.

"Every time Republicans do that," Noonan continues, "because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it."....................

Top G.O.P. Pundits Fault Palin Selection

By Kate Phillips

Updated ST. PAUL — Two prominent Republicans — one of them a close ally and former aide to Senator John McCain — were caught on a live mic on MSNBC bemoaning the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin and the controversy surrounding her.

Mike Murphy, who worked on Senator McCain’s campaign in 2000 but declined to join this year’s, citing tensions with top campaign staff members, can be heard in near-anguish talking about the fallout from her candidacy. “I come out of the blue, swing-state governor world, Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush” he said. But the McCain campaign just decided to run with Palin, he said, adding “it’s not going to work.”

Peggy Noonan, speechwriter for Ronald Reagan and columnist, interjects: “It’s over.”.....
(stop back peddling peggy. we KNOW what you said AND what you meant)

*a MAN with a gun is the same. a downright danger unless he's a service member or police officer

she's E V I L

she's GOT to go.

she is NOT the person for the job. she shoots wolves from helicopters. she tells people to pray (literally) so pipelines will be built. she has an evil aura about her. she does. i saw it.

she MUST go

Palin E-Mails Show Intense Interest in Trooper's Penalty

By James V. Grimaldi and Karl Vick

Washington Post Staff Writers

EAGLE RIVER, Alaska, Sept. 3 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the running mate for GOP presidential candidate John McCain, wrote e-mails that harshly criticized Alaska state troopers for failing to fire her former brother-in-law and ridiculed an internal affairs investigation into his conduct.

The e-mails were shown to The Washington Post by a former public safety commissioner, Walter Monegan, who was fired by Palin in July. Monegan has given copies of the e-mails to state ethics investigators to support his contention that he was dismissed for failing to fire Trooper Mike Wooten, who at the time was feuding with Palin's family...

..........Palin had promised to cooperate with the legislative inquiry, but this week moved to change the jurisdiction of the case to the state personnel board, which Palin appoints. Her attorney, Thomas V. Van Flein, who was hired last month, challenged the jurisdiction of Stephen Branchflower, the retired prosecutor hired to investigate and report back to the legislature by the last week of October..,,...........

yes, it's real

i thought it was a joke, but, sadly, no it's not. here's a VIDEO of it
when i read it in buzzflash i REALLY thought they were fooling around.
nope, they weren't
someone please tell these people to put their crack pipes down AND BACK AWAY SLOWLY.

tell me, if someone who is going to vote for mccain/evilone and they happen across this posting, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me HOW AND WHY you're voting for them? PLEASE pretty please. i NEED to know. i MUST know. did YOU do too much acid in the 60s?

McCain (R-Idiot) Campaign Manager: 'This Election is Not About Issues'

from buzzflash
Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning. "This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."........... In reaction to Rick Davis' comments about the election not being about issues, Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe released the following statement: "We appreciate Senator McCain's campaign manager finally admitting that his campaign is not in fact about the issues the American people care about, which is exactly the kind of cynical old politics people are ready to change.".......

McCain Manager: 'This Election is Not About Issues'

more animals

from dark roasted blend of course!!!

(yoga cat: (part of the clever Rubik's Cube ad, see more))
(elephant: (art by: Daniel Firman))
(monkeys:
(image credit: floridapfe))

if you live in richland county, sc

YOU'RE F**KED

Sheriff Lott's New Toy

The Richland County, South Carolina Sheriff's Department (that's them above) just obtained an armored personnel carrier, complete with a belt-fed, .50-cal turreted machine gun. Sheriff Leon Lott has charmingly named the vehicle "The Peacemaker," and insists that using a caliber of ammunition that even the U.S. military is reluctant to use against human targets (it's generally reserved for use against armored vehicles) will "save lives."

Can we call this overkill, yet? Is there any weapon people like Sheriff Lott would consider inappropriate for use against American citizens?........

