Oh, for fuck's sake.

Here's a clue for the Bush Administation... If you really want to be trusted again, try being trustworthy.

Sending a message to Jean Schmidt.

Alito's stealth plan to overrule Roe.

No one seriously believes that the court is about to overrule Roe v. Wade," the current Supreme Court nominee wrote in an internal Justice Department memo on May 30, 1985. Referring to a high court decision to review two abortion-related cases at the time, he asked, "What can be made of this opportunity to advance the goals of bringing about the eventual overruling ... and in the meantime, of mitigating its effects."

The Cost of Vitamin C and Cocaine.

Anybody who has spent anytime with me knows how much I hate the Dead.

But I hate greedy rock stars more, and I don't think Captain Trips would approve of this.

Tape or DVR the Homecoming episode of Masters of Horror this Friday, because you'll be at Egg Nod:

The madness of king george.

So what happens when Rove gets indicted?

Must-see TV

More on Homecoming this Friday.

Just imagine the shitstorm this is going to stir up.

Schools are starting to charge teachers for the electricity that their electric pencil sharpeners and coffee pots use.

Sexual success and the creative class.

It's like that line in Finding Forrester: "Even writing a bad book will get you laid."

Bush releases "Victory in Iraq" plan. Short form: He hopes they kissed their babies goodbye, because our troops are never coming home so long as there is a republican in the White House.

However, here's their real new plan: rebranding.

During the briefing, the top U.S. military officer, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, slipped up twice and said "insurgent." With Rumsfeld standing at his side, Pace told reporters, "I have to use the word 'insurgent' because I can't think of a better word right now."

"'Enemies of the legitimate Iraqi government' -- how's that?" Rumsfeld told Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Moments later, Pace again referred to "the insurgents," then told his boss, "Sorry, sir. I'm not trainable today."

Rumsfeld and reporters previously have sparred over the dictionary definition of words such as "quagmire" and "slog."

Rumsfeld described the enemy in Iraq as a mixture of "foreign terrorists," Saddam loyalists, Sunni Arab "rejectionists," criminals, and "people that do it for money."

So according to Rumsfeld, it's really the hookers who are trying to end the US occupation.

The actual .pdf "Strategery Document" may be found here.

... I just finished reading it. It's a fucking powerpoint presentation by a high school student. I'm truly horrified at the idea that these simpletons are in power.

If you're looking for the laugh in the midst of it, skip right to page 33 "Help Iraq Strengthen the Rule of Law and Promote Civil Rights."

Death squads.

More here on how the Bush cabal designed the death squad program based on the ones who were raping and murdering nuns in El Salvador last time these criminal fucks were in power.

... and more via Mike in the comments.

Scientologists creating quite a time capsule.

This is what is meant by the Hollywood term "development hell."

300 gig optical media.

Cunningham's resignation letter.

It took a moment for me to unravel what it is that is so touching and respectable about it - it's the first time I can remember a republican sounding like he understands that what he did was wrong.

Advice for the Christian Underground.

Simpler advice would be to remember Matthew 6 - if you're praying in public, it's not for the benefit of your god, it's only to glorify yourself.

According the Jesus, that doesn't make you a good christian, it just makes you a narcissist, an attention-whore, and an asshole.

Congressman pleads guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion.

Notice anything missing from this story?

... more here. Unlike the others, this story actually contains the word "republican" - but only in the photo caption.

... and he resigns after admitting to taking more than $2 million in bribes.

Not that they need museums to make 'em legit, but hey, its about time. They only invented a new musical style.

"Black Sabbath, Miles Davis and the Sex Pistols are among five musical legends to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

I'll do more with this later. I'm wiped.

Greed.

Bad aphorisms.

Not that I believe in omens or anything...

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A chunk of marble fell from near the roof of the U.S. Supreme Court onto the stairs in the front of the building but no one was injured, a court spokeswoman said.

Spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said the marble, from what was believed to be dentil molding at the top of the building, fell at midmorning, about a half hour before the court was to open. There was no one on the stairs at the time.

The marble was right above the inscription near the top of the building saying, 'Equal Justice under Law'."

Here is the "trophy video" of civilians getting randomly shot by mercenaries in Iraq.

and

Here is more information on the specific mercenary corporation involved.

