Saturday, May 15, 2004
Blogroll Infusion
Please notice I've added the reader blogs from the Daily Kos to my blogroll. The community over at Kos is the most thoughtful, funny, knowledgeable and inspiring group on the net. One of my favorite things about the site is that the conversation never degenerates into name calling or slander. It's always constructive and the commenting system keeps it that way. And what better way to pay tribute to this community than to visit their blogs.
Enjoy!
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Please notice I've added the reader blogs from the Daily Kos to my blogroll. The community over at Kos is the most thoughtful, funny, knowledgeable and inspiring group on the net. One of my favorite things about the site is that the conversation never degenerates into name calling or slander. It's always constructive and the commenting system keeps it that way. And what better way to pay tribute to this community than to visit their blogs.
Enjoy!
| Permalink Here
Friday, May 14, 2004
Unheard Of
I've watched baseball on TV for almost 30 years and I've never seen what I just saw (thanks Yogi.)
Phillies at Rockies: In the bottom of the 4th inning with a runner on first and no outs Rockies LF Holliday pops a foul beside first base. Easy play. Thome drops it. One pitch later Holliday pops another down the first base line. Easy play. Thome drops it. Again. Finally Halladay puts the ball in play with a pop-up to second. Phillies 2B Tomas Perez intentionally "short hops" it letting the ball bounce off his glove (negating the infield fly rule) throwing to first and getting Halladay. Meanwhile the runner who was on first (Charles Johnson) had walked into foul ground at which point Thome tagged him out. So, two out no one on for Pellow. And he pops out to Rollins to end the inning.
Phillies Baseball. It'sFantastic Maddening.
UPDATE: Thanks to Undelay for indicating that this wasn't a case of the Infield Fly rule. That will be the last time I listen to Phils colorman, Larry Anderson. (I know, excuses, excuses.)
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I've watched baseball on TV for almost 30 years and I've never seen what I just saw (thanks Yogi.)
Phillies at Rockies: In the bottom of the 4th inning with a runner on first and no outs Rockies LF Holliday pops a foul beside first base. Easy play. Thome drops it. One pitch later Holliday pops another down the first base line. Easy play. Thome drops it. Again. Finally Halladay puts the ball in play with a pop-up to second. Phillies 2B Tomas Perez intentionally "short hops" it letting the ball bounce off his glove (negating the infield fly rule) throwing to first and getting Halladay. Meanwhile the runner who was on first (Charles Johnson) had walked into foul ground at which point Thome tagged him out. So, two out no one on for Pellow. And he pops out to Rollins to end the inning.
Phillies Baseball. It's
UPDATE: Thanks to Undelay for indicating that this wasn't a case of the Infield Fly rule. That will be the last time I listen to Phils colorman, Larry Anderson. (I know, excuses, excuses.)
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Captain Kirk's Milk
"Yesterday, true story, Pamela Anderson, who grew up in Canada, became an American citizen. As a result, the Canadian with the largest breasts is now William Shatner"
-Conan O'Brien, 5/13/04
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"Yesterday, true story, Pamela Anderson, who grew up in Canada, became an American citizen. As a result, the Canadian with the largest breasts is now William Shatner"
-Conan O'Brien, 5/13/04
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Flashback: 2000 GOP convention
MattS has posted a diary at the Daily Kos with some unbelievably ironic Republican Party Platform quotes from the convention four years ago:
"The arrogance, inconsistency, and unreliability of the administration's diplomacy have undermined American alliances, alienated friends, and emboldened our adversaries."
"The weak leadership and neglect of the administration have allowed America's intelligence capabilities, including space based systems, to atrophy, resulting in repeated proliferation surprises such as Iraq's renewed chemical and biological weapons programs."
"Republicans prefer an America that is far less dependent on foreign crude oil. A Republican president will not be so tolerant if OPEC colludes to drive up the world price of oil, as it has done this past year."
There are plenty more there. The GOP are kings of 'flip-flop' mountain.
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MattS has posted a diary at the Daily Kos with some unbelievably ironic Republican Party Platform quotes from the convention four years ago:
"The arrogance, inconsistency, and unreliability of the administration's diplomacy have undermined American alliances, alienated friends, and emboldened our adversaries."
"The weak leadership and neglect of the administration have allowed America's intelligence capabilities, including space based systems, to atrophy, resulting in repeated proliferation surprises such as Iraq's renewed chemical and biological weapons programs."
"Republicans prefer an America that is far less dependent on foreign crude oil. A Republican president will not be so tolerant if OPEC colludes to drive up the world price of oil, as it has done this past year."
There are plenty more there. The GOP are kings of 'flip-flop' mountain.
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Thursday, May 13, 2004
The Plot Thickens: Zarqawi Doesn't Speak Arabic
Fascinating post from Hesiod saying they identified Berg's killer BY THE VOICE ON THE VIDEO TAPE.
