Hello World! US Bombing Civilians In Sadr City

Hey Nancy Pelosi, maybe you and your "do nothin" gang can mention this and pretend to care. From Bagnews:














Two-year-old Ali Hussein being pulled from the bombed rubble of his home. Ali died shortly afterwards at the hospital. Maybe dubya and the US corporate "journalists" can share a laugh over this one? I'm sure duh-bya's enjoying it.

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John McCain | Erected?

Hilarious.



From Laughing Squid and Flickr.

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What Pentagon/Media Propaganda?

If the Pentagon and the "News" Media are joined at the hip and the media refuses to report on it does it all go away? For the sheeple, yes of course.



Some action is better than none, go to FreePress.net . By the way the Pentagon/corporate news pundit scandal apparently is against the law(as it should be).

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Chandler endorses Obama

Squealing is heard from both the Clinton and McCranky camps. I wish Rep. Chandler had endorsed Greg Fischer for Senate while he was at it.

---

Chandler endorses Obama

LOUISVILLE --Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler said he's ignoring potential political risks to back U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for president -- a decision made after months of mounting and intense pressure.

Continue.

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Obama Repudiates Reverend Wright

I agree with Kevin Hayden, Jeremiah Wright thinks this was all about him and his church, but it's not and never has been. It's just another angle of attack on Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee. Stirring the crap shall we say. Keep the distractions going and make him jump through hoops. For example have you seen any ACTUAL "News" reporting about old John McCain? I didn't think so, see John's in the IOKIYAR club and not the Democratic nominee. It's the medias job to keep National Democratic candidates on the defensive. Ask Brian Williams Reverend, they weren't really after you. Actually I'm afraid Brian's in on it so he couldn't tell you.
Anyway after the comments Wright made yesterday Obama does what he has to do:



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Evening Video | Death Cab For Cutie

Off their new album Narrow Stairs, "I Will Possess Your Heart":



Note: As with most videos it's best to follow the YouTube link. When you get there click the button in the lower right of the video viewer for full screen.

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Brian Williams | Media Prostitute Of The Day

Brian Williams nominates Peggy Noonan for a Pulitzer Prize

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More On Our Darling Corporate media

I actually loved the shot of Hillary slugging down the booze. Here's This Modern World:



















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Once Again | Why I Never Watch Corporate News

Jeff Cohen's excellent article sums up the corporate news very well. Fortunately(for my sanity) I'd quit them years before. Sometime around the Bill Clinton impeachment debacle and when the internet started becoming a viable news option. The Internet has been and continues to be a life saver for me. The only escape from the alternate universe of the corporate infotainment business.
It's not getting any better. Dumbya appears as a guest on a game show, Laura "The Lump" hosts the Today Show with obsequent regulars. I only see these little items while reading through internet news sites. The day they stop the free flow of information on the Net is the final nail in the coffin of freedom. Here's Jeff Cohen on the run-up to dubya and our media's bloody Iraq folly:

Military Propaganda Pushed Me off TV

By Jeff Cohen

In the fall of 2002, week after week in debates televised on MSNBC, I argued vigorously against invading Iraq. I used every possible argument that might sway mainstream viewers - no real threat, cost, instability. But as the war neared, my debates were terminated.

In my 2006 book ""Cable News Confidential," I explained why I lost my airtime:

There was no room for me after MSNBC launched "Countdown: Iraq" - a daily one-hour show that seemed more keen on glamorizing a potential war than scrutinizing or debating it. "Countdown: Iraq" featured retired colonels and generals, sometimes resembling boys with war toys as they used props, maps and glitzy graphics to spin invasion scenarios. They reminded me of pumped-up ex-football players doing pre-game analysis and diagramming plays. It was excruciating to be sidelined at MSNBC, watching so many non-debates in which myth and misinformation were served up unchallenged.

Continue.

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Elizabeth Edwards | Bowling 1, Health Care 0

Elizabeth Edwards has an excellent article in the NYTimes about the vapidness and uselessness of the corporate news media's coverage of the Presidential campaign. Her article appears along with a Maureen Dowd piece of fluff which is(as always) a perfect example of Edward's point. Go read:

"The problem today unfortunately is that voters who take their responsibility to be informed seriously enough to search out information about the candidates are finding it harder and harder to do so, particularly if they do not have access to the Internet.