What we've become.

Impeachment is the only way for this country to claim its soul back.

... more here, on where we're headed.

The death of honor.

"In Norquist's world, the truth is for suckers. And it's as pointless to respond to him as it would be to respond to some street-corner schizophrenic"

Newport lottery winner lay dead 5 days before being found.

Allawi says human rights abuses in Iraq under the American occupation have gotten as bad as they ever were under Saddam.

Bush claims he is now adopting the Democrat plan for withdrawal. Halliburton will exercise their veto to rescind any troop reduction orders, but it's a start. The problem with a "phased withdrawal", of course, is that it increased the danger for the remaining troops to be increasingly understaffed. The right plan is Murtha's - create a rapid response force based elsewhere and get all our troops the hell out of Iraq within six months.

Fascism.

Bedbugs.

Sadistic cops.

Healdton officers Rick Clayton and Jared Trotts are accused of shooting a 25-year-old woman over 30 times with a pellet gun, now they’re no longer with the department.

The two officers were suspended without pay from the Healdton Police Department. But now, the city of Healdton says there was no need to keep the suspended officers on staff throughout the entire investigation, so both were let go.

The woman claims the two officers said they wouldn’t arrest her for an outstanding warrant if she let them shoot her with a pellet gun.

The victim’s attorney David Pyle says he believes both officers have been indicted by a grand jury, but the U.S. Court Clerk’s office in Muskogee could not confirm the statement.

Blueberries.

"It's too big to be a space station..."

Ohio republican Robert Ney to be charged with bribery.

THIS is the only defense against terrorism. We must become the beacon of freedom we claim to be.

For five years now we've been heading fast into despotism, and the world has watched in growing horror. It's time for dawn to break.

Those who argue for torture, for secret prisons, for abandoning the Constitution, are traitors to everything this country stands for. They are fools, they are frauds, and they are on the way out.

Wind power.

Fools and jackals trying to levy a specific tax on fuel efficient vehicles in order to sabotage any progress on US energy policy.

Pat Morita died.

I didn't realize he'd been imprisoned in an internment camp as a child.

More conservatives calling out the GOP for the fascists they are.

What has become of the American people that they permit the despicable practices of tyrants to be practiced in their name? The Bush administration is in violation of the US Constitution, the rule of law, the Geneva Convention, the Nuremberg Standard, and basic humanity. It is a gang of criminals. The Republican Party is so terrified of losing power that it supports a tyrannical administration that has brought shame not just to the Republican name but to all Americans.

Not content with rolling back civil rights to the last century, they're rolling them back to before the Magna Carta.

On a related note, when listening to a republican, how do you tell the difference between them being too stupid to understand what their party is doing to this country, and them just pretending to be that stupid? Is there a functional difference? There's no third choice.

Atmospheric CO2 concentrations higher now than any other time in the past 650,000 years.

Be careful with that turkey fryer today.

NYTimes reviews Syriana.

Short analysis of how Cheney's lack of any further electoral ambitions affects his role in the administration.

"The pilgrims came across the sea,
And never thought of you and me
And yet, it's very strange the way
We think of them on Thanksgiving Day.

We tell their story old and true,
Of how they sailed across the blue.
And found a new land to be free,
And built their homes quite near the sea.

Every child knows well the tale
Of how they bravely turned the sail,
And journeyed many a day and night
To worship God as they thought right."

Have a nice holiday.

Liberal Media

"[...]Under the Freedom of Information Act, the public can request records of government agencies. Records seen as jeopardizing national security or individual rights are typically exempted. All requests are public.

The request for a list of all who made inquiries of the Pentagon was filed by Michael Petrelis (http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/, a San Francisco-based activist and blogger. He provided a copy to RAW STORY, which will be released in full next week.

The Pentagon’s records reveal that the law is broadly used—more than 10,000 requests have been made since 2000. But they also illuminate a seeming dearth of curiosity by news organizations about the internal files of the U.S. military establishment.

This lack of curiosity appears particularly evident among the nation’s three largest newspapers. [...] In total, the three papers with daily circulations greater than one million--USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times -- made just 36 requests of the Pentagon between 2000 and February 2005. USA Today made nine; the Journal, six; and the Times, 21[...] The Associated Press, the nation’s most widely used wire service, made 73 requests. Two other AP reporters made a handful of requests not identified by their employer.