What a joke. They should be able to come up with something better with this. There arerich smart people in the government.
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Fascinating post from Hesiod saying they identified Berg's killer BY THE VOICE ON THE VIDEO TAPE.
What a joke. They should be able to come up with something better with this. There are
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The First Year
Today is my son's first birthday. When I look him in the eye and he smiles it makes all of the political blogging and partisan warfare seem insignificant. I've been chided by close friends (and my wife) recently for focusing too much on the coming election and foreign affairs. After going through my archives I can see they're right. I've been blogging for about 2-1/2 months and 95% of my 310 posts have been about politics. I didn't plan for it to happen like this but because of the ineptitude in the government leadership I have to express my self and try to spread the word about the direction our country is going. But I think this has to change. Moving forward I'm going to try to write at least one non-political post per day. We'll see how it goes. Let's start with the big man...
What an amazing job being a Dad is. Friends and co-workers told me my life would never be the same after the birth of my son. I gave them the, "yeah, yeah...no sleep...dirty diapers....constant bathing.....blahblahblah.....I read the books." All of those things are true but the profound change I felt in my life, in my being was that this little guy was all ours and we're responsible for helping to craft him into a respectful, caring, responsible man who is aware of his surroundings. I'd like to think we're doing ok to start. His first inclination is to smile, like his dad's and he loves to eat (above it's lasagna.) He'll be at cruiserweight in no time, he's currently tipping the scales at 27 pounds. He crawls to meet me at the door and cries when I leave. Someone once told me you don't know what love is until you're a father. I can say with conviction that is 100% accurate.
One of the things I love about blogging is the permanence of the message. One day I'll share this blog with him and the importance of having passion in one's life. If he can find something to believe in I'll be thrilled.
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Today is my son's first birthday. When I look him in the eye and he smiles it makes all of the political blogging and partisan warfare seem insignificant. I've been chided by close friends (and my wife) recently for focusing too much on the coming election and foreign affairs. After going through my archives I can see they're right. I've been blogging for about 2-1/2 months and 95% of my 310 posts have been about politics. I didn't plan for it to happen like this but because of the ineptitude in the government leadership I have to express my self and try to spread the word about the direction our country is going. But I think this has to change. Moving forward I'm going to try to write at least one non-political post per day. We'll see how it goes. Let's start with the big man...
What an amazing job being a Dad is. Friends and co-workers told me my life would never be the same after the birth of my son. I gave them the, "yeah, yeah...no sleep...dirty diapers....constant bathing.....blahblahblah.....I read the books." All of those things are true but the profound change I felt in my life, in my being was that this little guy was all ours and we're responsible for helping to craft him into a respectful, caring, responsible man who is aware of his surroundings. I'd like to think we're doing ok to start. His first inclination is to smile, like his dad's and he loves to eat (above it's lasagna.) He'll be at cruiserweight in no time, he's currently tipping the scales at 27 pounds. He crawls to meet me at the door and cries when I leave. Someone once told me you don't know what love is until you're a father. I can say with conviction that is 100% accurate.
One of the things I love about blogging is the permanence of the message. One day I'll share this blog with him and the importance of having passion in one's life. If he can find something to believe in I'll be thrilled.
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Conspiracy? Mysteries about the Murder of Nick Berg
Via Media Channel are these questions/discrepancies about the death of Nick Berg:
1) Berg shown in video wearing orange jumpsuit known to be of U.S. issue (compare with pictures at Guantanamo).
2) Berg mysteriously captured by Al-Quaeda (still wearing jumpsuit). Either he escaped from U.S. captors or U.S. let him out -- with orange suit and all -- to be immediately apprehended by Al-Quaeda (before he had a chance to change). (DS: Was it Al Quaeda?)
3) Tape obviously spliced together and heavily edited. Goes from a) Berg sitting in chair talking about family, to b) Berg sitting on floor with hooded 'militants' behind, to c) blurry camera movement, to d) almost motionless Berg on floor as head cut off.
4) Audio clearly dubbed in ...
And this info coming out the morning that Richard Myers says that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is responsible for the decapitation.
Read more on the Blogosphere questioning what the U.S. Government is saying about Nick Berg's death.
Somebody needs to come clean.
UPDATE: This website offers a much more detailed accounting of the discrepanies involved in the death of Nick Berg. It also cites information on "alleged" prisoner torture committed by the CIA and Navy SEALs.
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Via Media Channel are these questions/discrepancies about the death of Nick Berg:
1) Berg shown in video wearing orange jumpsuit known to be of U.S. issue (compare with pictures at Guantanamo).
2) Berg mysteriously captured by Al-Quaeda (still wearing jumpsuit). Either he escaped from U.S. captors or U.S. let him out -- with orange suit and all -- to be immediately apprehended by Al-Quaeda (before he had a chance to change). (DS: Was it Al Quaeda?)
