!Saddam Lives!

Playing Salsa With Frankie Ruiz!

Mission Capable

Last week the House passed bill 1591, hailed loudly as a win for the dems because of the bill's 2008 "withdrawal deadline". The Senate vote is to take place this week and if passed Bush has said he will veto. MSM bytes, predictable as usual, are drumming to the sound of fake drama, as if the masses with breath held are awaiting the vote on this one.

There are billions of the usual stuffed in the porkchop bill:

*$74M for a peanut program that pays storage fees for farmers.
* $400M to subsidize those suffering declining timber sales.
* $3.7B welfare to farmers/ranchers for losses during last 3 years.
* $25M for spinach growers loss due to the e-coli advisory.
* $60M for fisherman affected by declining salmon runs.
* $50M for asbestos abatement at the Capitol Hill Power Plant.
* $140M livestock owners/citrus growers hurricane losses.
* $120M for the shrimp and menhaden industries.
* $283M to extend the dairy farm income loss program.
* $1B for pandemic flu preparedness.
* $16M for improvements to the Capitol Hill office buildings.
* $25M for the SBA disaster-loan program.

Good grief, how did the little house on the prairie and the ponderosa ever survive without government handouts? It's a regular bonanza.

The Senate today voted 50 to 48 to reject a Republican amendment that would have removed the "withdrawal" clause from a bill on military funding. Considered a win for the dems, a decisive blow to the republicans. Yawn.

It's all hype, for with or without 1591 war will continue as long as TPTB deem necessary; 1591 just gives congressional hogs & sows funds to buy silk ears.

A few snips from the bill:
U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act, 2007 - Makes emergency supplemental FY2007 appropriations for specified activities related to the global war on terror to the Departments of Agriculture (including food aid to Africa and Afghanistan), of Justice, of Defense (Military, including funds for Iraqi and Afghan security forces), of Defense (military construction and base closure), of Energy, of Homeland Security, of Veterans Affairs (particularly veterans' health programs), and of State (including international peacekeeping operations), and related agencies as well as the House of Representatives.

Provides funds to enable military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan to respond to urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction requirements.

Specifies conditions for assistance to Lebanon.

Prohibits the use of funds under this Act to deploy any unit of the Armed Forces to Iraq unless the chief of the military department concerned has certified to the congressional appropriations committees in advance that the unit is fully mission capable. Sets a maximum number of days for deployment in Iraq for military units. Authorizes the President to waive such prohibition and deployment limits on a unit-by-unit basis for reasons of national security.

Directs the President to transmit to Congress by specified dates certain determinations and certifications with respect to conditions to be met by the Government of Iraq.

Requires redeployment of the armed forces from Iraq if any of such conditions is not met.

Directs the President to appoint a Coordinator for Iraq Assistance, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Declares the sense of Congress that the U.S. Constitution grants: (1) the President the sole role of Commander in Chief; and (2) Congress the sole power to declare war.

Declares the sense of Congress that: (1) the commanders of the U.S. armed forces in Iraq should be allowed to conduct the war and manage the movements of the troops; and (2) Congress should remain focused on executing its oversight role.

All the "declares" are more paperwork, which congress will delegate to staffers. And a few extra committees will need to be formed and staffers hired for more paperwork (maybe some young interns can work on that). I could not find the "withdrawal" clause, although I did find the "redeployment" clause:

(d) If the President makes the certification specified in subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense shall commence the redeployment of the Armed Forces from Iraq not later than March 1, 2008, and complete such redeployment within 180 days.

Yessiree, "redeployment".

To where? Iran?

If Lovin' You Is Wrong

Luther Ingram 1937-2007

Just All Get Along

Israel training Kurdish soldiers in Arbil in northern Iraq, you know, that once upon a time safe place to drive through that Patrick Cockburn talked about.

Your Tax Dollars at Work - Over There

From the Ministry of Peace & Ministry of Truth MNFIRAQ.

Multi-National Force - Iraq established this YouTube channel to give viewers around the world a "boots on the ground" perspective of Operation Iraqi Freedom from those who are fighting it. We will only edit video clips for time, security reasons, and/or overly disturbing or offensive images.

Baghdad Firefight, March 2007


Clearing Insurgent Hideout, Diyala, Iraq

Maher Maher Pants on Fire

Bill Maher, whitewing hero, great at bashing the crazy evangelical village's idiot, can also occasionally get a warm-on for GW.