Leading print newspapers was the Los Angeles Times, with 42 inquiries. The Times recently ditched its national edition and announced last week it would lay off 85 newsroom staffers. Following the LA Times was the Washington Post, with 34—just shy of the total requests made by the three largest U.S. newspapers combined[...]"

GOP Scandal Scorecard!

Try to play along at home!

Fun with Google.!

Type in failure.

Ah, yes...

A snapshot of Karl Rove's ulcer - the blue America map.

Another innocent executed.

Anti-abortion group wants to trail giant pictures of aborted fetuses behind planes flying over Hawaiian beaches.

Fine. Let them. It's one of those great tactics that will do far more to alienate their viewers and make them pro-choice. Hell, maybe we can get them to fly banners with Jean Schmidt's hectoring picture on them.

Tom Brinkman: Feel the Hate.

Normally, I could give a rat's ass about Miami...

However, Brinkman is trying to sue a private institution over its enlightened policies concerning domestic partnerships. If I'm not mistaken, P & G offers domestic partnership benefits, as does UC.

Does the defense of marriage really need to extend folks are are lucky enough to find such benefits?

If there was ever a doubt about the cold hearted nature of this beast....

Some very detailed speculation coming to the conclusion that Bush himself was the first official to out Plame to Bob Woodward.

Jean's little buddy is hanging her out to dry.

More on the republican bribery prosecutions.

In jokes, irony, and misplaced outrage.

This is big.

Tom Delay's favorite fixer just pleaded guilty to charges involving the bribery of several republican public officials, including at least one congressman.

Rumsfeld seems to be losing heart in the War on Reality.

Lost

"There's an incredible opinion piece by Frank Rich in this week's Sunday Times. Basically he states the obvious, we've already lost in Iraq, and starts to discuss how we're going to manage the new world that we've created by turning Iraq into the ultimate terrorist breeding ground.

Already we're seeing pushback and blame, just like in Vietnam.

Right wingers are blaming our failure on France, on the anti-war crowd, on our lack of resolve. They're mad because we don't trust our government. But the blame belongs to our leaders, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush, who never took the time or made the effort to earn our trust and continue to speak to Americans like we are fools. Like when Bush makes the laughable statement that Americans don't torture. Then the Republican spin machine wonders why the average American thinks the president is a liar.

I was against this war but I hoped we would win it. I remember talking to the head of the English Department where I was teaching. I said, "If things work out in Iraq, I'm going to admit I was wrong and start voting Republican." I wanted to be wrong so badly. I figured the president knew things I didn't know. And he did. But he manipulated the intelligence and took us to war anyway.

The blame for the fiasco in Iraq has nothing to do with Americans questioning the war effort but rather the architects who failed to anticipate an Iraq that didn't welcome our occupation. They also didn't anticipate a public at home that is tired of being lied to and has ceased to believe them.

As Rich points out, we'll be dealing with the mess we created for generations, but we can't even begin to fix it until we elect leaders who at the bare minimum are willing to be honest with the American people."

- Stephen Elliott via the Huffington Post


Also: The man who sold the war

"Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night"-Isaac Asimov

Other nifty science quotes here.

The Iraqi Civil War

"In Tarmiyah, writing was scrawled on the walls of the city's main streets: 'Get out of here, Badr followers! Traitors! Spies!' ".

Yeah, things are going great.

Just dickin' around, and decided to see what David Horowitz has been up to, so I went to his "magazine" online.

Check out his bio. Now, contain your laughter.

Remember those Sex Pistol shirts that said "Never trust a hippie..."

Hugo Chavez and the Crawford Madmen

"Last week, Chavez took another swing at the Bush team by ordering the delivery of '12 million gallons of discounted home-heating oil to local charities and 45,000 low-income families in Massachusetts next month'. (Boston Globe)

The deal will provide nine million gallons of oil to institutions that serve the poor, such as homeless shelters. Families will be able to buy heating fuel at discount rates, keeping them from freezing to death in the bitter New England winter."

Well...Whatya think? I don't know much about this guy, aside from the fact that the GOP and the neocons think he's the second coming of Mao...

There isn't an inch of this country, nor a second of the day, that isn't dominated by narcissists so drunk with entitlement they think the universe spins around their convenience and whims.