Did you, for example, ever know a single fact about Joe Biden’s health care plan? Anything at all? But let me guess, you know Barack Obama’s bowling score. We are choosing a president, the next leader of the free world. We are not buying soap, and we are not choosing a court clerk with primarily administrative duties."

Thanks to Dailyhowler for the link.

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Johnie "Mint" McCain Says Obama "Insensitive"

John "moneybags" McCain left one of his 6 or 7(who can keep count) mansions and flew around on wife Cindy's corporate jet. After getting tired and drinking his geritol he did an "interview" on the GOP channel. During said interview-or as Faux News likes to call it, "stroking"- crazy John actually said that Barack Obama is "Insensitive to poor people". No loud guffaws, but a few chuckles and winking went around off the set. There are no "poor" anywhere near the campaigns but see the pic below for the actual "poorest" person in this campaign, and surprise, it ain't ol' John.















Thanks to DWT for the graphic and please go there and read the whole sad, sordid story.

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Midday Video | Northern Downpour

Panic At The Disco with "Northern Downpour":


Not sure what it means but I likes it.

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Citizens Of Gaza And Sadr City Under Death Threat

The Israeli government has given a virtual death sentence to thousands in Gaza and dubya is in the middle of doing to Sadr City what he did to Fallujah. Here's more from Siun at FDL:

..
Conditions in Gaza are disastrous – the siege means that essential items – food, medicine, fuel, and basic building supplies -- are scarcely anywhere to be had. “Tsunamis of sewage” are just one desperate result. And now that the UN has had to halt food relief shipments due to the Israeli blockade of fuel, over 1.1 million are facing starvation. Even the World Bank is reporting that these conditions are caused by Israeli blockades.
It’s even harder to learn what conditions are like in Sadr City, which is still under a siege by US and Green Zone forces. Air strikes by US forces continue daily – the AP has “raw video” of one such strike in the past week but we don't hear about this "air surge" in our media - except when there's a report touting our high tech capabilities.

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Vote Greg Fischer in Kentucky's Senate Race

The latest Greg Fischer ad.
Greg needs to beat corporate Democrat Snidely Whiplash..er...Bruce Lunsford and then beat dubya's servant boy Mitch "Mo Money" McConnell:



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The DNC's New John McCain Ad

The Green Zone in Baghdad was bombarded with rocket fire today, and on a related note John McCain wouldn't mind staying there "100 years":



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Sunday Video - Gasoline Alley

Rod Stewart, Ron Wood and the gang, circa 1971 with a bit of"Gasoline Alley, etc.":



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"Maverick" John McCain Using His Wife's Corporate Jet

Question: How loud would the pundits be screaming if this were a Democratic candidate?

Can Mrs. McCain please release her full tax returns now?

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"Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran"

I'm afraid Ellroon's right:

They’re going to bomb Iran and hand the disaster over to the Democratic president. Two birds with one 500 ton bomb.


Oh, and I don't think the Democrats will do a damn thing about it.

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Afternoon Video | "Black"

Pearl Jam, un-plugged with "Black"



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Pandas Make You Smile

How can you not love the giant panda?



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Hubble Telescope's 18th Anniversary

Today, in celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 18th launch anniversary, 59 views of colliding galaxies constitute the largest collection of Hubble images ever released to the public. This new Hubble atlas dramatically illustrates how galaxy collisions produce a remarkable variety of intricate structures in never-before-seen detail.

NGC 5331 is a pair of interacting galaxies beginning to hold their arms . There is a blue trail which appears in the image flowing to the right of the system. NGC 5331 is very bright in the infrared, with about a hundred billion times the luminosity of the Sun. It is located in the constellation Virgo, the Maiden, about 450 million light-years away from Earth.

All Images.

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John "torture gang" Ashcroft Questioned about waterboarding

Former Bushco Attorney General John Ashcroft, who sat in on their torture meetings spoke at Knox College, a small Liberal arts college in Illinois-for a sweet little $15,000 paycheck. After his "speech" he actually agreed to take questions. When they turned to torture and waterboarding he nearly lost his composure(maybe he's seeing those Hague prisoner boxes). For the full details go Kos, and more with dday, and FDL. Here's an excerpt that I really enjoyed:

ME: Actually, Mr. Ashcroft, my question was about this other document. (laughter and applause) This other document is a section from the judgment of the Tokyo War Tribunal. After WWII, the Tokyo Tribunal was basically the Nuremberg Trials for Japan. Many Japanese leaders were put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture. And among the tortures listed was the "water treatment," which we nowadays call waterboarding...