3) Tape obviously spliced together and heavily edited. Goes from a) Berg sitting in chair talking about family, to b) Berg sitting on floor with hooded 'militants' behind, to c) blurry camera movement, to d) almost motionless Berg on floor as head cut off.
4) Audio clearly dubbed in ...
And this info coming out the morning that Richard Myers says that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is responsible for the decapitation.
Read more on the Blogosphere questioning what the U.S. Government is saying about Nick Berg's death.
Somebody needs to come clean.
UPDATE: This website offers a much more detailed accounting of the discrepanies involved in the death of Nick Berg. It also cites information on "alleged" prisoner torture committed by the CIA and Navy SEALs.
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Poll Numbers: WOOHOO!
Poll numbers from CBS News are out:
President Bush's overall approval rating has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency, 44 percent, in the latest CBS News poll, reflecting the weight of instability in Iraq on public opinion, despite signs of improvement in the economy.
Two weeks ago, 46 percent of Americans approved of the job President Bush was doing. On April 9, his approval rating was 51 percent.
American's opinion of Mr. Bush's handling of the economy is also at an all-time low, 34 percent, while 60 percent disapprove, also a high of the Bush presidency. Increasing employment is seemingly not affecting Americans' view of Mr. Bush's economic policy.
This is excellent news on several levels:
First, the implosion of the Administration policies on Iraq is taking attention away from "good" news on the economy.
Second, one of the things you learn on a campaign is that if your opponent is self-destructing: get out of the way. Kerry has done a good job at this by picking his spots to criticize the administration without "piling on", particularly regarding the prisoner torture fiasco.
Third, Bush's ineptitude and failed foreign policy is the best campaign ad Kerry can have. Thus allowing him to save his money until later in the election cycle. The value of this cannot be overstated because of the advatage the incumbent has in relation to the spending windows and the dates of the party conventions.
Finally, Kerry is renowned to be an excellent closer. Combining this with the fact that undecided voters vote overwhelmingly for the challenger give Kerry an edge as we enter the summer months.
It's still very early, but the Kerry camp must be ecstatic. I know I am.
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Poll numbers from CBS News are out:
President Bush's overall approval rating has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency, 44 percent, in the latest CBS News poll, reflecting the weight of instability in Iraq on public opinion, despite signs of improvement in the economy.
Two weeks ago, 46 percent of Americans approved of the job President Bush was doing. On April 9, his approval rating was 51 percent.
American's opinion of Mr. Bush's handling of the economy is also at an all-time low, 34 percent, while 60 percent disapprove, also a high of the Bush presidency. Increasing employment is seemingly not affecting Americans' view of Mr. Bush's economic policy.
This is excellent news on several levels:
First, the implosion of the Administration policies on Iraq is taking attention away from "good" news on the economy.
Second, one of the things you learn on a campaign is that if your opponent is self-destructing: get out of the way. Kerry has done a good job at this by picking his spots to criticize the administration without "piling on", particularly regarding the prisoner torture fiasco.
Third, Bush's ineptitude and failed foreign policy is the best campaign ad Kerry can have. Thus allowing him to save his money until later in the election cycle. The value of this cannot be overstated because of the advatage the incumbent has in relation to the spending windows and the dates of the party conventions.
Finally, Kerry is renowned to be an excellent closer. Combining this with the fact that undecided voters vote overwhelmingly for the challenger give Kerry an edge as we enter the summer months.
It's still very early, but the Kerry camp must be ecstatic. I know I am.
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Moore's Film to Be Distributed in U.S.
The brothers Weinstein, honchos at Miramax, have bought the rights to Fahrenheit 9/11 and will see that it gets distributed in the United States. They will have to find a third party to distribute the film because their relationship with Disney prohibits Miramax from marketing it themselves.
From what I've read it seems as though this film is quite inflammatory. It's Moore's hope that this will be distributed before Election Day.
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The brothers Weinstein, honchos at Miramax, have bought the rights to Fahrenheit 9/11 and will see that it gets distributed in the United States. They will have to find a third party to distribute the film because their relationship with Disney prohibits Miramax from marketing it themselves.
From what I've read it seems as though this film is quite inflammatory. It's Moore's hope that this will be distributed before Election Day.
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Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Former Iraqi Oil Embargo a Fake?
You could probably consider this anecdotal but the author probably wouldn't have included it in the New York Post if he didn't feel it was true. As a media guy, I can tell you the Post has a daily circulation of 652,426 (SRDS, 2004.)
The complete text:
A source in the intelligence community tells me that the U.N. oil embargo of Saddam Hussein was worthless because Iraqi oil was being shipped all these years to a Caribbean island called St. Eustatius, unloaded into onshore tanks and then reloaded into U.S.-bound tanker ships.