It's nice to see this guy politely take a stand.

Someone asking you not to let your screaming kid run loose in his restaurant isn't a civil rights violation.

There's a survey attached to the story:

Do you think it's OK for restaurants to set and enforce rules for misbehaving kids?

Yes 96.82%

No 3.18%

Bob Graham on the manipulation of intelligence in order to invade and occupy Iraq.

The president's attacks are outrageous. Yes, more than 100 Democrats voted to authorize him to take the nation to war. Most of them, though, like their Republican colleagues, did so in the legitimate belief that the president and his administration were truthful in their statements that Saddam Hussein was a gathering menace -- that if Hussein was not disarmed, the smoking gun would become a mushroom cloud.

The president has undermined trust. No longer will the members of Congress be entitled to accept his veracity. Caveat emptor has become the word. Every member of Congress is on his or her own to determine the truth.

As chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, and the run-up to the Iraq war, I probably had as much access to the intelligence on which the war was predicated as any other member of Congress.

I, too, presumed the president was being truthful -- until a series of events undercut that confidence.

In February 2002, after a briefing on the status of the war in Afghanistan, the commanding officer, Gen. Tommy Franks, told me the war was being compromised as specialized personnel and equipment were being shifted from Afghanistan to prepare for the war in Iraq -- a war more than a year away. Even at this early date, the White House was signaling that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein was of such urgency that it had priority over the crushing of al Qaeda.

In the early fall of 2002, a joint House-Senate intelligence inquiry committee, which I co-chaired, was in the final stages of its investigation of what happened before Sept. 11. As the unclassified final report of the inquiry documented, several failures of intelligence contributed to the tragedy. But as of October 2002, 13 months later, the administration was resisting initiating any substantial action to understand, much less fix, those problems.

At a meeting of the Senate intelligence committee on Sept. 5, 2002, CIA Director George Tenet was asked what the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) provided as the rationale for a preemptive war in Iraq. An NIE is the product of the entire intelligence community, and its most comprehensive assessment. I was stunned when Tenet said that no NIE had been requested by the White House and none had been prepared. Invoking our rarely used senatorial authority, I directed the completion of an NIE.

Tenet objected, saying that his people were too committed to other assignments to analyze Saddam Hussein's capabilities and will to use chemical, biological and possibly nuclear weapons. We insisted, and three weeks later the community produced a classified NIE.

There were troubling aspects to this 90-page document. While slanted toward the conclusion that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction stored or produced at 550 sites, it contained vigorous dissents on key parts of the information, especially by the departments of State and Energy. Particular skepticism was raised about aluminum tubes that were offered as evidence Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear program. As to Hussein's will to use whatever weapons he might have, the estimate indicated he would not do so unless he was first attacked.

Under questioning, Tenet added that the information in the NIE had not been independently verified by an operative responsible to the United States. In fact, no such person was inside Iraq. Most of the alleged intelligence came from Iraqi exiles or third countries, all of which had an interest in the United States' removing Hussein, by force if necessary.

Congress plans massive selloff of public lands to corporate cronies.

"What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?"

Video of Jean Schmidt calling Murtha a coward.

Pentagon internal investigation of Douglas Feith's role in manipulating intelligence.

Awhile ago, and based on the existing evidence, I posted that Iran, in seeking nuclear technology, may be exploring its energy needs, and we needn't get all riled up and start talking about an invasion.

Well, evidentally, the procured a bomb manual. This worries me.

I hope the international community will press them on this, and I hope, given BushCo's stellar leadership in Middle Eastern Affairs, that we'll shut the hell up.

I think there is a reasonable solution for this terrible threat. I also think Bush will ramp up the sabre rattling to save his own ass.

God help us.

Russ Feingold to filibuster "PATRIOT" Act by reading the Bill of Rights to the senate. It should be a good education - the US Constitution is clearly a document that few senators have ever heard of.

Astounding flying (gliding) snake video.

More thoughtful, intelligent discourse from Mean Jean.

Bubbles.

via Slashdot.

Quagmire(s)

NY Times on Nixon's Vietnam Archive.

Bush's Deception

Cincinnati air still sucks.

Every city has its artists/slackers/hipsters/grad-students/bartenders. Is this still surprising?