ASHCROFT: (interrupting) This is a speech, not a question. I don't mind, but it's not a question.

ME: It will be, sir, just give me a moment. The judgment describes this water treatment, and I quote, "the victim was bound or otherwise secured in a prone position; and water was forced through his mouth and nostrils into his lungs and stomach." One man, Yukio Asano, was sentenced to fifteen years hard labor by the allies for waterboarding American troops to obtain information. Since Yukio Asano was trying to get information to help defend his country--exactly what you, Mr. Ashcroft, say is acceptible for Americans to do--do you believe that his sentence was unjust? (boisterous applause and shouts of "Good question!")

ASHCROFT: (angrily) Now, listen here. You're comparing apples and oranges, apples and oranges. We don't do anything like what you described.

ME: I'm sorry, I was under the impression that we still use the method of putting a cloth over someone's face and pouring water down their throat...

ASHCROFT: (interrupting, red-faced, shouting) Pouring! Pouring! Did you hear what she said? "Putting a cloth over someone's face and pouring water on them." That's not what you said before! Read that again, what you said before!

ME: Sir, other reports of the time say...

ASHCROFT: (shouting) Read what you said before! (cries of "Answer her fucking question!" from the audience) Read it!

ME: (firmly) Mr. Ashcroft, please answer the question.

ASHCROFT: (shouting) Read it back!

ME: "The victim was bound or otherwise secured in a prone position; and water was forced through his mouth and nostrils into his lungs and stomach."

ASHCROFT: (shouting) You hear that? You hear it? "Forced!" If you can't tell the difference between forcing and pouring...does this college have an anatomy class? If you can't tell the difference between forcing and pouring...

ME: (firmly and loudly) Mr. Ashcroft, do you believe that Yukio Asano's sentence was unjust? Answer the question. (pause)

ASHCROFT: (more restrained) It's not a fair question; there's no comparison. Next question! (loud chorus of boos from the audience)

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Remix Video | It's Not A Compound

A strange video remix and mash-up using samples taken from an ABC interview of the Texas polygamist mothers:



From The Art Of Bleeding and thanks to Laughing squid.

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Bill Moyers Interviews McClatchy's Leila Fadel

Leila Fadel is McClatchy New's Baghdad Bureau Chief. I've tried to find this interview to post for the last few days. Finally thanks to left i here it is:



-

Gayer Than Buchanon, Part 3

Dubya, the gayest President since Buchanon part 3, "The Wild Dance":



















Thanks Water Tiger.

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Meet Inside-Out The Beltway

Unclothed Emperors and Unwashed Bloggers

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Happy Earth Day | Heaven Help The Earth

Happy Earth Day. Do what you can for Mother Earth:


“The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war but have not the courage to tell us that we must be less greedy and wasteful.”
--Wendell Berry, from Americanswhotellthetruth.org

"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home."

--Tecumseh, Shawnee Nation


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FISA | They Never Give Up

FISA Fight: Here We Go Again:

Don't sell us out, Hoyer.

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Those "Bad Apples" Of Torture

-

Guide to the Right-Wing Blogosphere

For those who haven't seen this already it's certainly worth following the link. Quite funny and pretty much spot on guide to the bowels(shall we say) of the Wingnut Blogosphere.
--

The Official Village Voice Election-Season Guide to the Right-Wing Blogosphere
A confederacy of dunces

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Condoleezza Rice | "Bring 'em On" part 2

From the: "What, they're not killing our soldiers fast enough?!" department. I don't think Kinda-sleaza is as dumb as her boss, I just think(like all of Bushco) that she couldn't care less what happens in Iraq when she safely away in Washington and/or hiding in the heavily fortified green zone.
Dubya saying "bring 'em on" to the insurgents while safely behind layers of security and comfort in Washington brought on a firestorm, and now his Sec of State is taunting al-Sadr and his followers. Oh yeah, this will help things in dubya's meatgrinder.
On the other hand I'm sure "Sleazi" found some good shoe sales on the trip:


Sitting bravely behind concrete walls while visiting Iraq this weekend, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chose to channel her boss (2003) by responding to Muqtada al-Sadr’s latest threat with an official “taunt” from the U.S. government:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers. …(More)

VetVoice’s’ Brandon Friedman goes on to explain that this “actually provides a huge piece of propaganda for Sadr, who can now use it as a rallying point for his followers who will view this as a challenge to their honor,” and just when the surge was beginning to work so well.