(via boing boing)

(via americablog)

(oh and NO offense to marge OR the coens. i happen to LIKE marge)

last palin story (TODAY that is)

yup, just for today. like i mentioned yesterday (or was that today?) i am going to do EVERYTHING within my power to expose this steamin' pile. i don't think mccain could have made a WORSE pick. really, i don't.


When Mayor, Palin Tried to Ban Books From Public Library
Posted by Staff, People For the American Way Foundation

Editor's note: The following is a press release from People For the American Way.

Time Magazine today reports that Alaska Governor, and Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, attempted to ban books from her local library as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and then threatened to fire the librarian who stood up to her for not giving "full support" to the mayor. People For the American Way president Kathryn Kolbert issued the following statement:

People can disagree about a lot of things, but censorship is completely beyond the pale. Our democracy was founded on the belief that government shouldn’t tell people what kinds of books to read or what kind of beliefs to hold. No one with that kind of history should be anywhere near the White House. Sarah Palin needs to clarify her stance on freedom of speech immediately, and John McCain needs to explain why he chose a running mate with so little regard for the Constitution........

(please please please click the link above "to ban books" link. it's the complete time magazine article and WELL worth it)

this my dears DOES it for me

as if i needed ANOTHER thing to dislike this steamin' pile

Sarah Palin's Big, Sleazy Safari

By John Dolan, AlterNet.

Most people had never heard of Sarah Palin when she was named the Republican VP nominee. But I'd been hearing her name all too often, because I belong to a group called Defenders of Wildlife -- and in her time as governor of Alaska, Palin has used her position as governor of Alaska to ruin the Alaskan wilderness in every way she could.

Her most recent "victory" came on Aug. 26, when Alaska's voters defeated Measure 2, an initiative that would have banned hunting wolves from airplanes for sport.

Palin organized a campaign against Measure 2 and funded it with $400,000 of state money. For most of us, the idea of zooming around in a private airplane over snowbound wilderness just for the chance to spot a terrified wild dog and blow it apart with a high-powered rifle is insane. But there's a whole culture out there in love with the idea. Palin did her part by playing the tired old Alaskan pioneer card, saying that lower-48 naysayers who dared to object to the idea of dive-bombing wildlife didn't "understand rural Alaska."............

............

To get an idea of Palin's core constituency, just go to the home page of Safari Club International, one of the groups that fought hardest against Measure 2 -- and is now gloating loudest over this proud victory.

Even the name is a little skewed -- "safari"? When was the last time you heard that word? Most people are trying hard to forget the "safari" era, when rich white jerks had themselves carried into the African wilderness by nameless black servants, at vast expense, to kill animals they could barely identify..........

like i said

they (the they are THOSE people. the king georges, the john mcccains, the karl roves, the big dicks. the flush limburgers, the bill o'wronglys, THE EFFING SARAH PALINS, you know THOSE people)

ONLY care up until the moment of birth. after that, you're on your f**king OWN

Palin cut $1.1 million from funding for teen moms in need

Nick Langewis
The Washington Post revealed Tuesday that Alaska Governor and McCain vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, whose 17-year-old daughter Bristol is pregnant outside wedlock, earlier this year used a line-item veto to cut $1.1 million (22%) in funding which would have at least partially benefited teen moms in need.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family," Palin said in a statement. "We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi's privacy, as has always been the tradition of children of candidates."

Covenant House Alaska, the affected organization which serves to assist homeless and runaway youth, runs Passage House, a transitional living program with 24-hour support staff that provides housing, along with up to eighteen months of assistance in building parenting, money management and job skills, with aims to help teen parents prepare for the "real world."......

i am blathering now

there is only so much i can say. there is only so much i can rant. there is only so much i, a rose is a rose, can personally handle. this is insulting to my intelligence. this is incredulous. why isn't this man and his boss (ex, the king of america) in jail right this second? at the least, why aren't they CHARGED with something?