People are living in cities again... this is just what it looks like. Really, I don't see any benefit to living in suburbs for anyone without kids. If you want space, go farther out and get some real land, see wildlife every day. If you want convenience, live in the city. Suburbs seem to have only one thing to offer, a built-in pack of local kids for children to grow up with.

A few thoughts about Bob Woodward's ego...

He feels betrayed since he didn't get to spill the scoop of Felt's identity.

He's been downplaying the treasongate scandal because he doesn't want it to overshine his crowning moment as one of the investigative reporters of the century.

He's so tight with the Bush clan that he might as well be W's tampon.

He's got an opportunity to blow wide the most deceitful administration in American history.

It's his last chance at history.

I suspect that after playing a momentous round of footsie to show what a faithful minion he is to the "confidential sources" cult, he's going to pull the trigger.

Interesting. From Cheney on down, the radical right wing doesn't seem to understand that they are attacking the majority of Americans.

So, cupcakes, let's have the argument. Stop blocking the investigations into how the Cheney Administration manipulated and forged intelligence reports to get us into this quagmire.

What a nutjob.

Katherine Harris, then Florida's secretary of state — and now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives — ordered a study in which, according to an article by Jim Stratton in the Orlando Sentinel, "researchers worked with a rabbi and a cardiologist to test ‘Celestial Drops,' promoted as a canker inhibitor because of its ‘improved fractal design,' ‘infinite levels of order,' and ‘high energy and low entropy.'"

The study determined that the product tested was, basically, water that had apparently been blessed according to the principles of Kabbalic mysticism, "chang[ing] its molecular structure and imbu[ing] it with supernatural healing powers."

I seldom see attribution on this very popular quote, so here's the link.

"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts

Oil execs lie about involvement in the Cheney Energy Task Force.

You know, the one responsible for our current fuel costs.

Some "senior administration official" besides Rove or Libby spilled Plame's CIA status to Bob Woodward prior to any of the other leaks.

Oh...yeah..Remember this guy.

"Investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said on Tuesday that they had uncovered evidence that its former chairman had repeatedly broken federal law and the organization's own regulations in a campaign to combat what he saw as liberal bias."

Yeah...Good ol' Ken.

Oh Dr. Thompson, if you'd only stayed long enough to write about this.

I don't know how far this information has penetrated the non-technogeek world, but if you haven't been following it, you really need to know about the Sony rootkit scandal.

Speaking to CNN, Kamal said he was stunned by what he saw.

"I've never seen such a situation like this during the past two years in baghdad, this is the worst," he said.

"I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beating, one or two detainees were paralysed and some had their skin peeled off various parts of their bodies."

Soldier and their families talk about the occupation.

Well surprise, surprise... it turns out you really can't fool all the people all the time, even in the US.

Fewer than one in 10 adults say they would prefer a congressional candidate who is a Republican and who agrees with Bush on most major issues, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday. Even among Republicans, seven of 10 are most likely to back a candidate who has at least some disagreements with the president.

Unless, of course, that person is a republican. Then there's no limit to the amount of bullshit they'll swallow:

Even among Republicans, who have solidly backed Bush in the past, 19% express disapproval — a new high.

via Atrios.

God in the Constitution (1890).

I read this excerpted in the most recent Playboy, and remembered that I had read Ingersoll a long time ago...Relevent still.

"If there be an infinite Being, he does not need our help -- we need not waste our energies in his defence. It is enough for us to give to every other human being the liberty we claim for ourselves. There may or may not be a Supreme Ruler of the universe -- but we are certain that man exists, and we believe that freedom is the condition of progress; that it is the sunshine of the mental and moral world, and that without it man will go back to the den of savagery, and will become the fit associate of wild and ferocious beasts.

We have tried the government of priests, and we know that such governments are without mercy. In the administration of theocracy, all the instruments of torture have been invented. If any man wishes to have God recognized in the Constitution of our country, let him read the history of the Inquisition, and let him remember that hundreds of millions of men, women and children have been sacrificed to placate the wrath, or win the approbation of this God.

