yeah, bodyarmor

question: why don't our deployed troops have enough body armor?

answer: because the fbi is using it to raid houses of whistleblowers

Bush FBI sent 18 armored agents to search my house, wiretap whistleblower says

By John Byrne

The Bush Administration’s FBI sent 18 agents in body armor to the home of a man who revealed details of the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program, according to a little-noticed account of the whistleblower published Thursday.

Thomas Tamm, a former Justice Department lawyer in the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, revealed details of the wiretapping program to the New York Times in 2004. In 2007, FBI agents raided his Potomac, Maryland home.

Tamm wasn’t there. His college-aged son, wife and young daughter were — but their father had never told them of his leak to the Times.

“They asked me questions like ‘Are there any secret rooms or compartments in the house’?” Terry Tamm, his son, told Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff last December. “Or did we have a safe? They asked us if any New York Times reporters had been to the house. We had no idea why any of this was happening.”............

this is disturbing on a bunch of levels

why didn't kuklo use his OWN name (i have to say if he ALLEGEDLY submitted the article under others names)? how much was kuklo paid by medtronic (allegedly, although i think that part has been proven)? were the actual findings about infuse true or were THOSE altered? really why try to eff up another doctor's (who was supposedly YOUR BUD) name? why didn't the medical journal further check the story?

at any rate, SHOUT OUT to dr andersen - who currently is in iraq.


Discredited Research Study Stuns an Ex-Army Doctor’s Colleagues
By BARRY MEIER and DUFF WILSON

Dr. Romney C. Andersen, a Walter Reed Army Medical Center surgeon, was surprised last summer when his neighbor, a fellow doctor, congratulated him on a new medical journal study bearing his name.

“What study?” Dr. Andersen asked.

Soon, he was not the only person asking questions. Army officials, alerted by Dr. Andersen, began an investigation. They uncovered an apparent case of falsified research by a doctor who had befriended Dr. Andersen when they both worked at Walter Reed, treating American soldiers severely injured in Iraq.

The full report of that Army investigation, recently obtained by The New York Times, provides an unusually detailed anatomy of a suspected case of medical research fraud — one all the more disturbing because it occurred at the nation’s premier military research hospital................

...............The disputed journal article was written by a former Army orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo, who is now a medical professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Kuklo, the investigation found, forged the signatures of Dr. Andersen and other Army doctors on his study and never showed it to them before it was published...................

picture:

Christoph Bangert for The New York Times

Dr. Romney C. Andersen was surprised on being congratulated for a medical journal study that he didn’t write. He notified the Army.

she didn't win

but isn't there some way we can STOP these kinds of suits even BEFORE they're filed? for goddess' sake. CRUNCHBERRIES? (and here's the part where i tell you i'm a purist. capt'n crunch is my favorite cereal. there, i've said it. it's my all time favorite. BUT WITHOUT CRUNCHBERRIES. oh, i haven't had any in years. just saying, i do love it but i try not to eat it) this gets filed under the i WISH i made it up, but i didn't, it's real, category:
Heartbroken cereal litigant loses suit over non-existence of "Crunchberries"
Posted by Cory Doctorow,
A woman sued the Cap'n Crunch people because her cereal didn't contain any "crunchberries": On May 21, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California dismissed a complaint filed by a woman who said she had purchased "Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries" because she believed "crunchberries" were real fruit. The plaintiff, Janine Sugawara, alleged that she had only recently learned to her dismay that said "berries" were in fact simply brightly-colored cereal balls, and that although the product did contain some strawberry fruit concentrate, it was not otherwise redeemed by fruit.......

friday not so damn funny humor

wonder if they'll be investigating any of their own for THEIR bias. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. how can someone possibly say liberal bias is a greater threat to america than what's currently happening with the economy and/or terrorism? oh i know how. THEY'RE NOT QUITE FUNCTIONING

Rep. Lamar Smith: ‘The greatest threat to America is a liberal media bias.’

Yesterday, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) launched the Media Fairness Caucus, made up of about a dozen House Republicans, aiming “to fight liberal media bias.” The group will “point out unfair stories, meet with members of the media, and write op-eds and letters to the editor to highlight media bias,” Newsmax reported. Appearing on Fox News today, Smith declared that “liberal media bias” is a bigger threat to the United States than the recession or terrorism — and Fox’s Bill Hemmer seemed to agree:.........

vashti

then and now







vashti bunyan

did jesus pack?

a piece that is?

well i think jesus would have known the difference between peace and piece. don't you?

Gun-loving pastor to his flock: Piece be with you
By DYLAN T. LOVAN, Associated Press Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Kentucky pastor is inviting his flock to bring guns to church to celebrate the Fourth of July and the Second Amendment.

New Bethel Church is welcoming "responsible handgun owners" to wear their firearms inside the church June 27, a Saturday. An ad says there will be a handgun raffle, patriotic music and information on gun safety.

