he still WILL NOT

SHUT THE F**K UP yup pat boone is at it AGAIN (and the first link in the story below brings you to pat's article which is indeed really entitled 'i love gays' - i think he forgot to put the word "THE" in front of gays though)

Some of Pat Boone's best dead friends are gay!
John Aravosis (DC)

What a dweeb.
Pat Boone has penned a column entitled "I love gays," after he wrote an earlier column comparing those who opposes Prop 8 in California to the terrorists who murdered hundreds in Mumbai a few weeks back. Pat says that the "politically correct" crowd shouldn't get so upset that he compared civil rights activists, and regular moms and dads, to terrorists because he didn't compare us to them at all! Then he did it again:

I drew a comparison between the violence that killed almost 200 innocent people in Mumbai, perpetrated by jihadists trained to hate and kill indiscriminately, and the turbulent, abusive mob events in our streets and in front of our churches. If you read the column, you'll see that I carefully stated. "Oh, I know the homosexual 'rights' demonstrations haven't reached the same level of violence, but I'm referring to the anger, the vehemence, the total disregard for law and order and the supposed rights of their fellow citizens. I'm referring to the intolerance, the hate seething in the words, faces, and actions of those who didn't get their way in a democratic election, those who proclaim loudly that they will get their way, no matter what the electorate wants!"

..........

it's not like this is new news

or surprising. we knew about this for a long time. not too very many voices crying out for justice though. not too many voices demanding king george and his good ol' whiteboy posse be held accountable not only for this but for the deaths of 4,209 american men and women in iraq and countless iraqi deaths (i've read figures from 128,000 to over 600,000). of course i'm not even mentioning the wounded, mentally and physicially (of ours AND theirs). nor the trickle down effect on the lives of effected families (theirs AND ours). nor the cost of caring for OUR returning troops. yeah, i'm just about done talking FOR NOW


Revealed: Unpublished Fed Document Highlights Costly Rebuilding Blunders in Iraq
Posted by dday, Hullabaloo
T. Christian Miller wrote a definitive work a couple years ago called Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq. Late last week, Miller, who used to work for the LA Times and now writes for the online investigative unit Pro Publica got his eye on an unpublished document detailing the history of the failed reconstruction project in Iraq, and the only thing surprising about it is that the Pentagon allowed the Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, to write it up at all. The blinding incompetence and ignorance, the sustained money funnel into the hands of contractors, and the ideological warfare that led to over $100 billion in waste and fraud, all to simply replicate what we spent even more billions destroying without improving the basic lives of Iraqis, is just astounding. You can pull out anecdote after anecdote that will absolutely floor you.

It also concludes that when the reconstruction began to lag — particularly in the critical area of rebuilding the Iraqi police and army — the Pentagon simply put out inflated measures of progress to cover up the failures............

this is GRAND!

Ecogeek Deathmatch: Ed Begley Jr. v. Bill Nye, Science Guy
By Kiera Butler

News: Which Hollywood do-gooder has the greener crib? A no-holds-barred fight to the furnished.

Photos: Nye—John M. Heller/Getty Images; Begley—BCII

November/December 2008 Issue

Ed Begley Jr.'s solar-powered, rainwater-recycling house was the greenest in his Studio City neighborhood—until his friend Bill Nye, the erstwhile science guy, vowed to outdo him. A rundown of the competition:...........

this is what an asshole looks like

and sounds like. as i always say; fair and balanced MY BIG FAT ASS



After Doocy said Caroline Kennedy "is a constitutional lawyer," Kilmeade asked: "Is that American Constitution?"
On the December 16 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy said of Caroline Kennedy: "[I]t sounds like she did call up and speak to the governor of the Empire State of New York, David Paterson, within the last week or so, to essentially tell him, OK, these are my qualifications. And what she said was that she's been involved in charity work, education, and she is a constitutional lawyer." Moments later, co-host Brian Kilmeade asked: "Is that American Constitution?" Doocy responded, "I'm hoping. Sure -- runs in the family."

Kennedy has a law degree from Columbia Law School and has co-written two books about the U.S. Constitution...........

if you use ms ie this is a MUST read

Microsoft Issues Emergency Security Patch For IE
Microsoft is issuing an emergency patch for a critical Internet Explorer flaw.
JR Raphael, PC World
PC World
Microsoft will issue an emergency security patch Wednesday for all versions of Internet Explorer. The patch is considered a critical fix for the security flaw currently plaguing the IE browser. So far, more than 2 million computers are believed to have been infected.