Crooks and Liars.

-

What's Younger Than John McCain?

What's younger than John McCain? Quite a lot actually. You'd be surprised.

"John McCain comes from another time, an old war-horse stuck in the past with an old-world view of things. Just for fun and to put into some perspective just how old McCain is, we started compiling lists of things that to most Americans seem really old, but they're still younger than good 'ole John McCain."

Linked.

Jessica Rabbit Lives

Jessica Rabbit brought to life and "untooned". Like Mario and Homer Simpson but far more attractive.










Yummm..

Linked Boingboing.

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The Joy Of The Psuedo-Liberal Newspaper

I sat down this morning to read my local dead tree paper The Lexington Herald-Leader. Now if you live anywhere near here you're used to hearing the occasional alternate universe wingnut growling about "that Herald-Liberal rag". You know the same ones who cry about the "Liberal Media" while they get their news from FauxFOX, CNN, ABC(the Sean Hannity debate network) , etc. Anyway there I sat with my coffee to round out the news with some in depth analysis from the columnists.
Sunday's the one day of the week that I actually read the H-L National News section. To much of a corporate bipartisan hack-fest the rest of the week. Actually the same on Sundays but I do try to wade through it today if only for tradition. So I skim their National News and then go to the columnists.
I've told conservatoids that I wish it were Liberal, just like I wish CNN(etal.) were Liberal. Why(they say)? Because if they were, "I'd watch them, I'd watch them every damn day!"
My original point and the gist of this rant. The "Herald-Liberals" columnists for my Sunday pleasure.:

John Stossel- Libertarian, corporate Ho, corporate hack, all around "Dick".
Maureen Dowd- Corporate hack, Media Ho, hater of Democrats.
Cal Thomas- Religion Troll, wingnut.
Mona Charon- Her name describes her politics, hardcore wingnut.
Eugene Robinson- I don't know what Mr. Robinson's politics are. He's a black man so I assume at worst that he's right leaning Democrat.

There you have it my Sunday morning reading pleasure. Since I only scanned the headlines I didn't have to read any further so I got to the breakfast table earlier, so there's that. There's a few local columnists such as Larry Dale Keeling, etc. that I like sometimes, but rarely a Liberal, or someone I(a Liberal) see as a Liberal voice in the pages of that "Herald-Liberal". More's the pity.

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The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858(Today)

A return to the Lincoln-Douglas debates with Charlie and George(channeling Sean Hannity) as moderators.

......

STEPHANOPOULOS: I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you think Mr. Douglas loves America as much you do?

LINCOLN: Sure I do.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But who loves America more?

LINCOLN: I’d prefer to get on with my opening statement George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: If your love for America were eight apples, how many apples would Senator Douglas’s love be?

LINCOLN: Eight.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Proceed.

LINCOLN: In my opinion, slavery will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Excuse me, did an Elijah H. Johnson attend your church?

LINCOLN: When I was a boy in Illinois forty years ago, yes. I think he was a deacon.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Are you aware that he regularly called Kentucky “a land of swine and whores”?

LINCOLN: Sounds right -- his ex-wife was from Kentucky.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why did you remain in the church after hearing those statements?

LINCOLN: I was eight.

DOUGLAS: This is an important question George -- it's an issue that certainly will be raised in the fall.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you denounce him?

LINCOLN: I’d like to get back to the divided house if I may.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you denounce and reject him?

.......

Continue.

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Glenn Greenwald On Democracy Now

On Democracy Now Amy Goodman interviews Glenn Greenwald author of Great American Hypocrites. Discussing the corporate news media and ABC's horrendus debate topics this past week:



Part 2

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Moby Has A Free Music Website

Moby has a free music website at mobygratis.com. The music is free to download and use for projects by non-profit flimmakers and film students. Here's a Sundance interview where he has some great points on the website and art and copyrights:



Linked.

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The Pentagon Military Educational Institute Says Dubya's War Sucks

Seriously, read it. It's as bad as we effing hippie detractors said it would be.

"Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle."


Linked.

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Midday Video - Bring On The Comets

VHS or Beta(again) Live with "Bring on The Comets":



-

The Next Canadian Blood Lust?

Erik says:

"Now that Canada’s fishermen are almost done with clubbing seals for the year, the Canadian government has turned its attention to the pigs. Ottawa has just approved a massive bail out of pig farmers at taxpayer expense. They’ve worked out a deal for pig farmers to kill of 150,000 pigs by the autumn, in exchange for a $50 million payout. Not a single ounce of that flesh
will become ham or back bacon — it’ll all be ground up into pet food or otherwise disposed of so as to prop up pork prices."

Linked.
-

That ABC(Already Been Chewed) Democratic Debate

Well apparently I got lucky by missing ABC's (unsurprisingly) lousy hosting of this Hillary/Obama debate.

“perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years.”
-Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher


-

"Sex, Drugs and Geritol", Oh And A Galaxy!

Morning all. Countdown to weekend has begun.
Here's a nice shot of the Sunflower Galaxy. Only 25 million light-years away. For you anonymous wingnuts that's a LOOoooonnngg way:



-

Why Winter Soldier Got the Cold Shoulder

Apparently it boils down to them not being a Republican front group.

Why Winter Soldier Got the Cold Shoulder

Why didn't the New York Times cover the "Winter Soldier" hearings organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), during which soldiers testified about their experiences in Iraq? Of the newspaper's three Pentagon reporters, "one [was] on book leave, one was traveling with the secretary of defense, and one was in Iraq covering the war," explained public editor Clark Hoyt, responding to an action alert from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). Hoyt added, "The Times also did not cover an announcement the following day by Vets for Freedom, a group supporting the war and claiming more than 13 times the membership" of IVAW. FAIR notes that "anyone can sign up on the Vets for Freedom website," while IVAW membership is restricted to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Hoyt's comparison of Winter Soldier's "eyewitness testimony about atrocities in Iraq" and Vets for Freedom's "press release about media bias" is also "far-fetched," adds FAIR. But Vets for Freedom is receiving attention. Before hearing General David Petraeus's and Ambassador Ryan Crocker's update on Iraq, Senator John McCain addressed a Vets for Freedom rally, reports NPR. "Your presence here indicates that the overwhelming majority of veterans ... know that there is no substitute for victory and withdrawal is defeat," he told the Republican front group.

Link

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Elitist?

Jon Stewart can mock the increasingly Red State Hillary and the corporate news attack poodles as well as anyone:


"Didn't elite used to be a good thing"?

Thanks to Skippy.

-

That Mythical "Liberal Media"

-
From WAPO.

So much for the liberal media.

John McCain and Barack Obama both appeared before the nation's newspaper editors yesterday. The putative Republican presidential nominee was given a box of doughnuts and a standing ovation. The likely Democratic nominee was likened to a terrorist.

-

Dickipedia

A Wiki of Dicks:

John McCain.

-

Iraq | The Carnage Goes On

What's our wonderfully observent corporate news media focusing on today? Has Barack Obama made a comment taken out of context? Has he had a bad sports score? Any missing white women or shark attacks? Meanwhile over in the Bushopotamian meatgrinder.

Deadliest Attack In Months: Nearly 60 Killed In Iraq Car Bombings

Linked.

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Republican Representative Davis Calls Obama "Boy"

This is like something from Mississippi or Alabama. Republican Representative Geoff Davis of Northern Kentucky just may be toast. When a Republican gets all gushing apologies and talking "shared goals" you know they're wounded badly. He's apologizing like a Republican attorney who's been shot in the face by Dick Cheney.
-

Davis apologizes to Obama over 'boy' comment.

Here's the comment:

"I'm going to tell you something. That boy's finger does not need to be on the button, he could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."

Representaive Davis, Racist jerk? You decide. Me, I hope he's toast

Link.

Update: I'm sure due to the IOKIYAR(It's okay if you're a Republican) and DSAP(Democrats suck at politics) rules this will be in the news cycle for all of 12 hours.

-

Torture Prez. | Demand An Independent Prosecutor

Haven't we finally had enough.

Demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations by the Bush administration of laws including the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act, and federal assault laws.


-

The Torture President

The only Presidency who believes that the inquisitions were just swell.

