There has been in our country a divorce of church and state. This follows as a natural sequence of the declaration that 'governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed'. The priest was no longer a necessity. His presence was a contradiction of the principle on which the Republic was founded. He represented, not the authority of the people, but of some 'Power from on High,' and to recognize this other Power was inconsistent with free government. The founders of the Republic at that time parted company with the priests, and said to them: 'You may turn your attention to the other world -- we will attend to the affairs of this'. Equal liberty was given to all. But the ultra theologian is not satisfied with this -- he wishes to destroy the liberty of the people -- he wishes a recognition of his God as the source of authority, to the end that the church may become the supreme power. But the sun will not be turned backward. The people of the United States are intelligent. They no longer believe implicitly in supernatural religion. They are losing confidence in the miracles and marvels of the Dark Ages. They know the value of the free school. They appreciate the benefits of science.

They are believers in education, in the free play of thought, and there is a suspicion that the priest, the theologian, is destined to take his place with the necromancer, the astrologer, the worker of magic, and the professor of the black art.

We have already compared the benefits of theology and science. When the theologian governed the world, it was covered with huts and hovels for the many, palaces and cathedrals for the few. To nearly all the children of men, reading and writing were unknown arts. The poor were clad in rags and skins -- they devoured crusts, and gnawed bones. The day of Science dawned, and the luxuries of a century ago are the necessities of to-day. Men in the middle ranks of life have more of the conveniences and elegancies than the princes and kings of the theological times. But above and over all this, is the development of mind. There is more of value in the brain of an average man of to-day -- of a master-mechanic, of a chemist, of a naturalist, of an inventor, than there was in the brain of the world four hundred years ago.

These blessings did not fall from the skies. These benefits did not drop from the outstretched hands of priests. They were not found in cathedrals or behind altars -- neither were they searched for with holy candles. They were not discovered by the closed eyes of prayer, nor did they come in answer to superstitious supplication. They are the children of freedom, the gifts of reason, observation and experience - - and for them all, man is indebted to man.

Let us hold fast to the sublime declaration of Lincoln. Let us insist that this, the Republic, is 'A government of the people, by the people, and for the people'."

Just when you thought baptismal electrocultion was the clincher for the Darwin awards...

"Tyler Poulson was riding with his brothers last night when he became offended by one of them using profanity. Poulson, who recently returned from an LDS mission, threatened to get out of the truck if he continued."

Fuck it, then, jump dude...

What?!?

"Al-Qaida Video Threatens Queen Elizabeth

LONDON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida has named Queen Elizabeth II of England 'one of the severest enemies of Islam,' the Sunday Times of London reported.

The newspaper said al-Qaida threatened the queen in a video message intended to justify the July bombings in London. The warning has been forwarded by British intelligence to the queen`s protection team.

Parts of the video were broadcast on the Arabic-language news service al-Jazeera. The video features Ayman al-Zawahiri -- widely regarded as the second-in-command to Osama Bin Laden -- denouncing the queen as an enemy of Muslims.

'MI5 is aware that there are some pieces of that video that have not been aired,' a government official told the newspaper. 'They are aware of the bit of al-Zawahiri talking about the queen and they have notified the relevant authorities.'

The Sunday Times said it has obtained the full 27-minute video, which is posted on secure jihadist Web sites in the Middle East used to recruit prospective terrorists -- and on the British Web site of a Saudi extremist."

This sounds like fun...

'''You believe in a monolithic Jewish conspiracy?' says Marc Levin. 'Spend a week with me'."

I think I'd like this one.

So...You fucked Gene Simmons...

"Ward says both she and Simmons were involved in a normal three-year romance when she was a 21-year-old college student and he was living with his mother in Queens--before he shot to fame as the blood-spitting monster-faced member of KISS."

I'm pretty sure this might be one of those instances...you know...an ex you might not want to be reminded of...

Or publicly associated with.

The hellhounds turn on each other

"Republicans are engaged in a high-stakes fight largely among themselves.

They are attempting to determine if they can finance the increasingly unpopular Iraq war, secure U.S. borders, repair cities devastated by hurricanes and prepare for a possible flu pandemic -- while upholding two pillars of conservatism: cutting taxes and government spending."

Let me help, guys...The answer is no.

Oops...

"While admitting 'we were wrong' about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, President Bush's national security adviser on Sunday rejected assertions that the president manipulated intelligence and misled the American people."

Well, at least you admitted it.