Report Describes Careless Handling of U.S. Secrets

Gonzales Says He Does Not Recall

By Carrie Johnson

Washington Post Staff Writer

Former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales told investigators that he could not recall whether he took home notes regarding the government's most sensitive national security program and that he did not know they contained classified information, despite his own markings that they were "top secret -- eyes only,"(WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT????????? and we're just going to sit here and take THAT shite?) according to a Justice Department report released yesterday.

Gonzales improperly carried notes about the warrantless wiretapping program in an unlocked briefcase and failed to keep them in a safe at his Northern Virginia home three years ago because he "could not remember the combination," the department's inspector general reported...........

uh oh

one of our national data collection centers/programs/spy headquarters may be 'on the brink of collapse'? uh oh.

i wonder if someone who is considering voting for mccain goes though the list. what list? the list of horrid things that have happened since king george ascend the throne. THAT list.

i just don't understand how ANYONE NO MATTER WHAT PARTY THEY ARE LOYAL TO, COULD VOTE FOR MORE OF THE SAME (or worse)
f**k up after f**k up after f**k up. this isn't the keystone cops here. it's costing us HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

(just wait until those winter heating bills start pouring in)

Controversy Snarls Upgrade Of Terrorist Data Repository

By Robert O'Harrow Jr.

Washington Post Staff Writer

A major effort to upgrade intelligence computers that hold the government's master list of terrorist identities is embroiled in controversy about the project's management and the work of contractors hired for the job, documents and interviews show.

The Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, or TIDE, serves as the central repository of information about more than 400,000 suspected terrorists around the world. Operating at the National Counterterrorism Center, TIDE and other systems each day deliver files of information to watch-list programs that screen people traveling into the United States, or they make data available online to intelligence analysts across the government...............

............After more than a year and about $100 million, the Railhead project has become the focus of criticism from some counterterrorism analysts and contractors, who have said it does not provide the search capabilities they expected and appears to be behind schedule. One lawmaker has taken up those questions and publicly asked for an investigation by the inspector general of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, saying his congressional staff has information from a contractor whistle-blower that shows the project is on the "brink of collapse," possibly threatening national security..............

a new game to try

just what i need

i'm not good at computer games. i rarely play them and when i do, i stink. i'm a kingdom of loathing type babe. although this game DOES sound like something i'd dig. dig?

Gaming Evolves

By CARL ZIMMER

NEW HAVEN — By day, Thomas Near studies the evolution of fish, wading through streams in Kentucky and Mississippi in search of new species. By night, Dr. Near, an assistant professor at Yale, is a heavy-duty gamer, steering tanks or playing football on his computer. This afternoon his two lives have come together.

On his laptop swims a strange fishlike creature, with a jaw that snaps sideways and skin the color of green sea glass. As Dr. Near taps the keyboard, it wiggles and twists its way through a busy virtual ocean. It tries to eat other creatures and turns its quills toward predators that would make it a meal.

The chairman of Dr. Near’s department, Richard Prum, watches him play and worries about his reckless lunges.

“You’re just attacking them?” he asks as Dr. Near tries to eat a fat purple worm that looks too dangerous to bother.

“If you kill them, you unlock their parts,” Dr. Near explains. But then the purple worm sticks its syringelike mouth into Dr. Near’s beast and begins to drain its innards. “Uh-oh, I’m about to die,” he says. The screen fades to black.

The next time, Dr. Near’s luck changes. He gains enough points to move to the next level of the game. His creature grows a brain. “Oh man, it’s like I graduated college,” he says. Dr. Near can now alter his creature. He stretches the body to give it a neck. He adds a pair of kangaroolike legs.