Digby on the news that the Bush Presidency is pro Gulag, pro torture top to bottom
-

Torture Nation.

"Torture must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death."

Here's John McCain when he knew torture was wrong and illegal:
"When word of torture and mistreatment began to slip out to the American press in the summer of 1969, our public-relations-minded captors began to treat us better. I'm certain we would have been a lot worse off if there had not been the Geneva Conventions around."
-John McCain

Obama Talks To The Steelworker's Union

Barack Obama about the Clinton Canpaign's remarks and more:



Update: From the Huffington Post about crazy John McCain calling Obama and "elitist",
It Takes Real Chutzpah for a Guy Who Owns Eight Houses (McCain) to Call Barack Obama an "Elitist"

-

Midday Video | Coldplay

Once again I've been away from home base for a while. At work now and here's a quick lunchtime video - Coldplay with "Yellow":



-

The Daily Show Documents FAUX News

The Daily Show's John Oliver does an excellent little "documentary" on FAUXFOX News:

Part 1:



Part 2:



-

Winning The Iraq War Debate With The Mentally Challenged

From Lee Camp
--

How to win the Iraq war debate against your dumb friends.

Linked at DWT.

-

Evening Video | Regina Spektor

Regina Spektor with "Better":



-

50 Greatest Comedy Sketches

Independent Film has the 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of all Time:

No. 50:


SNL - "More Cowbell"

No. 1:



Monty Python - "Dead Parrot"

-

Afternoon Music

It's early afternoon. Your eyes are getting HEAVY. WAKE UP! Here's Michael Franti with "Yell Fire":



-

Who Needs A Safety Net?

Project For The Old American Century.

-

Hiding From The Surge

As Bush's Pet-raeus testifies their escalationsurge seems to have made things in Iraq about...well about the same.











Photo.

A boy hid from sniper fire in Sadr City near an area of machine gun and artillery fire, and an occasional stray round from snipers hissed through the air. American armored Stryker vehicles and about 30 Iraqi Army vehicles were blocking the street nearby.

Link.

More:
As Petraeus testifies, Baghdad teeters on edge of erupting

-

First Honeybees And Now Bats

"White nose syndrome" wiping out bats in the Northeast US

-

Michael Moore's "Sicko", The Craziest Country

Michael Moore cut this scene from his movie "Sicko" because no one would believe it.



I did kind of wonder what the victims of the prison scene's prisoners thought of their "punishment".

-

Blue America Supports Greg Fischer

Help support Blue America candidate Greg Fischer defeat both quasi-Democrat Bruce Lundsford, and then dubya's best buddy toxic Republican Sen. Mitch "Mo Money" McConnell in this critical Kentucky Senate race. Here's Greg Fischer:


And contribute what you can at the Blue America ActBlue page.

Linked.

-

Sen. David "Prostitutes" Vitter

Back to driving school:



-

Midday Video | "Can't Believe A Word"

From the Louisville KY band VHS Or Beta, "Can't Believe A Word":



-

List of Republican Offenders

And what a list it is! Wow!

List of Republican offenders.











I'm still waiting to see Jeff Gannon's bosom buddy Karl Rove added to this list.

-

Fallujahed

Apparently Bushco and their Pentagon are giving Sadr City the Fallujah treatment. War crimes..Shmar crimes...Seal it off, start shelling and bombing, cut off vital services including medicine and ambulances. Basically kill everything in the city that can be killed and then move on. They did it to Fallujah twice.
But Hey, if you tune in to Katy Couric, Matt Laur, etc. they'll give you the run down on Obama's bowling score:

Throughout the country by 21:30 the GZG authorities admitted to 25 dead and 57 wounded. There is very heavy fighting going on in Sadr city. The Americans have it under siege and are refusing all access to the city. American helicopters have bombed the city repeatedly. American snipers are being deployed on the roof tops. Imam Ali spokesmen say they are now desperately short of medical supplies. The Red Crescent attempts to get emergency medical supplies to the city which we reported yesterday have failed because the Americans will not let them through.
There are reports that the fires caused by the American bombing of the Jameela market are spreading and that there is no water being pumped to the city.

Linked.
-

The Opus "Worst Anxiety" Competition

"Opus" from Berkeley Breathed.