Maher admits mouthing to Dubya "you go boy," discusses the biased media, Israel is the only democracy, Israel's level of restraint …. And other yadayada current topics from the world of MSM and hahahahaha I can't believe they swallow this stuff.

BILL: I really wanted to say that, for all those who accuse the likes of myself … of being unpatriotic, or hating America first, the feeling I've had watching Israel defend herself and a US president defend Israel (a country that is held to a standard for "restraint" that no other country ever is asked to meet, but that's another story) just reminds me how wrong that is. I LOVE being on the side of my president, and mouthing "You go, boy" when he gets it right.

Bill Maher is an expert Bush basher. But don’t let it be said that the HBO talk-show host and political funnyman is incapable of showing a bit of love for the president. In an August 28 interview with Larry King, Maher gave Bush the thumbs up for his record on Israel.

Bill in Larry King August 2002 interview:

KING: What do you make of the Israeli situation, the Palestinian, is it ever going to solve that?

MAHER: This again, you know, I'm like the only guy on TV who defends Israel. The media is so biased.

KING: You think they're anti-Israel?

MAHER: Of course they are. They don't -- because they don't understand what happened in that area of the world throughout the last century. They're occupied. That's a term that's just used on all newscasts. That territory is not occupied, OK? The term "occupied" refers to a country that used to be a country. There was no Palestinian Arab country, ever.

And right now, we live in a situation where the Jews could wipe out the Arabs in two seconds if they wanted. They have the means. They don't. Do you think if the Arabs, you think if they had the atom bomb, that the state of Israel would last? How long would it last? One minute.

KING: Why do you think the media would be anti-Israel?

MAHER: They're not anti-Israel, they just don't know what happened there. And it's a lot easier to take the side of the underdog. You know? I saw a report on the news just the other day, a Palestinian girl who said, you know, I can't get through the checkpoint, and I only have my books, and the Israeli soldiers are so mean. Well, yeah, but that's because a lot of your brothers are blowing up their pizza parlors. Sorry.

KING: So you think -- because for a long time, Israel and the media in the United States had a relationship like they were intertwined. Palestinians had almost no voice in America media in the '60s and '70s.

MAHER: Well...

KING: It changed.

MAHER: It changed. It changed. And what I think people forget is that it is also the only democracy. It's not about a religious situation. It's a democracy, Israel, it's the only one in that part of the world, by the way. And we've never sent a soldier to defend Israel. We've sent our troops and our planes and our bombs to defend Muslims in Bosnia and in Somalia, and we certainly freed a country called Afghanistan recently.

Bill on Larry King September 2006:

KING: What did you make of the whole Middle East thing about Hezbollah?

MAHER: Well, I wrote a -- we were just talking about Arianna in the back. I wrote a little blog for Arianna about that because it was her birthday, you know. I'm not a big blogger but when it's her birthday you can't turn her down. And I was saying that to me, you know, the world is Mel Gibson because the world is anti-Semitic.

KING: The world?

MAHER: Absolutely and the proof of that is that they ask Israel to maintain a level of restraint when they're attacked that no other country would ever be asked to uphold.

I mean can you imagine if there was a terrorist organization that took over the country on our northern border, which would be Canada, and they started shelling us in our northern cities and Minnesota and Bangor, Maine was being shelled, what do you think George Bush would do?

I think he would nuke them before breakfast. And, look, you know I don't like George Bush but he is the best president we've ever had on Israel because for some reason he gets that.

I think the reason he gets it is because he's a crazy evangelical Christian. He thinks the world is going to end in our lifetime, so Israel needs to be in the hands of the people who it was in the hands of when Jesus returns which would be the Jews. That's why the Christians do so.

--- p.s. BM supports the usual progressive list of fears and freedoms, i.e. global warming, mandatory HPV vaccination for girls (Merck), the liberation of Afghanistan, etc. etc. etc. and many other sociopolitical issues of which he seems halfassedly informed or wholeheartedly paid.

The Unraveling of Another US Race War

From BAR.

The deformed worldview that evolved over centuries of crimes against "The Other" shaped the national personality of white America. It is a crippling vision, distorted by notions of race so deeply embedded as to require no direct articulation. Conceived as a white man's empire from the very beginning, with a God-given mandate for constant expansion as essential to the spread of "civilization," and perceiving itself as the embodiment of all "values" worth preserving on the planet, the mass-internalized American juggernaut fears only one earthly thing: defeat.

The polls show that Americans want to get out of the war in Iraq. That's only because they are losing.