"We're just going to celebrate the upcoming theme of the birth of our nation," said pastor Ken Pagano. "And we're not ashamed to say that there was a strong belief in God and firearms — without that this country wouldn't be here."

The guns must be unloaded and private security will check visitors at the door, Pagano said.

He said recent church shootings, including the killing Sunday of a late-term abortion provider in Kansas, which he condemned, highlight the need to promote safe gun ownership. The New Bethel Church event was planned months before Dr. George Tiller was shot to death in a Wichita church.................

the uncut DICK

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Dick (Uncut)
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Economic Crisis

this is one of THE best responses

to wild bill o'wrongly i've read. i give mary alice carr props.

to those of you who listen to bill o'wrongly, i'm sorry. i'm sorry you don't have a mind of your own. i'm sorry what IS in your mind is evil and dark and festering and full of fear. i'm sorry for you and i will always be sorry for you

Why I Turned Down O'Reilly
By Mary Alice Carr

The first time I appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor," in 2004, I sat across from Bill O'Reilly in awkward silence while he shuffled papers and took notes.

Finally, he glanced up and acknowledged my existence. "Thank you for coming on," he said. "Most people don't have the guts."

I said, "Well, you are one of the most-watched new shows on cable."

He swiftly retorted, "The most-watched news show on cable TV.".........

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

O'Reilly is being incredibly disingenuous when he claims that he bears no responsibility for others' actions in the killing of Dr. George Tiller on Sunday. When you tell an audience of millions over and over again that someone is an executioner, you cannot feign surprise when someone executes that person.

You cannot claim to hold no responsibility for what other people do when you call for people to besiege Tiller's clinic, as O'Reilly did in January 2008. And this was after Tiller had been shot in both arms and after his clinic had been bombed.

O'Reilly knew that people wanted Tiller dead, and he knew full well that many of those people were avid viewers of his show................

They finally

DID kill bill

way to go new hampshire!!!!

i think it's rather cool a bunch of new england states have been among the first. we'll get ALL states eventually. there's NOTHING to be afraid of. if you don't want to marry one of 'the gays' DON'T! it's as easy as that. 'the gays' are NOT going to try to convert your son or daughter or turn the world into hell. all 'the gays' really want is the same things you and i want. EQUALITY and to be treated fairly. that's it

anyway, way to go new hampshire!

Six: New Hampshire will legalize same sex marriage

The governor has indicated he'll sign the measure -- so the New Hampshire legislature's approval of same sex marriage makes the legal union of gay couples a near-certainty, and will bring the number of states honoring gay marriages to six.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Senate has passed revised gay marriage legislation and sent it to the House.

If it passes there, Gov. John Lynch is expected to sign it into law later Wednesday. It would make New Hampshire the sixth state to allow gays to marry..........

New Hampshire Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

By ABBY GOODNOUGH

BOSTON — The New Hampshire legislature approved revisions to a same-sex marriage bill on Wednesday, and Gov. John Lynch promptly signed the legislation, making the state the sixth to let gay couples wed.

The bill had been through several permutations to satisfy Mr. Lynch and certain legislators that it would not force religious organizations that oppose same-sex marriage to participate in ceremonies celebrating it. Some groups had feared they could be sued for refusing to allow same-sex weddings on their property.

Mr. Lynch, who previously supported civil unions but not marriage for same-sex couples, said in a statement that he had heard “compelling arguments that a separate system is not an equal system.”

“Today,” he said, “we are standing up for the liberties of same-sex couples by making clear that they will receive the same rights, responsibilities — and respect — under New Hampshire law.”.............

he was found GUILTY!

UPDATE FROM JUNE 23 2009: read it here: HE GOT TOTAL PROBATION



self defense my big fat ass. he claimed he was afraid for his life. he's twice her size (if not more). he's drunk out of his mind. he was 'defending his life' because she (the bartender) refused to serve him more. HE stepped behind the bar without authorization or permission.

i hope he does the whole nickle

Bartender beating: Cop convicted in attack of female bartender that was caught on videotape

Judge rejects officer's claims of self-defense

By Matthew Walberg |Tribune reporter
A Chicago police officer faces up to 5 years in prison after a judge Tuesday convicted him of aggravated battery for the infamous beating of a female bartender that was captured on videotape and aired widely.

Cook County Circuit Judge John J. Fleming rejected Officer Anthony Abbate's claims that he acted in self-defense while off duty in 2007 when he threw the bartender to the floor of a Northwest Side tavern and repeatedly punched and kicked her.

In testifying Tuesday, Abbate, who stands 6 foot 1 and weighs more than 250 pounds, contended he retaliated against the bartender, Karolina Obrycka, after she threw him into a shelf, causing him to hit his head. He had stepped behind the bar without permission at Jesse's Short Stop Inn.