An advance notification of the patch published Tuesday describes it as protection for a "remote code execution" vulnerability. The move follows Microsoft's security advisory posted last Wednesday and updated Monday explaining the vulnerability and suggesting temporary "workarounds" for protection.

The flaw can be used to let attackers steal personal data such as passwords if a user visits a compromised Web site, of which at least 10,000 are thought to already exist. Thus far, the vulnerability has been used primarily for grabbing gaming passwords for black market sales. The hole could, however, potentially also be used to steal more sensitive information such as banking passwords and other private information. ..........

i linked you up to the animations earlier today

well wired has links to bush shoe toss games (yeah, gameS, more than ONE)

hmmmm

'meddling' by our interior department? sort of hard to believe, no? (that my dears is called sarcasm)

let's kill ALL of our flora and fauna. why not? the rapture is right around the corner (and i'm sort of believing that now. NOT because of a god or anything but because of HUMAN BEINGS that are causing our earth to die)

Report Finds Meddling in Interior Dept. Actions
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
WASHINGTON — The inspector general of the Interior Department has found that agency officials often interfered with scientific work in order to limit protections for species at risk of becoming extinct, reviving attention to years of disputes over the Bush administration’s science policies.In a report delivered to Congress on Monday, the inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, found serious flaws in the process that led to 15 decisions related to policies on endangered species.

The report suggested that at least some of those decisions might need to be revisited under the Obama administration.

Among the more significant decisions was one reducing the number of streams that would be designated as critical habitat for the endangered bull trout and protected from commercial use. That rule is already the subject of a lawsuit by environmentalists. .....

this made me

wicked uncomfortable BUT I STILL LOVED IT

oh and by the way, it is NSFW



(found via feministing)

you gotta hop on over to boing boing

to see the iraqi shoe tosser gifs
(i have NO idea how to post a working gif on blogger. i'm too lazy to look into it right now. just go on over to boing boing. it's worth it any damn way)

and i saw this on andy thibault's cool justice report

Yankees Sign Iraqi Hurler
Shoe-Throwing
Right-Hander
Impresses Scouts

By ANDY BOROWITZ
www.borowitzreport.com

In their latest bid to beef up their pitching rotation for the 2009 season, the New York Yankees today signed Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi to a three-year deal worth $32 million.

The right-handed al-Zeidi, 28, impressed the Yankee scouts with his performance in Baghdad yesterday when he threw both of his shoes at President George W. Bush...............

'splain this to me lucy

how can we torture if we DON'T torture?

hmmmmmmmmm

oh and please note how the united states prosecuted japanese soldiers for using the very same method(s) the united states is using at gitmo. another hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Cheney admits authorizing detainee's torture
David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
Outgoing VP says Guantanamo prison should stay open until end of terror war, but has no idea when that might be.
Monday, outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney made a startling statement on a nation-wide, televised broadcast.

When asked by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl whether he approved of interrogation tactics used against a so-called "high value prisoner" at the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison, Mr. Cheney, in a break from his history of being press-shy, admitted to giving official sanctioning of torture.

"I supported it," he said regarding the practice known as "water-boarding," a form of simulated drowning. After World War II, Japanese soldiers were tried and convicted of war crimes in US courts for water-boarding, a practice which the outgoing Bush administration attempted to enshrine in policy............

a teeny tiny victory

but one i'll take and one i'm happy about. i don't think there is ANYTHING patriotic about the patriot act (personally)

(by the way, did you know EVERYONE who works for certain insurance companies or financial institutions as well as MOST of their agents {that sell certain products} MUST take a stupid-ass 'class' each year BECAUSE OF THE PATRIOT ACT? well no you didn't did you! the reason for that is something or other about funnelling money into terrorist countries or organizations. fine you say to yourselves. we should not be doing such things. oh, i agree with you 100% BUT MOST INSURANCE COMPANIES AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS had policies in place to prevent THAT AND MUCH MORE PRIOR AND IN SPITE OF the PATRIOT ACT)


Court sides with ACLU, strikes down Patriot Act gag provision
ACLU victorious as federal court declares Patriot Act provision a violation of the First Amendment

A federal appeals court ruling late Monday is the cause célèbre of the American Civil Liberties Union, as another provision of the Bush administration's Patriot Act falls to the judicial system.