Grassy Knolls Remake

Sheen/O'Donnell Attack Dogs Are Bushite Neo-Cons On The Payroll. Well, I would expect so, why would anyone else bother. Charlie and Rosie attacked by dogs, or doing as they're told on someone's payroll?

First thing – no celebrity does anything without instructions from the power masters of Holly'hood. Careers can disappear overnight if a celebrity releases an unscripted opinion. Media stars claw, climb, and beg in too many painful positions to risk anything that isn't sent from the studio head.

Get on the wrong side of the moguls and no matter the size of the fan club, the errant celeb will be caught - picking up transvestites, masterbating in the theater, having sex with minors, tax evasion, etc. I would so hate being so owned.

So what are Charlie and Rosie up to? As voices for truth, could the movement not find a better pair? Why not Peewee Herman and Britney Spears. Rupaul and Paris Hilton. There are just some folks who when they speak, ya can't help but wonder where their mouth has been.

I'm grateful Charlie and Rosie are representing the celebrity "truth movement" as I'd be sooooo disappointed to see genuine talent, i.e. Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, Cuba Gooding, Denzel, or Samuel Jackson, belatedly speaking "truth" to power - truth which involves laser beams and holograms or no planes and loose change. (We got Oprah though.)

I'm reminded of Oliver Stone, known for decades as a Hollywood truthsayer. In his drama of JFK, he depicts New Orleans DA Jim Garrison's search for truth behind the JFK assassination. Stone's 3-hour cinema pointed to involvement of the US government, US military, CIA, Cuban exiles, the Mob, gay Clay Shaw, and a fringe group of assorted low-lifes lurking around with memorable movie lines. But never, ever, did Stone hint of an Israel/Mossad connection to the murder of JFK.

Celebritydum. Where the stars are as out of touch with the real world as politicians. (Witness the rise and fall of star Obama.) Where lives are screen plays, edited and rewritten on whim of TPTB. Where careers are designed, packaged, and with no shortage of fantasy and dysfunction. Thank god for plastic, paint, and airbrush. Tinsel and taint, where everything is a lie.

Which reminds me of The Donald. I heard him say this week that "everything in Washington is a lie." Yeharrrr Bubba. Donald says Bush is the worst president ever. Only took The Duh-nald 7 years to catch on to that one. Fans say Donald is right on the money, whoooo boy, truth will hit the fan now.

My first thought, Donald's been reading left leaning blogs – but on second thought he probably delegated the chore to someone who listed the talking points, alphabetized. Note that in the Donald's script he says Boy Bush is the "worst president ever" (lone gunman theory), slips in praise for Poppy Bush, says "civil war" more than once, reinforces the war is a "disaster" and "the rest of the world hates us, the Europeans hate us."

Oh, the pain of it all. The rest of the world hates us, well, France, Germany, and England according to the Trump. Does Donnie's European billionaire friends and business colleagues discuss with him how much they hate us? I don't think so. Does billionaire Donnie go slumming in the pub with Joe Blokes who tell him they hate us? Or, maybe it's the fawning hotel bag carriers and maids, the waiters and hostesses in Donnie's life that tell him they hate us, after they get past his entourage.

Could it be Bush foreign policy concerns the Donald now because part of Trump fortunes are invested in Dubai and Arabian regional real estate? Time to stop the war. Global mogul portfolios are full enough now, thank you, see ya next conflict.

Is it "wakeup America" or grow-up America? It would be hilarious if not so pitiful watching Americans put hope in celebrities "speaking truth to power" to save the world. I'm told it's good they speak out because they "have a wide audience." They have fans. Who writes this sloganistic rationale?

Never mind, progressives bobble and blather onward – no Malcolm, no Martin, no Bobby or John. Just the Duhnald, the doper, and a dike.

Lies

Remo Conscious

Operation Alternative Nightmare

I know little about Patrick Cockburn, and don't care to know more, other than his writing appears at Counterpunch, Alternet, Independent UK, etc., that he's the son of a socialist author with 2 brothers who are also journalists. This article Operation Deepening Nightmare is as benign as other high-profile mainstream writers, and as pointless. Sometimes I think serious-appearing white folks, to avoid any real change in the status quo, write just enough to reinforce the hope of admirers.

COCKBURN: Four years ago, in the middle of the US invasion, I drove safely from Arbil in northern Iraq to Baghdad. There were heaps of discarded weapons beside the road, and long lines of former Iraqi soldiers walking home. Signs of battle were few, aside from the hulks of burned-out tanks, but they all seemed to have been hit by US aircraft after their crews had fled.