(Click for larger image)

-

Friday Night Video | Jackson Browne Solo Acoustic Vol.1

I got the Jackson Browne cd "Solo Acoustic vol. 1" a few days ago. It's just a lot of his music played live and acoustic in concert. I hadn't heard a lot of these songs in a long time, "These Days", "Your Bright Baby Blues", "The Pretender", and the last time I had heard them was from my old record collection. They sound just as good on this cd. Or as good as the memory anyway. Very simply done, pretty much guitar and piano, and the interaction with the audience. As with any music I'm listening to at any given time the songs are running through my head. So here's one of Mister Browne's acoustic American musical masterpieces:


This is one of the better videos with a song from the cd I could find. Check more of them out on YouTube, etc. His music's well worth a listen, and he's got a long catalog of good music. I'll get Solo Acoustic Volume 2 next.
This will be my last weekend post till Sunday at least. Try not to miss me to much(WAAH!). I'm going to the mountains for a visit and for a break. Been a long week. No computer or Internet access "tubes" where I'll be.
Night all and have a nice weekend. American troops, heads up and watch out for each other! Iraqis I'm still sorry for what my leaders have done to you and your country. Be safe..ALL.

-

Worst President Eva

A Poll of historians conducted by the History News Network naturally didn't turn out to well for dubya's historical standing among Presidents.

--
HNN Poll: 61% of Historians Rate the Bush Presidency Worst

Asked to rank the presidency of George W. Bush in comparison to those of the other 41American presidents, more than 61 percent of the historians concluded that the current presidency is the worst in the nation’s history. Another 35 percent of the historians surveyed rated the Bush presidency in the 31st to 41st category, while only four of the 109 respondents ranked the current presidency as even among the top two-thirds of American administrations.

Linked.
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The Perfect Memorial

I can't think of a more fitting site for the dubya name...except maybe a cemetery.

'George W Bush Sewage Plant' Proposed In San Francisco.

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Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) Calls U.S. Soldier "Two Bit Security Guard"

Yep, you guessed it Rep. McHenry is a "chickenhawk" Republican who never served in the military. On an un-related note Rep. McHenry is rumoured to be of the Sen. Larry Craig variety.

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Rep. McHenry calls U.S. soldier in Iraq a ‘two-bit security guard.’

During a public appearance on Saturday, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) belittled a U.S. soldier in Iraq who was following orders and wouldn’t let McHenry go to the gym without the proper credentials. McHenry referred to the guard as a “two-bit security guard“:
Link.

Watch:


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MLK | Speech: Beyond Vietnam

A year to the day before his assassination Martin Luther King gave his Beyond Vietnam speech:

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Army National Guard Toady Misses Point By A Mile

Army Flacks Miss the Point on Guantanamo

Twenty Army National Guard public information officers based in Madison, Wisconsin, will soon begin a year-long stint at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Commander Rick Morehouse said their mission would be to "get the current image out. ... The media of the world and families need to know what's going on right now, not what happened six or seven years ago. ... The prisoners are being treated very well." Gene Grabowski of Levick Strategic Communications, a firm that works for the families of some Guantanamo detainees, criticized Morehouse's statement. Saying "prisoners [are] being 'treated very well' is entirely beside the point," he told O'Dwyer's PR blog. "As our clients have said repeatedly over the past few years, it wouldn't matter if the prisoners were being kept in a four-star hotel, their detainment without criminal charges is unjust. And the Supreme Court has said so -- twice."

Link.

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Midday Video | "Sweet Thing"

An example of; Songs that you probably haven't heard but should, just to say you have. From Diamond Dogs, it's David Bowie with "Sweet Thing". Sing along in your best Bowie voice.:



I like the imagery in the video also.
For some reason I always thought that this song would have been perfect for the movie, "V For Vendetta".

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Virgle | The Adventure Of Mars

Mars colonization. The adventure of many lifetimes?

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"Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will be leading hundreds of users on one of the grandest adventures in human history: Project Virgle, the first permanent human colony on Mars.

Want to join us? Ever yearned to journey to the stars? You can learn how to become a Virgle Pioneer, test your Pioneering potential, or join the Mission Control community that will help develop the 100 Year Plan we've outlined..."

Linked.

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Economic Discussion

Interesting discussion on the economy with Krugman, etal.