His creature — or, rather, a swarm of his creatures — charge out of the ocean and onto land. Dr. Near pushes back the laptop as his creatures find a place to make their nest and lay eggs. “So that’s pretty cool,” he says with a grin not often seen on a professor.........

fences

fence in the tree: (image credit: Kevin O'Mara)
insulator fence: (image credit: magarfell)
shoe fence: (image credit: Rachel Yerbury)

you'll find these and more at dark roasted blend

and this too

Disclosures on Palin Raise Questions on Vetting Process

By ELISABETH BUMILLER

ST. PAUL — A series of disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s choice as running mate, called into question on Monday how thoroughly Mr. McCain had examined her background before putting her on the Republican presidential ticket.

On Monday morning, Ms. Palin and her husband, Todd, issued a statement saying that their 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant and that she intended to marry the father.

Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state’s public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.

Aides to Mr. McCain said they had a team on the ground in Alaska now to look more thoroughly into Ms. Palin’s background. A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday, a day before Mr. McCain stunned the political world with his vice-presidential choice. The campaign was still calling Republican operatives as late as Sunday night asking them to go to Alaska to deal with the unexpected candidacy of Ms. Palin.

Although the McCain campaign said that Mr. McCain had known about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy before he asked her mother to join him on the ticket and that he did not consider it disqualifying, top aides were vague on Monday about how and when he had learned of the pregnancy, and from whom.

While there was no sign that her formal nomination this week was in jeopardy, the questions swirling around Ms. Palin on the first day of the Republican National Convention, already disrupted by Hurricane Gustav, brought anxiety to Republicans who worried that Democrats would use the selection of Ms. Palin to question Mr. McCain’s judgment and his ability to make crucial decisions......

well we know how far looking into king george's

military career got us. it will be the same for mccain. where as kerry got kicked in the ass (unjustly) for his noble military service. king george who did NOT in any way have stellar service is wrapped up tight under the eagle's wing

'Nieman Watchdog': McCain Should Release Navy Records on 3 Accidents
By E&P Staff
NEW YORK In a piece posted tonight at the Nieman Watchdog site, Barry Sussman, editor of the Watchdog (which is affiliated with the Nieman Foundation at Harvard), calls on John McCain to release all of his Navy records, particularly those surrounding three unusual accidents that he was involved in before getting shot down over Vietnam.

Sussman was a reporter and editor at The Washington Post for 22 years and had a role in the Watergate era at the paper.

He wrote his call in response to a massive Washington Post piece by Micheal Leavy on McCain's Navy years, noting "Leahy mentioned, without laboring over them, three near-catastrophes McCain had as a pilot. Reporters should look into these incidents. They should do so soon, and not wait until just before the election, or after it. It's unusual for military pilots, let alone presidential candidates, to have so many mishaps in a relatively short career of flying What do they tell us, if anything, about McCain's judgment, ability and character?"

The second accident was particularly troubling, Sussman suggests: McCain had completed flight training and was deployed to the Mediterranean. 'He was flying low one day when he decided to have some fun,' Leahy wrote. He dropped so low that he knocked down power lines over southern Spain, cutting off electricity in the area. McCain later referred to his own behavior as 'daredevil clowning' and said he had created 'a small international incident.'"

Here is an excerpt. The whole piece is at: http://www.niemanwatchdog.org
*.........................

land of the free and home of the brave?

well it USED to be
(and once again i'm stating unlike the wingnuts saying barack obama had something to do with the mistreatment of some at the dnc, i do NOT think mccain had anything to do with this mistreatment. king george? YUP, he's succeeded in creating his police state)




Amy Goodman and Two Democracy Now! Producers Unlawfully Arrested at RNC

The following is an updated release from Democracy Now!

ST. PAUL -- Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar have all been released from police custody in St. Paul following their illegal arrest by Minneapolis Police on Monday afternoon.

All three were violently manhandled by law enforcement officers. Abdel Kouddous was slammed against a wall and the ground, leaving his arms scraped and bloodied. He sustained other injuries to his chest and back. Salazar's violent arrest by baton-wielding officers, during which she was slammed to the ground while yelling, "I'm Press! Press!," resulted in her nose bleeding, as well as causing facial pain. Goodman's arm was violently yanked by police as she was arrested.