I believe Cockburn experienced this safe drive during the middle of the Iraq invasion, but I fail to grasp a point, if there is one. Is he saying the initial invasion was a cakewalk afterall?

My oldest son in 2003, on a second tour to Baghdad, having been there for Poppy, called home regularly during the initial invasion of '03. In one call I heard worry/fear for the first time in his long career in the Corp. And his anger and disgust. Halfway to Baghdad, coming up from the south, he said the suits running this war were insane; "mom, we're moving so fast to reach Baghdad we're not securing the towns behind us or to the side, and now Iraqi are coming at us from all directions." He said to make sure his journal was recovered and given to his daughter - just in case.

Cockburn was driving in the north, where the anti-Saddam Kurds did welcome the US invasion, so I expect Cockburn's experience was safer, however, hardly representative of Iraq "in the middle of the US invasion." I would have chosen Kurdish Iraq in Spring 2003 too, Pat.

COCKBURN: Tony Blair and George Bush still occasionally imply that the picture of Iraq as a war-torn hell is an exaggeration by the media. They suggest, though not as forcibly as they did a couple of years ago, that parts of the country are relatively peaceful. Nothing could be more untrue.

I could write a book on Reagan/Bush media exaggeration during 1980s in Central America. My experience in war zones has been there are always parts of the country relatively peaceful. Odd as it may seem, there are areas where you can relax, put up your feet and suck down a beer, in peace. I have known Vietnam vets who never fired their gun or saw a dead body, pushing paper and night clubbing their whole tour in Saigon. There are always pockets of neutrality and calm in a war zone. Iraq vets I have spoke with spent months in areas of relative peace, Cockburn is untruthful to say otherwise. What's the point of that?

COCKBURN: In May 2003, people in Baghdad were getting 16 to 24 hours of electricity a day. Today the official figure is just six hours a day--and even that is on the optimistic side. In a city with one of the hottest climates in the world, it is catastrophic when fridges, freezers or air conditioners cannot be used.

Many, if not the majority of Iraqi, before the invasion and under SH lived in mud huts without amenities. "Catastrophic" is overstated. The hottest climate, after hell, is Managua. Even if Iraq had 24 hour electricity it would not be affordable to the majority. During the Contra War, the Sandinista government allocated maybe 2 to 4 hours a day of electricity, due to shortage and in part due to caution No electricity after dusk in most areas – lights are targets. If you had candles or kerosene you put up black curtains. Outside of Managua or larger towns, no one drove after dark, not even the troops. Today most Nicaraguans still do not have fridges, freezers, or AC. It will be the same in Iraq, as it is for billions of victims of the New World Order.

Remember – conquerors rarely give a nation's wealth back to its people, no matter how many elections Jimmy Carter oversees, the conqueror holds the NAFTA, CAFTA, or other SHAFTA. All neat, tidy, on paper, inked and feel good legal.

COCKBURN: There are 4.8 million Iraqi children under the age of five, who have lived most of their lives since the fall of Saddam Hussein. UNICEF figures show that 20 per cent of them are so severely malnourished that their growth is stunted.

There are many, many, many more billions throughout Latin America and Africa suffering, stunted. Hell, for that matter stunted brain growth is going on across America from poor parenting and shoddy diets. In Guatemala 65 percent of children die before age 5 of malnutrition, childhood diseases, diarrhea. I wonder if Senator Jerry Weller married to the Guatemalan politician Zury Mott or John Kerry married to "African-America" Theresa worry about those children? Does Patrick Cockburn? Or is "the children" just part of the standard opposition nightmare list.

Cockburn gets brown-nosing points for referencing in good terms the Baker-Hamilton Report, for claiming in 1991 Washington (Bush I) had the good sense not to remove Saddam, referencing UNICEF statistics (not all members are child molesters), and for using terms such as the bombastic "drenched in violence," to generate knee-jerks and mental images.

Cockburn remarks : "US forces had not pressed on to Baghdad 16 years ago…" Not true, US troops reached Baghdad 16 years ago, but withdrew without ousting Saddam. Poppy Bush knew Iraq today is what he would have had in 1991, and he preferred tainting Junior's legacy rather than his own … Bush the Elder is a Christian man … he so loves the elite world he gave his only misbegotten idiot son.