"She tried to stop him, and she used reasonable force," Fleming said of Obrycka, who is 5 foot 3 and 125 pounds. "His own momentum, with a little help from Karolina Obrycka, caused the fall. But that did not justify his actions afterward, which were directly out of proportion."...........

a story of a brave brave man

there were others before him and unfortunately we'll continue to need others like him in the future. i don't know if people understand what it must be like to go undercover. i'm sure itq's scary as all shite. (and i'm NOT talking about the government infiltrating the friends society-quakers and the like, here. i'm talking about the kkk and organizations who really DO mean harm)

What It's Like to Go Undercover and Infiltrate Some of America's Most Dangerous Hate Groups

By Sonia Scherr, SPLC Intelligence Report.

"White power!"

Nearly 200 racist skinheads, white-robed Klansmen, and other white supremacists chanted racist slogans as they marched through downtown Montgomery, Ala., on a sunny Saturday in March 1991. As they passed the headquarters of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Mark Carpenter — the leader of a new hate group called the White Reich — yelled out, "[SPLC co-founder] Morris Dees is a racist Jew and a queer!"

He sounded like a bigot brimming with hatred. But Carpenter had a secret. His true identity was Special Agent Bart McEntire of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. For months, he'd been preparing to go undercover to investigate the skinhead underworld in Birmingham, Ala., which at the time was among the most active and violent in the country. To establish his credentials, McEntire had asked an ATF informant to drop his cover identity's name in white supremacist circles. He'd scoured newspaper articles for details about unsolved robberies and bombings he could claim to have committed. And he'd arranged for the Lexington County Sheriff's Department in South Carolina, where he'd begun his law enforcement career, to conjure a record showing that Mark Carpenter had been arrested for illegally possessing explosives.

Finally, he and the White Reich were making their public debut in Montgomery. It was the beginning of an 18-month undercover investigation that took McEntire and fellow ATF agents from Klan rallies throughout the Southeast, to skinhead gatherings deep in the woods of rural Alabama, to a military base in western Georgia...............

let's keep our fingers crossed!!!!

here's my original posting on this story talk about close minded....

Falwell university’s tax-exempt status questioned after banning Democratic club

By John Byrne

In a little-noticed letter to the IRS last week, Americans United for Separation of Church and State called for a formal review of the tax-exempt status of the university founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell in the wake of the school’s decision to ban a club for campus Democrats.

Liberty University, founded by the late preacher Jerry Falwell, banned a student Democratic club in May, saying that its principles were not in line with the university’s (even though the club was pro-life and is, by most accounts, moderate). Falwell’s son is now chancellor of the school.

Americans United director Rev. Barry Lynn fired off a letter to the IRS May 27. The letter can be read here (PDF).

“Liberty University is a tax-exempt institution and isn’t allowed to support one party over another,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “If the school insists on pushing policies that favor Republicans over Democrats, it should have to surrender its tax exemption.”...................

watch what you say now

Olbermann: WTF? GOP spokesman fired for criticizing Limbaugh

By David Edwards and Muriel Kane
The Republican Party’s growing — and potentially fatal — propensity to eat its own came in for scrutiny by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann’s during Tuesday’s “WTF moment.”

Two months ago, a Wisconsin man named Kevin Stevenson wrote a column for the Wausau Daily Herald which criticized Rush Limbaugh for saying that he wanted President Obama to fail.

“Today’s politics is full of self-interest,” Stevenson wrote. “Rush Limbaugh… has a large and loyal following, but so does Rachel Maddow as an extreme liberal. Both of these people need to shock to keep their ratings high. They are entertainers who earn their living by what they say, not what they accomplish.”

As a result of those remarks Stevenson lost his job — as spokesman for the Marathon County Republican Party................

we all need some cuteness today (goddess knows i do)

"Play?" - More amazing video clips are a click away

(via manticore's moustache)

this is great great great!!!

i wasn't going to comment on the trip the obamas took to nyc. it was fine by me. if they were dashing off to crawford every 10 minutes like you know who, i'd have plenty to say (and i will if it ever happens)

but i saw this and it made me smile.

Bush Made 77 Trips to Crawford TX at $226,072 a Pop

by stef

I am delighted that President Obama took Michelle to my town, New York City, for dinner and a show. What a great advertisement for a great city! It was our delight to have them here, as the cheering crowds in the streets attest. And what a boon to Broadway, and tribute to the great playwright August Wilson and the fabulous cast of Joe Turner's Come and Gone! And of course the excellent restaurant Blue Hill will be booked solid for months to come. Mayor Bloomberg was thrilled about the visit, and so was I.

But the TV dimbulbs are still nattering about the cost of this day trip. Never mind that President Obama has been working for five months without a vacation, unlike the most vacationing president ever, Junior W. Bush. Try to google the cost of those 77 trips to Crawford TX on Air Force One and the information is nowhere to be found. Because it was never reported. I had to calculate the costs myself.