On Tuesday, Democracy Now! will broadcast video of these arrests, as well as the broader police action. These will also be available on: www.democracynow.org.

Goodman was arrested while questioning police about the unlawful detention of Kouddous and Salazar who were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman's crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.....

i'm NOT stopping

until every rock is turned. i can feel it. this woman is NOT right

kill all the polar bears and secure MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS for a town of under 7,000

she's 'fought against wasting taxpayer's money'? in WHAT alternate universe i ask you?

Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds

By Paul Kane

Washington Post Staff Writer
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group.

There was $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project -- all intended to benefit Palin's town, Wasilla, located about 45 miles north of Anchorage.

In introducing Palin as his running mate on Friday, Sen. John McCain cast her as a compatriot in his battle against wasteful federal spending. McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, hailed Palin as a politician "with an outstanding reputation for standing up to special interests and entrenched bureaucracies -- someone who has fought against corruption and the failed policies of the past, someone who's stopped government from wasting taxpayers' money."......

ulterior motives in mississippi?

i'm thinking YES. how much sense does this make? yup, some conservative politicians fearing what the demographic will be in 20 years. skin color a bit darker than the snow

Did a Mississippi Raid Protect Rightwing Politicians?

by: David Bacon, t r u t h o u t | Report
Laurel, Mississippi - On August 25, immigration agents swooped down on Howard Industries, a Mississippi electrical equipment factory, taking 481 workers to a privately-run detention center in Jena, Louisiana. A hundred and six women were also arrested at the plant, and released wearing electronic monitoring devices on their ankles if they had children, or without them if they were pregnant. Eight workers were taken to Federal court in Hattiesburg, where they were charged with aggravated identity theft.

Afterwards Barbara Gonzalez, spokesperson for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stated the raid took place because of a tip by a "union member" two years before. Other media accounts focused on an incident in which plant workers allegedly cheered as their coworkers were led away by ICE agents. The articles claim the plant was torn by tension between immigrant and non-immigrant workers, and that unions in Mississippi are hostile to immigrants...........

it's 2008

the crime: wanting to pick out their OWN husband
the punishment: BEING BURIED ALIVE

the outcome: a senator from the province/village DEFENDS the action as a 'custom'

yes, it's real. yes, it's true

via feministing
Burying of women alive defended in Senate

By Ahmed Hassan
ISLAMABAD, Aug 29: Balochistan Senator Sardar Israrullah Zehri stunned the upper house on Friday when he defended the recent incident of burying alive three teenage girls and two women in his province, saying it was part of “our tribal custom.”

Senator Bibi Yasmin Shah of the PML-Q raised the issue citing a newspaper report that the girls, three of them aged between 16 and 18 years, had been buried alive a month ago for wishing to marry of their own will.

The barbaric incident took place in a remote village of Jafarabad district and a PPP minister and some other influential people were reported to have been involved. The report accused the provincial government of trying to hush up the issue.

Ms Shah said that the hapless girls and the women were first shot in the name of honour and then buried while they were alive. She also said that no criminal had been arrested so far.
.........

a lot of things are frightening

these days. especially this type of thing.

The Dangerous Consequences of Recruiting Nazis to Serve in Iraq
By David Holthouse, Hate Watch.

The racist skinhead logged on with exciting news: He'd just enlisted in the United States Army.

"Sieg Heil, I will do us proud," he wrote. It was a June 3 post to AryanWear Forum 14, a neo-Nazi online forum to which "Sobibor's SS," who identified himself as a skinhead living in Plantersville, Ala., had belonged since early 2004. (Sobibor was a Nazi death camp in Poland during World War II).

About a month after he announced his enlistment, Sobibor's SS bragged in another post to Forum 14 that he'd specifically requested and been assigned to MOS, or Military Occupational Specialty, 98D. MOS98D soldiers are in high demand right now. That's because they're specially trained in disarming Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) like the infamous roadside bombs that are killing and maiming so many U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Presumably, a part of learning how to disarm an IED is learning how to make one.............