Until the ruling, recipients of so-called "national security letters" were legally forbidden from speaking out. The letters, usually a demand for documents, or a notice that private records had been searched by government authorities, were criticized as a cover-all for FBI abuses.

recipients to initiate judicial review of gag orders, holding that the government has the burden to go to court and justify silencing "The appeals court invalidated parts of the statute that wrongly placed the burden on NSLNSL recipients," said the ACLU in a release.......

it doesn't look real

but the green pitviper is (from the bbc)

how many times do i have to say this?

the UNITED STATES DOES NOT TORTURE (except when we DO torture, lie about it and destroy the evidence)

i want justice and i want punishment for the guilty BUT i also want my country and it's laws back. AND I WANT THEM NOW

CIA Torture Tapes Destroyed After Watchdog Concluded Methods Illegal
By Jason Leopold
(The Intelligence Daily) -- The CIA destroyed videotapes showing its agents subjecting high-level al-Qaeda detainees to waterboarding after the agency's inspector general issued a classified report in the spring of 2004 that concluded the interrogation methods used on the prisoners "appeared to constitute cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, as defined by the International Convention Against Torture."

Details about the videotapes were revealed in a February 2003 letter released in January by Congresswoman Jane Harman D-California. Harman was the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee at the time she wrote the letter to the CIA advising the agency against destroying the videotapes. Prior to writing the letter to then CIA General Counsel Scott Muller, Harman had been briefed about the CIA's interrogation methods against so-called high-level detainees. The CIA declassified Harman's letter at the congresswoman's request..........

this is ugly

not shocking because i knew it was happening. the sad part is the military seems to be taking ANYONE who signs on these days. i do NOT want nazis given guns (well, i don't want them given ANYTHING). i don't want nazis given a green light to kill. that is NOT my america and i sure as hell hope it's NOT YOUR america either

[Shawn Stuart, Iraq War veteran, at a 2006 neo-Nazi rally in Olympia, WA.]

Two years ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center ran a devastating report describing the infiltration of neo-Nazis into the ranks of the American military. The Pentagon's official response was steadfast denial of the problem.

The SPLC's David Holthouse just published a follow-up report, and found, predictably, that the problem is getting worse as the conflict in Iraq drags on:

A new FBI report confirms that white supremacists are infiltrating the military for several reasons. According to the unclassified FBI Intelligence Assessment, "White Supremacist Recruitment of Military Personnel Since 9/11," which was released to law enforcement agencies nationwide: "Sensitive and reliable source reporting indicates supremacist leaders are encouraging followers who lack documented histories of neo-Nazi activity and overt racist insignia such as tattoos to infiltrate the military as 'ghost skins,' in order to recruit and receive training for the benefit of the extremist movement."...............

once again our king george

does NOT disappoint. he and big big big bid-nez (i.e. the good ol' whiteboy network) are suckling off each other. we? well we're not getting fed at all

not only are the fat cats getting fatter, but rome is burning. on top of ALL OF THAT, we don't know how this money is being spent OR where it went

Executive Pay Limits May Prove Toothless
Loophole in Bailout Provision Leaves Enforcement in Doubt
By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules.

But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said. The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction, which was the way the Treasury Department had said it planned to use the money.

Now, however, the small change looks more like a giant loophole, according to lawmakers and legal experts. In a reversal, the Bush administration has not used auctions for any of the $335 billion committed so far from the rescue package, nor does it plan to use them in the future. Lawmakers and legal experts say the change has effectively repealed the only enforcement mechanism in the law dealing with lavish pay for top executives. ........

wow

although i wouldn't throw anything at him (EXCEPT MY VERY LOUD VOICE) these are MY sentiments exactly.



stephen over at drinking liberally in new milford hooks us up with the above vid. WOW

(the video doesn't work for me on my site, but it sure does on stephen's. stop on by his place)

story link Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoes at Bush

and here's an update from wapo

Shoe-Throwing Mars Bush's Baghdad Trip
President Defends War in Surprise Farewell Visit Before Ducking an Iraqi Journalist's Rejoinder
By Sudarsan Raghavan and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD, Dec. 15 -- Arriving here on Sunday for a surprise farewell visit, President Bush staunchly defended a war that has taken far more time, money and lives than anticipated, but he received a taste of local resentment toward his policies when an Iraqi journalist hurled two shoes at him at a news conference......