Poppy and TPTB spent another decade setting up the chess board, to further weaken Iraq, degrade SH weapons they knew to be scary, and wear 'em down starve 'em out, thank you Willie Jeff and the UN. The long planned New Iraq had to be initiated by Junior. The one and only reason for the fiasco of Election 2000 – was to install the Boy Fool for the elite agenda. And, as planning would have it, if Gore somehow took office and was uncooperative, there was always the alternative of President Leiberman.

But, when reading Cockburn I ask myself what is his point? He's not condemning the system but the players. Is my perception colored (pun intended) because of gender? Am I missing some grand Cockburn insight? Or is it simply the same old same old "alternative" supporting perverted capitalism – but via a slower nightmare with legal documents and international support so the bleeding looks justified and feels better to that part of the elite who think feeling squeamish is the same as having a conscience?

Reminds me of my great great grandfather, a Tennessee judge, lifelong senator, and slaveholder, who justified the capital'ism of his era - he wrote he treated his nigger property good, two meals a day, hardly ever used the whip, and kept meticulous records on all of them. Eerie huh?

La La Means

Delfonics


Cute. :)

Natural Minerals & More

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — The famed "natural mineral water" baths at Saratoga Spa State Park have been diluted with regular tap water for the past two decades, state officials confirmed Monday.

The park's baths attract about 14,000 customers a year who pay $20 for the privilege of soaking in the bubbly water. The state and the company that operates the baths, Xanterra Parks & Resorts, mix heated public drinking water with the chilly carbonated mineral water.

… it was not immediately clear why the mixing started. The Post said it began when a mineral water heater used by the park since the 1930s broke down.

------ Ummm, not clear why the State and Xanterra lied and committed fraud on the peasantry? About $280,000 per year for a bubbly dip comes to mind, not counting the extras they buy while at the facility. What's a little faucet water gonna hurt.

From Xanterra webpage: "Life is short. The world is large. And your vacation time is too precious to waste on the commonplace. Our properties combine dramatic settings and landmark buildings with exceptional service to deliver extraordinary experiences."

Yep. It's exceptional service when folks will pay $20 to sit for 20 minutes in bubbling water with total strangers, discussing how much better the rheumatism feels. Saratoga Spa describes itself as the "Public's Resort." That's precious. A public toile.… ur um I mean public bathhouse, where you are not wasting time on the commonplace, but on the extraordinary experience of a being where everyone trusts everyone not to pee in warm tap water.

Dennis Dennis Dennis

Sigh … please. We are not going to war on Iran. For over 2 years I have blogged on the global billionaire investors in the Middle East business boom. Those billionaires and minor millionaires will not allow investments in and around Iran to be disturbed, Bush or no Bush, neocons or no neocons. Halliburton is now so confident of the ME investment environment - they moved HQ to Dubai. Very unlikely the US will be making a green glass parking lot of Iran.

And please … what the hell good will "urging conversation about impeachment" do to the status quo? Nada, I tell you. Nada. Oust one among many corrupt elite-serving pols? Do you really want Dick Cheney as president? Expensive congressional probing for theatrics. I am quite tired of the probing, plunging, and plummeting that politicians engage in.

I've danced to the impeachment tune twice before; the Tricky Dicky and Monica's Cigar. I'm a bit winded with the silly waltzes. If you want my vote DK go radical. Below is a list of smaller points you can begin with.

1. Term limits of 6 years for all politicians, and repeal the bill that says serving 5 years qualifies congress members for pension / retirement benefits, that's a no no no.
2. Ban all PACs and lobbyists. Kick them to the dirtiest curb in DC. At the very least mandate PAC/lobby offices must be located in the 9th ward of New Orleans and communication with DC pols is restricted to ground mail only.
3. Require presidential and congressional campaigns be funded by the public. No big daddy warbucks donating. And for the love of god – ban campaigning until 3 months before election day, not 3 years.
4. Require corporations receiving government contracts to use US labor for contracts. None of this "we don't have the qualified labor" excuse. No government contracts to any company which outsources labor that can be done in the US. And if they whine about high labor costs - too bad. Henry Ford managed.
5. I've a lengthy, lengthy list of "radical" items on income taxation, non-profits, social programs, etc., will forward on request. Tell Elizabeth hello for me.

Oh, and Dennis, get rid of the yellow tie. Although to holistic healers yellow is the color of peace and for some folks it's springtime, it signifies mourning in Egypt, executioners once wore yellow in Spain, and traitors and criminals in early France. In America it can mean coward, or "yellow journalism" i.e. irresponsible and alarmist reporting. So, nix the yellow tie ... unless of course you were going for the alarmist look.