At a bare minimum, for the flights alone, Bush's 77 vacation trips to Crawford cost us $226,072 per trip. That's $17,407,544 so he could ride his bicycle in the woods and clear brush for the cameras.............

peta, a bunch of

fucked up fuckwads (and that's coming from a vegan animal activist)

i was a card carrying member YEARS ago. then i started feeling uncomfortable about some of the things there were doing. i left the flock shortly there after. they've used women negatively in their ad campaigns but THE FOLLOWING TAKES THE CAKE - it makes me sick to my very core

George Tiller shooting prompts PETA ad campaign in Wichita

BY SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS

The Wichita Eagle

WICHITA - A national animal rights group plans to erect billboards in Wichita urging people on both sides of the abortion debate to go vegetarian.

One version of the billboard says, "Pro-Life? Go Vegetarian." The other says, "Pro-Choice? Choose Vegetarian." Both feature a photo of three baby chicks.

Lindsay Rajt, campaign manager for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the billboards were prompted by the recent shooting death of abortion doctor George Tiller, who was killed Sunday at his church.

"The discussion of the value of life is front and center right now in the public conversation," Rajt said.

"We think we would be irresponsible if we don't talk about how we're all guilty of extreme cruelty to animals every time we sit down to a meal that includes meat."

Rajt said her group contacted Wichita-area billboard companies Tuesday but was waiting to hear back about availability. She did not know where or when the billboards would be posted.........

(ht: dependable renegade and feministe)

contact peta and tell them how very seriously fucked up they are:

501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510
757-622-PETA (7382)
757-622-0457 (fax)

and there's no easy link for emails but you can use this one: (fill in the blanks at the bottom of the page)

peta email

i can't imagine being forced to wear a dress

i DO wear dresses on occasion. i like the ones i have. 9 out of 10 times when i do wear a dress, i'll put pants on underneath. that's just how i roll. as a matter of fact, i just bought a dress for my niece's wedding (and i'm NOT going to wear pants under it) purple sunset from pyramid collection along with the poncho AND i just bought a dress from j jill. for the jjill dress, i DID buy the leggings as well and i'm going to wear them.

i don't ever want anyone to tell me I HAVE TO WEAR A DRESS. it's not right and i'm hoping it's illegal (at least in a public school)

Enforcing femininity: SC school will ban pants-wearing female students from graduation

A South Carolina school has put a star student on notice - unless she wears a dress, she won't be welcome at her graduation ceremony.

She's the image of a model graduate, this year's recipient of the Heart of Chapin Spirit Award, proud of her school from tassel to class ring, but Chelsea Sarvis' high school won't allow her to participate at graduation without the dress.

"I just don't see why girls have to wear dresses," said Sarvis.

Chapin High School's graduation dress code requires females to wear a dress or skirt. Males must wear dress pants. Chelsea says wearing a dress makes her feel very uncomfortable.

"If girls are uncomfortable with their bodies like I am, I just don't like wearing them," said Sarvis. "Why is it a stereotype that a girl has to wear a dress?"............

a statement from

exene cervenka

June 2, 2009

After some months of not feeling 100% healthy, I recently had some medical tests run
and the prognosis is that I am suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.
Apparently, it has been affecting me for quite some time.

Although this is obviously unfortunate news, I am choosing to see the positive in it.
I, and X as a band, have supported the Sweet Relief charity since the mid-1990's;
the irony of this is not lost on any of us. Sweet Relief was started as an aide to uninsured artists by musician Victoria Williams when she herself was diagnosed with MS in 1992.

While this diagnosis will most certainly mean some changes for me, personally, it will not affect my commitments to the current X U.S. tour, nor will it affect my solo album that is slated for release this fall on Bloodshot Records.

My focus will certainly be on maintaining my health--many people remain strong and continue to live their lives as productively as they had before an MS diagnosis and I plan to be one of those people.

To find out more about Sweet Relief, please visit: www.sweetrelief.org

To find out more about Exene Cervenka, please visit: www.exenecervenka.com

via bust blog

pic:

X onstage in the 1980s.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

yes, where will they go

Where will women go now?
-Kate Harding
.........Susan Hill, President of the National Women's Health Foundation, who knew Dr. Tiller for over two decades and referred girls and women to his clinic, said in a phone interview, "We always sent the really tragic cases to Tiller." Those included women diagnosed with cancer who needed abortions to qualify for chemotherapy, women who learned late in their pregnancies that their wanted babies had fatal illnesses, and rape victims so young they didn't realize they were pregnant for months. "We sent him 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds who were way too far along for anybody [else] to see," said Hill. "Eleven-year-olds don't tell anybody. Sometimes they don't even know they've had a period.".............