.............Just after Bush finished his remarks and said "Thank you" in Arabic, an Iraqi journalist took off his shoes and threw them at Bush, one after the other.

Throwing a shoe at someone is considered the worst possible insult in Iraq and is meant to show extreme disrespect and contempt. When U.S. forces helped topple a statue of Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein after rolling into Baghdad in April 2003, jubilant Iraqis beat the statue's face with their shoes. .............



another update
Iraqi who threw shoes covered U.S. bombing of Shiite area
By Adam Ashton and Mohammed al Dulaimy | McClatchy Newspapers

"Any action taken against Muntathar will remind us of the actions and behaviors taken by the reign of the dictator and the violence, the random arrests, the mass graves and confiscations of freedom from the people," the board of Baghdadiyah said.

Friends said Zaidi covered the U.S. bombing of Baghdad's Sadr City area earlier this year and had been "emotionally influenced" by the destruction he'd seen. They also said he'd been kidnapped in 2007 and held for three days by Shiite Muslim gunmen.

here are 2 of 20

strange sculptures from village of joy (some of them are VERY disturbing indeed)
pic: chasing one another tokyo (Image credits: tanakawho)
pic: passing through the wall paris (Image credits: Chaymation)

ok this dude is nuts

and of course you're NEVER going to find a parent these days that would allow that to be done with their kid

(found via dark roasted blend)

bringing them freedom, justice and

democracy. oh, as only WE can (read: NOT at all)

as usual, the people WE leave in charge (not just in afghanistan but we've done it ALL over the world) are corrupt thugs (and in some instances way worse than thugs)


The Other Front
By Sarah Chayes

...................He had put his finger on the heart of the problem. We and our friends in Kandahar are thunderstruck at recent suggestions that the solution to the hair-raising situation in this country must include a political settlement with "relevant parties" -- read, the Taliban. Negotiating with them wouldn't solve Afghanistan's problems; it would only exacerbate them. Ask any Afghan what's really needed, what would render the Taliban irrelevant, and they'll tell you: improving the behavior of the officials whom the United States and its allies ushered into power after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ...........

..........Instead, we gave power back to corrupt gunslingers who had been repudiated years before. If they helped us chase al-Qaeda, we didn't look too hard at their governing style. Often we helped them monopolize the new opportunities for gain. A friend of mine, one of the beneficiaries, was astounded at the blank check. "What are we warlords doing still in power?" police precinct captain Mahmad Anwar asked me in 2002. "I vowed on the Holy Koran that I would fight the Taliban in order to bring an educated, competent government to Afghanistan. And now people like me are running the place?" I had to laugh at his candor............

i read about the other murder

of marcelo lucero on long island about a month ago. he was killed because his skin was a bit more brown than his murderers

now we have another new york murder of an ecuadorian, jose o. sucuzhanay. mr sucuzhanay and his brother were leaving a bar early one morning last week. they had their arms around each other. what happened? well some 'men' (and i use the term VERY loosely) hopped out of an suv with baseball bats and a bottle. they ended up beating mr sucuzhanay so badly, he died. this is in new york. brooklyn. why did they beat him? only they know (they've not only NOT been caught, they've not been identified) BUT they shouted anti-gay and anti-hispanic words


i don't want those kinds of people living in MY america

Brooklyn Man Dies From Beating
By JACK HEALY
An Ecuadorean immigrant who was brutally beaten with a bottle and baseball bat last week by men said to be shouting anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs has died, a family spokesman said on Saturday night
The victim, Jose O. Sucuzhanay, died on Friday night at Elmhurst Hospital Center as his mother was traveling from Ecuador to see him one last time, said the family spokesman, Francisco Moya. Mr. Sucuzhanay’s family had kept him on life support in anticipation of his mother’s arrival, but on Friday, his heart stopped.

In a statement on Saturday night, Mr. Sucuzhanay’s brother Diego said he was “at a loss beyond words” at his brother’s death, which the police are investigating as a hate crime.

The police were still looking for Mr. Sucuzhanay’s assailants, but said that detectives had been investigating the attack as homicide, a law enforcement official said. ......