Business As Usual For Top Bananas

WASHINGTON - Banana company Chiquita Brands International admitted in federal court Monday that, for years, it paid terrorists to protect its Colombian banana-growing operations.

The company pleaded guilty to one count of doing business with a terrorist organization [United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as AUC]. The plea is part of a deal with prosecutors that calls for a $25 million fine.

The agreement ends a lengthy Justice Department investigation into the company's financial dealings with right-wing paramilitaries and leftist rebels the U.S. government deems terrorist groups.

The AUC has been responsible for some of the worst massacres in Colombia's civil conflict and for a sizable percentage of the country's cocaine exports. The U.S. government designated the right-wing militia a terrorist organization in September 2001.

… Chiquita, conglomerate child of the infamous coup making, union breaking, official bribing, peasant squashing, peon enslaving – Empire of United Fruit, founding fathers Capt. Lorenzo Dow Baker, Minor C. Keith, and Andrew Prescott.

Men who were men's men, back in the days when fascism's top bananas called it "expanding markets." Oh, it still is? Back when the heads of corporate empires and the politicians they owned wore pocket watches and mustaches. Heroes, who today are choosen as subjects for PhD (Piled Higher & Deeper) theses.

Smell That?

Military Is Ill-Prepared For Other Conflicts. By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Hack, hacking State propaganda into a woe unto us sheepable article, aka the US military is short on, stark, bothersome, at risk, lacking, soon to be broken, in dire staits. Run Forrest run.

"… ground forces in the United States short of the training, personnel and equipment that would be vital to fight a major ground conflict elsewhere, senior U.S. military and government officials acknowledge.

The risk to the nation is serious and deepening, senior officers warn …

Gen. Richard A. Cody, described as "stark" the level of readiness of Army units in the United States, which would be called on if another war breaks out.

Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Venezuela, Colombia, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, North Korea, back around to Pakistan, and I probably missed a few. There's no dearth of challenges out there for our armed forces," Pace warned in his testimony. He said the nation faces increased risk because of shortfalls in troops, equipment and training.

"The status of our Army prepositioned stock . . . is bothersome," Cody said last week.

Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Texas), chairman of the committee's readiness panel, said: "I have seen the classified-only readiness reports. And based on those reports, I believe that we as a nation are at risk of major failure, should our Army be called to deploy to an emerging threat."

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), who attended the briefing, said, "We are at a crisis point across the board." And Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.), said, "This nation has got to replenish and fix what is soon going to be broken."

The shortages have deepened as scarce equipment and personnel are funneled to those units next in line to deploy overseas, creating ever bigger holes in the units that will leave later. "It's like a hurricane drawing everything into the center of the eye," said a senior Army officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

The Marine Corps is not training for amphibious, mountain or jungle warfare, nor conducting large-scale live-fire maneuvers, Conway said. "We've got a little bit of a blindside there," he said. The Marine Corps and Army both lack sufficient manpower to give troops a break from the combat zone long enough to complete their full spectrum of training, senior officials said.

"Boots on the ground matter," the senior Army officer said. "If they are tied down, your ability to terminate a conflict on your terms, earlier, may not be there."

---- Ya just never know when China will tire of massive Anglo investment and attack. Ya just never know when North Korea or some pip squeaky nation will decide to do suicide by World Cop. Ya just never know when those hundreds of thousands and growing PMCs , have gun will travel troops, decide to give unarmed peace a chance. Ya just never know. Inhale mmmm sniff … I love the smell of more defense appropriations in the morning. Smells like victory boy.

Spanglers

Wilson-Plame, Sibel, Hillary, … CIA, FBI, AIPAC, yawn. I'll be in the garden.

Please Stand


Hillary Sings Anthem


Whiter Shade of Pale

Firestorms For Short Attention Spans

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chief White House lawyer floated the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys at the start of President Bush's second term, but the Justice Department objected and eventually recommended the eight dismissals that have generated a political firestorm two years later.

However, it was okay when Janet "Waco Burning" Reno fired all 93 US attorneys back in 1993, surely at the request of Bubba Clinton.

Oh, but you say this "Justice Department clearly intended to skirt the Senate altogether and use the Patriot Act provision to appoint U.S. attorneys that would serve until the end of Bush’s term"? The attorneys always serve at the discretion of the sitting president.