Now, I hope you don't really think that this kind of admitted ineptitude gets you off the hook...

I think in the legal community, they'd call this sort of thing negligent at the very least.

That is, if I believed a goddamned thing you were saying.

And while we're talking about being wrong, John Edwards offers up this. Its okay, John, I knew you were the whole time.

Update: Define Imminent? Ah, yes, the Clinton defense. What happened to honor and integrity.

Surreal.

No...really.

"It's not about who they are. It's about who we are."

Speaking of morons...

As Kaine demonstrates, one can simultaneously oppose abortion and support legal access to abortion procedures. By mischaracterizing Kaine's position, Liasson and Bradley falsely suggest that the two are irreconcilable. In fact, Kaine's articulation of his views of abortion echoes that of other prominent Democrats. As president, Bill Clinton famously declared that abortions should be "safe, legal, and rare." Speaking before NARAL Pro-Choice America on January 22, 1999, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) said: "I have met thousands and thousands of pro-choice men and women. I have never met anyone who is pro-abortion. Being pro-choice is not being pro-abortion."

How fucking hard is that to understand? Well, just ask Jimmy Carter, lambasted for having the audacity to be pro-choice, but mourn the abortion rate.

Some people are just goddamned morons.

Anyone who was paying attention, who has enough brain cells to use a spoon, remembers that at the time of the vote it was clear, specifically stated, that it was no authorization to invade Iraq absent another UN resolution, so long as Saddam allowed the inspectors back in and access to suspect sites.

It was pressure to get the inspectors back in, and it worked.

The inspectors found that there were no WMD.
Bush invaded anyway.

Now we know why - the "evidence of WMD" that Bush had used to get that vote passed was nothing but lies and forgeries created by the neocons to put Chalabi back in power in exchange for oil and military bases.

Congratulations Wes!

Hey man, nice shot.

Remember Veteran's Day, and if you have a chance to talk to elderly vets in your family, do so while you can.

Pat Robertson threatens Pennsylvania town with god's wrath for their support of science.

Habeas Corpus.

Sarah Silverman

Cutting to the chase on "free trade."

It's Krakatoa all over again.

Interesting. In 1988, Judith Miller was already turning over New York Times stories, by other reporters, to Lee Atwater for censorship prior to publication.

The XY(ellow cake)Z affair.

J'accuse, Monsieur Wilson, j'accuse.

Evidentally, we've got Wilson and his wife being cast as Dreyfuss in this little charade. Oh yes, the Swifties are back.

These fucking NeoCons and their spineless apologists will stop at nothing. No integrity. No ethics. No way.

The Daily Show presents...The White House Ethics Exam!

Willy Peter goes to Fallujah

"An incendiary device, white phosphorus is used by the military to conceal troop movements with smoke, mark targets or light up combat areas. The use of incendiary weapons against civilians has been banned by the Geneva Convention since 1980."

Imagine you are a frightened child...

One of these things goes off, you catch fire from it. The natural thing to do is to find water. You dowse yourself-still burning. You jump in a lake-still burning. You try to smother it-still burning. You run in agony, flesh searing every painful second, like you were on the wrong end of God's wrath.

Fun. Al Jazeera is reporting a massacre.

Hearts and Minds.

Kansas: Where intellects go to die.

Lawrence: Don't give up!

Carlin

Pretty good interview...

Via Atrios, a brief history of a lying, treacherous, bastard:

Chalabi.

So we're back to using "new and improved" napalm and phosphorus on civilians.

Fox News grits its teeth and reports their own poll which states...

Of those that say they voted for Bush in the election, 86 percent say they would still vote for him today and 6 percent would switch their vote to Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry.

Fox News throughout History...

Drunk blogging.

Or, if political crimes are too iffy for you, how about the execrable folks who invent things like MK-77 - the "modern napalm". Bushco didn't just find a new and improved version of napalm lying on the beach -- some rat-fucking shit-eating scum-licking fucker had to invent it. Who invents new forms of napalm?!!!! Please come talk to me, here in Columbus, Ohio, 484 W 12th Ave, so I can kick your nuts all the way up to your teeth. And then piss in your skull.

Gotta admit he's got a point there with that one.