...........Two years ago, the Intelligence Report revealed that alarming numbers of neo-Nazi skinheads and other white supremacist extremists were taking advantage of lowered armed services recruiting standards and lax enforcement of anti-extremist military regulations by infiltrating the U.S. armed forces in order to receive combat training and gain access to weapons and explosives.............

wow wow wow wow wow wow wow and holy shite

update at 6:04 pm on 9/1. truth? elaborate ruse? i don't know

Teen daughter of GOP VP pick is pregnant

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, is pregnant and will keep the baby and marry the baby's father, the Republican vice presidential candidate said Monday.

John McCain was aware of Bristol Palin's pregnancy before he chose her mother for his running mate, a top adviser to the Republican presidential candidate said.

The adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin, said Monday that Palin "was completely vetted by the campaign" before she was chosen.

"Sen. McCain knew this and felt in no way did it disqualify her from being vice president," said an aide who asked not to be named. "Families have difficulties sometimes and lucky for her she has a supportive family."

The McCain aide emphasized that Bristol decided to keep the baby, a decision "supported by her parents."

Senior McCain advisers said Palin told McCain about her daughter's pregnancy in one of their "private conversations" last week before he officially asked her to run with her.........

COULD this be true? i'm not a conspiracy theorist but hell, it sure seems like it COULD be true. i'm not saying it IS but look at all of the facts. read the WHOLE article

wow wow and wow

is this the lie of all lies here?

Questions Raised: Does Sarah Palin Really Have a 5th Child? [Photos + Video] UPDATED
Posted by ArcXIX Daily Kos

With the news of Sarah Louise Heath Palin inexplicably being chosen as a Vice-Presidential nominee, the attentive American public was also introduced to her character. Unfortunately for all of us, it was filled with multiple instances of backtracking and outright lies. While Alaskans had been giving her an 80% approval rating, recently 87% of Alaskans polled on the subject of TrooperGate believed she was lying.

Now, I've known liars in my life. Their single core problem is not with themselves, but those around them. If they're never called out on their twisting of truths and fabrications, they simply continue to make larger lies.

Well, Sarah, I'm calling you a liar. And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better............

......

The oddities only grow from here on, as instead of rushing to a Dallas medical facility that could treat a mother who's amniotic fluid has been draining for hours on end (made even more crucial due to the fact that this is occurring a full month prematurely), Sarah & Todd instead opted to Fly all the way back from Texas to Alaska. A dangerous choice, as with each pregnancy (once again, in this case after four previous), a mother's window of labor to delivery grows shorter and shorter.

Aboard Alaska Airlines, the flight lasted for eight hours, with an additional landing in Seattle.......
..........

Eight months pregnant. A 6.2 pound fetus. No one notices a visible trace. By the third trimester, a perfectly fit woman not wearing anything less than a space suit should be easily spotted as pregnant. Not in Sarah's case.

The plane then made a landing in Anchorage, Alaska. Does Sarah then visit a medical facility that can accommodate a premature birth in Alaska's most equipped city? No. She drives 45 minutes away, to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, right outside the small village she used to govern as Mayor, Wasilla. Trig Palin is then delivered one month premature, Friday night. Sarah returned to work after three days.

The inherent need to absolutely have Trig delivered in a remote and possibly ill-equipped facility for premature deliveries, where Sarah would likely have numerous contacts and pull, does not sit well. ...............

hmmmmmmmmmmm her then 16 year old daughter was out of high school at the same time for a suspiciously long time. again, i'm not saying it's true or not true. just giving you some things to ponder

Checking with the Anchorage High School that Bristol Palin attended, reporters were given word that her family had taken Bristol out of school due to contracting infectious mononucleosis. The amount of time Bristol was absent shifts from five to eight months.

Mono can last anywhere from two weeks to three months, but an eight month infection is a freak oddity. ............