Oh but now they bypass senate confirmation you say? Yeah, as if this or any congress has been a stumbling block to the Bush regime. Besides, the "opposition" party will praise bypassing and all manner of BushCo statutes in 2009.

Distraction. Given to you by after-the-fact criers of "continuity of government" - comic strip dittoheads. Buy another T-shirt and chat a storm at your favorite forum.

Unbecoming Rubber Club

JERUSALEM — The Israeli ambassador to El Salvador has been recalled after he was found drunk, naked and bound in sexual bondage gear in his yard, an official said Monday.

Tsuriel Raphael has been removed from his post and the Foreign Ministry has begun searching for a replacement, said spokeswoman Zehavit Ben-Hillel.

Two weeks ago, El Salvador police found Raphael naked outside his residence, tied up, gagged and drunk, Israeli media reported. He was wearing several sex toys at the time, the media said. After he was untied, Raphael told police he was the ambassador of Israel, the reports said.

The British Broadcasting Corp. reported that he could identify himself to police only after a rubber ball had been removed from his mouth.

Ben-Hillel said the reports were accurate and that Raphael has been recalled, although he did not break any laws.

"We're talking about behavior that is unbecoming of a diplomat," she said.

The ambassador did not file a police complaint in the incident, she said.

The Unbelievable Sy Hersh

Hersh, articulate alarmist, is at it again with a March 5, 2007 piece in the New Yorker. Doing his part to scare America's upper and middle castes shitless, this time with what Sy calls The Redirection.

Hersh: The “redirection,” as some inside the White House have called the new strategy, has brought the United States closer to an open confrontation with Iran and, in parts of the region, propelled it into a widening sectarian conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

Hersh, almost a year ago, April 2006 New Yorker, wrote The Iran Plans: A government consultant with close ties to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was “absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb” if it is not stopped. He said that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”

In January 2005 Hersh gave us The Coming Wars: The Bush Administration is looking at this as a huge war zone,” the former high-level intelligence official told me. “Next, we’re going to have the Iranian campaign. We’ve declared war and the bad guys, wherever they are, are the enemy. This is the last hurrah — we’ve got four years, and want to come out of this saying we won the war on terrorism.”

---Be serious Sy, Condi told us years ago the war on terror would be a "generational war." Now you say the neocons want to win the last hurrah within 4 years? You really think George the Stupid knows the definition of "legacy" and would care to leave one if he did? Also, George's babysitters (insiders) would not speak so tediously canned.

Sy, I'm still waiting for proof of your other claims - where are those videos which show US troop massacre of soccer players in Iraq, and your claims that … "the US government has videotapes of boys being sodomized at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The worst is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking."

Listen Sy, I know the terms "high-level Pentagon planners" and "high-level intelligence official" and "government consultants" … impress your fans – but let's be real. When has there ever been one leak to the press that improved the landscape of Joe Blow's life? Ellsberg, Deep Throat, chubby intern in a blue dress? Sideshows – serious enough to break the public's spirit but do no harm to the status quo; dicky deflators, peniscapades, tittylating tales. Lets the lower classes believe their brows are higher; allows the impotent masses to feel briefly important, arguing the angles of issues already determined by the powers that be.

Come on Sy baby, beat me, break me, make me feel powerless with half-truth journalism and anonymous name-dropping.

I mean, come on Sy. Anyone serving hard time behind barbed wire for "leaking" to the MSM? Possible weak links, or leaks, are found in Ft. Marcy Park or flying in bad weather. Does anyone, other than a few aging preppies and THC philosophers, give two shits about Joe and Val's excellent adventure off the Farm, after the leak?

By the time one reaches that "high-level" they're compromised; a little blood on the hands. Yessiree, by the time a person reaches the level of high-grade inside information, Mr. or Ms. High Leveler have fleas from lying down with real dogs. Mr. Hersh, you know and I know, no one is telling you anything they're not authorized to tell, and you invent the rest.

No one at "high-level" leaks anything that isn't planned by the PTB. Doesn't work that way. Potential leakers A) never reach high levels or B) ride quietly into the sunset looking over the shoulder forever uneasy, having seen the bodies.

I reiterate, there are no high-levelers leaking anything unless it is part of a government psyop on a gullible public – which means you, Sy, are one of the following:

A) part of an alarmist/fear psyop
B) exploiting fear for $
C) painfully stupid
D) or, and my choice, all of the above.