People of God

Weird, isn't it, how Dubya et al. wants politics from the pulpit...exept when the message is truly Christian...then's its more left propaganda.

Walmart is evil.

Mr. President.

Al Gore

When history derailed the presidency of Al Gore, it may have increased his power to save the planet. Freed from the restraints of elected office, the former vice president is now widely regarded as America's most persuasive and passionate spokesman on global warming. "Rescuing the environment from climate collapse was a -- if not the -- defining issue of my political career," says Gore, 57. "And you can be damn sure I'm not giving up on it now."

No public figure has a deeper working knowledge of the climate crisis. Gore studied the effects of greenhouse-gas emissions at Harvard and held the Senate's first hearing on the science of climate change. In 1988, when he ran for president at the age of 40, his "primary motivation was to push the global-warming issue." Four years later, he wrote "Earth in the Balance," the bestselling book on global warming. Not long after that, Bill Clinton, who calls Gore "one of the greatest political and scientific intellects of our time," asked him to be his running mate.

As vice president, Gore was a chief architect of the Kyoto Protocol, the historic accord on reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. But the Senate refused to ratify the treaty, calling the evidence "inconclusive." Now that the scientific consensus is irrefutable,

Gore considers it "damned immoral" that the White House and Congress continue to block action on global warming. "This is an emergency of historic proportions," he says. "We are in a race against time. There is a brave and hearty band of about 2 percent of Washington officials who are working on this, but 98 percent are in denial."

These days, Gore devotes much of his energy to pressuring Washington to act. Since 2001, he has traveled the world giving a riveting presentation titled "Global Warming: A Planetary Emergency," a lecture and multimedia display that lays out the causes and consequences of what Gore calls "the collision between civilization and the earth." And last year, he co-founded an investment firm that supports climate-change initiatives and sustainable development.

Cheney: "Fuck you all, we'll continue to torture everyone we want."

Bush: "Now watch this drive."

Yale ends tuition for graduate music programs, thanks to a $100 million anonymous donation.

Remains of Copernicus found.

One step closer to the forger of the Niger yellowcake documents.

Local republican officials attack a bartender, then flee in gold Hummer.

Wind power.

Religion kills.

The Wall Street Journal compares presidential popularity ratings.



(yes, I realize the width of the graph messes up the formatting. It's important enough to keep it large enough to read.)

Every once in a while, somewhere a republican stops lying for just a moment.

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

The Taurids, normally an unspectacular meteor shower, seems to be producing fireballs this year.

Amen.

VATICAN CITY - A Vatican cardinal said Thursday the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores scientific reason.

Your lightnin's all I need
My satisfaction grows
You make me feel at ease
You even make me glow [...]

"Surprise me, God."

Be careful what you wish for.

Take comfort, brothers and sisters, its all according to plan...

You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie.

What a monumental asshole.

The e-mails show that Brown, who had been planning to step down from his post when the storm hit, was preoccupied with his image on television even as one of the first FEMA officials to arrive in New Orleans, Marty Bahamonde, was reporting a crisis situation of increasing chaos to FEMA officials.

"My eyes must certainly be deceiving me. You look fabulous _ and I'm not talking the makeup," writes Cindy Taylor, FEMA's deputy director of public affairs to Brown on 7:10 a.m. local time on Aug. 29.

"I got it at Nordstroms," Brown writes back. "Are you proud of me? Can I quit now? Can I go home?" An hour later, Brown adds: "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire, you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god."

A week later, Brown's aide, Sharon Worthy, reminds him to pay heed to his image on TV. "In this crises and on TV you just need to look more hardworking ... ROLL UP THE SLEEVES!" Worthy wrote, noting that even President Bush "rolled his sleeves to just below the elbow."

The Republican War On Reality

Jimmy Carter discusses the theocons on Fresh Air.

The Gulag Archipelago.

You mean more than 2,000 Americans, and tens of thousands of Iraqis died for NO REASON AT ALL?!

DUBAI, U.A.E. (AP) - Deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein accepted an 11th-hour offer to flee into exile weeks ahead of the U.S.-led 2003 invasion but Arab League officials scuttled the proposal, officials in Dubai said.

In case you're not paying attention - Reid took over the Senate and ordered a closed session to talk about investigating the pre-invasion falsification of intelligence data.

Two more moons for Pluto.