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Lexington KY: Dick Cheney War Criminal Arrest Warrant

TED(The Evil Dick) Cheney was in Lexington Kentucky yesterday to fundraise for another neocon-Bot. An anti-war group affiliated with Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice protested his appearance and tried(unsuccessfully of course) to present TED with an arrest warrant for war crimes. Here's the text of that warrant:
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Citizens’ Indictment and Arrest Warrant
for Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America

March 31, 2008
In Lexington, Kentucky

The concerned citizens of Lexington, Kentucky, and nearby communities hereby indict and arrest Vice President Richard B. Cheney for war crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the Constitution of the United States.

1. During the period before the War in Iraq, the alleged perpetrator personally intervened in the process of gathering and analyzing intelligence data with the intent of distorting those analyses to lend support to claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and active ties to al-Qaeda. Throughout this period, the alleged perpetrator knew or should have known that these claims were false.

2. The alleged perpetrator conspired with the President and other powerful officials to plan and launch a war of aggression against Iraq, in clear violation of the UN Charter and the Nuremberg Principles. In the words of Robert Jackson, the Chief Justice of the Nuremberg Tribunal, aggression is "the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”

3. The alleged perpetrator conspired with the President and other powerful officials to enable agencies of the US Government to torture prisoners in violation of Common Article III of the Geneva Conventions. To torture prisoners is an additional war crime.

4. The alleged perpetrator has worked hard to increase the power of the Presidency beyond any limits set by law or the Constitution. This behavior includes the intentional violation of laws established by Congress such as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the promulgation of signing statements that claim that the President has the right, as the “Unitary Executive,” to disregard or violate certain provisions of laws that are in effect.

5. The alleged perpetrator has repeatedly threatened Iran with violent military action in violation of the UN Charter, which prohibits the threat of force as well as the use of force.

For these reasons, and for other reasons omitted today in the interest of brevity, we hereby indict Mr. Cheney and place him under arrest. We have made arrangements to transport him to the county jail and trust that he will go with us quietly and not resist arrest.

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Of course being mostly sane and assuming these protesters are mostly sane I'm sure they knew there wasn't a chance in hell they'd get close enough to Dick Dick to present this to him personally. It was a nice idea though.

On a related note, I'm still not sure of UK basketball coach Billy Gillespie's coaching abilities but he's apparently a Republican and/or a political idiot(but I repeat myself):

"I'm from a little town in Texas, and to have the privilege of meeting the second greatest leader in the world was truly memorable"

--University of Kentucky head basketball coach Billy Gillispie, who shook hands with Cheney before the fund-raiser.

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Rush Limbaugh Defense | Lying And Stupid Ain't A Crime!

Limbaugh safe from voter-fraud charges
Radio host encouraged fans to vote Democratic.

"We have no intention of prosecuting Rush Limbaugh because lying through your teeth and being stupid isn't a crime,"
--Leo Jennings, a spokesman for Democratic Attorney General Marc Dann.

Link.

Update:
On a related note Rush's Shenanigans could backfire.

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Obama Backs Clinton's Continued Campaign

I'm still struck by this comment by Barack Obama:

"Barack Obama on Saturday said Hillary Clinton can stay in the nominating race as long as she wants
and expressed confidence that Democrats will coalesce around the winner despite the often bitter contest.

"Senator Clinton can run as long as she wants. Her name is on the ballot and she is a fierce and formidable
competitor," said Obama, adding that the split by the nominating contest "is somewhat overstated."

Link.

A great political move and/or the gentleman's thing to do. I'm really not like a lot of Democratic Bloggers who think that Hillary Clinton is being a horrible spoil sport by not dropping out of the race completely. It's fairly obvious that she can't win but a good thing about that is the Republican Swift Boat crowd has to hold their smears and distortions till there's a clear Democratic nominee.
I most certainly haven't liked the Clinton campaign's penchant for rightwing talking points at times. Then again I've been disappointed by Obama's use of those frameworks a few times also. As long as they save their worst attacks for Bush and McBush then I say let the campaigns continue, at least for a while.
As for the Democratic nominee I prefer Obama but I could fall behind Hillary immediately if by a miracle she came through. Anyway, politically motivated or not this was a classy comment, and a smart comment by Obama.

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Top Ten | Crazy John McCain

The Top Ten Craziest Things John McCain Has Said While You Weren't Watching.

REM | Accelerate

REM's new disk "Accelerate" is coming out as I speak and they're saying it's GOOD. Here's "Supernatural Superserious":



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