Military Burning

Soldiers Burning Drugs


Why No One is Afraid of the French Military


Afghanistan


Tribute To 1SG Meister

Labor Camps

Inmates Will Replace Wary Migrants in Colorado Fields

DENVER, March 3 — As migrant laborers flee Colorado because of tough new immigration restrictions, worried farmers are looking to prisoners to fill their places in the fields.

Under the program, which has drawn criticism from groups concerned about immigrants’ rights and from others seeking changes in the criminal justice system, farmers will pay a fee to the state, and the inmates, who volunteer for the work, will be paid about 60 cents a day, corrections officials said.

Concerned about the possible shortage of field labor, Dorothy B. Butcher, a state representative from Pueblo and a supporter of the program, said, “The workers on these farms do the weeding, the harvesting, the storing, everything that comes with growing crops for the market.”

Although chain gangs and prison farms have long been staples of American correctional culture, the concept of inmates working on private farms is unusual. But there are signs that other states are following suit. The Iowa Department of Corrections is considering a similar program because of a migrant labor shortage in that state.

Several Iowa farmers called recently to request inmates in lieu of migrant workers, said Roger Baysden, the director of the state’s prison industries program. One farmer asked for as many as 200 inmates, Mr. Baysden said.

“They won’t be paid big bucks, but we’re hoping this will help our inmates pick up significant and valuable job skills,” Mr. Zavaras said.

“This is not a cure-all,” Mr. Pisciotta said. “What our farm laborers do is a skill. They’re born with it, and they’re good at it. It’s not an easy job.”

----- Yassah boss. Farm labor a significant valuable job skill worth 60 cents a day, and farm laborers be "born with it". Please slap the shit out of these men, if for nothing more than whining that prison slaves are not as skilled as migrant slaves.

I Confess

Federal securities regulators filed an insider-trading lawsuit in Chicago federal court today, alleging that as-yet-unidentified buyers used overseas accounts last month to make "highly profitable and suspicious" options trades that set them up for millions of dollars in profits when TXU Corp. announced publicly it had agreed to be acquired by private-equity interests.

Indeed, the SEC said in a release, the U.S. District Court in Chicago has entered a temporary restraining order that freezes $5.4 million in assets that belong to the unknown purchasers.

The SEC's lawsuit says the identity of the options buyers isn't yet known "because they made their purchases in accounts through several foreign brokerage firms." Those brokerage firms in turn cleared the trades through several U.S.-based brokerage firms, "which in turn executed the purchase orders through the facilities of the Chicago Board Options Exchange."

The just over 8,000 call options that the defendants purchased through their "unlawful trading activity" in a period from Feb. 21 through Friday, Feb. 23, positioned the buyers to reap more than $5.3 million in trading profits, according to the SEC.

The suit says the buyers violated federal securities law because they were making trades "while in possession of material, non-public information." In other words, the government alleges, they had either been tipped off or otherwise learned that TXU was in final-stage negotiations, days before the deal was actually announced.

---Okay, ya got me, dammit. I confess, where do I sign? Unfortunately, I've destroyed the paper trail, and no one other than myself was involved. I overheard guys from TXU, at lunch, discussing the acquistion and I couldn't help myself. I will do my 5 Martha months, minimum security jail time + $30K fine, just as soon as you unfreeze that $5.4 mil and deposit in my personal checking account. P.S. I am ashamed, shattered, and remorseful.

Who's Yo Daddy

Leipzig, Feb. 27, 2007 (CWNews.com) - In Leipzig, Germany, a brother and sister have launched a campaign to abolish criminal laws against incest.

Patrick and Susan Stubing, who are the parents of 4 children, are asking legal permission to continue their romantic relationship. Patrick has already served one prison term for violating German laws against incestuous relationships, and faces another sentence because he refuses to leave his sister.

Patrick Stubing, who was adopted as a young child, did not know his parents or siblings until 2000, when he found his birth mother and his younger sister Susan. Their mother died soon thereafter, leaving the children alone, and a romantic relationship was kindled.

Leaders of Germany’s Green Party have voiced their support for the Stubings’ cause. “We must abolish a law that originated last century and today is useless,” said party spokesman Jerzy Montag. Critics of the laws against incest say that they were developed as a product of Hitler’s theories on racial purity.

A lawyer for the couple said that their relationship should be preserved as a matter of “sexual self-determination.” He pointed out that neighboring Belgium, Holland, and France do not make incest a criminal offense.

--- "Sexual self-determination." So it's Hitler's fault Germany has laws against incest?

Gumballs

Roy Beck's By The Numbers.