The same switcheroo is being done with Iranian oil, I'm told.
Oh, and the source says Washington would rather nobody know about this.
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You could probably consider this anecdotal but the author probably wouldn't have included it in the New York Post if he didn't feel it was true. As a media guy, I can tell you the Post has a daily circulation of 652,426 (SRDS, 2004.)
The complete text:
A source in the intelligence community tells me that the U.N. oil embargo of Saddam Hussein was worthless because Iraqi oil was being shipped all these years to a Caribbean island called St. Eustatius, unloaded into onshore tanks and then reloaded into U.S.-bound tanker ships.
The same switcheroo is being done with Iranian oil, I'm told.
Oh, and the source says Washington would rather nobody know about this.
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Rep. Wexler Filing Federal Suit Over E-Voting in FL
Florida is the place that most needs to have a ban on the electronic voting machines:
FORT LAUDERDALE -- U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler's federal lawsuit over touch-screen voting machines is helping foster doubts about the upcoming election and is shaking people's faith in the new voting machines, attorneys for Florida elections officials told a judge Monday.
(...)
Wexler's attorneys argued that the elections officials were more interested in protecting the reputations of the multimillion-dollar equipment rather than looking out for voters.
Jeff Liggio, one of Wexler's attorneys, said state law allows for manual recounts, but there is no way to manually recount votes cast on touch-screen machines.
"The reason the statutes mandate a recount is to try to determine intent," Liggio said. "You don't have that [with touch-screen machines]."
Little Jebby Bush is rubbing his rabbit's foot now. If that doesn't work he'll turn to Daddy and brother.
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Florida is the place that most needs to have a ban on the electronic voting machines:
FORT LAUDERDALE -- U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler's federal lawsuit over touch-screen voting machines is helping foster doubts about the upcoming election and is shaking people's faith in the new voting machines, attorneys for Florida elections officials told a judge Monday.
(...)
Wexler's attorneys argued that the elections officials were more interested in protecting the reputations of the multimillion-dollar equipment rather than looking out for voters.
Jeff Liggio, one of Wexler's attorneys, said state law allows for manual recounts, but there is no way to manually recount votes cast on touch-screen machines.
"The reason the statutes mandate a recount is to try to determine intent," Liggio said. "You don't have that [with touch-screen machines]."
Little Jebby Bush is rubbing his rabbit's foot now. If that doesn't work he'll turn to Daddy and brother.
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Armed Services Committee Hearings
Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall evaluates the latest hearings. He includes an appropriate takedown of Inhofe and descriptions of some pleasant surprises.
Must read.
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Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall evaluates the latest hearings. He includes an appropriate takedown of Inhofe and descriptions of some pleasant surprises.
Must read.
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Appropriate Description of the Current Problems We Face
As posted here:
The story changes so fast you can't keep up with it.
They first learned about this when the "courageous" soldier took the pictures to his superiors. And the pictures were all "personal."
But then stories came out that the pictures were ordered by MI for "intimidation" purposes.
And the ICRC reported it had told the Admin. about these problems months ago.
And it was limited to a handful of "bad apples." Except the same thing happened in Afghanistan.
And the photos were staged, not "snapshots."
And they knew something was up in November, but they fixed it. But they were surprised by the allegations in January.
But no one knew about it. But everyone knew about it, because there was a breakdown in command.
But there was no breakdown. And the Geneva Convention has always applied.
Except when it hasn't.
And we've always followed it. Except when we didn't.
And we don't abuse prisoners. Except when we do. It's not "American." Except it is expressly sanctioned by military regulations. Except it can only be sanctioned by the DoD, because Rumsfeld keeps tight rein on everything.
Except he doesn't. Because this was authorized in Iraq, not in Washington. Except it couldn't have been, because Rummy runs a tight ship.
Except he didn't know. But don't call it "plausible deniability." Because there's a chain of command.
Except Rumsfeld doesn't know what it is. He only knows about the PR campaign he's been conducting since these photos went public.
But he isn't lying. He just doesn't know anything.
But it's okay. Because he's doing a great job.
Even though everything is a shambles.
This is a recurring theme in this Administration. If something goes wrong they appoint an independent commission to investigate while refusing to fully accept responsibility. If there is a person who sheds an unfavorable light on them they attack by calling the perp a racist, liar, homosexual, "out of the loop" or incompetent. I have one question that may never be answered...
Where is the accountability?
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As posted here:
The story changes so fast you can't keep up with it.
They first learned about this when the "courageous" soldier took the pictures to his superiors. And the pictures were all "personal."
But then stories came out that the pictures were ordered by MI for "intimidation" purposes.
And the ICRC reported it had told the Admin. about these problems months ago.
And it was limited to a handful of "bad apples." Except the same thing happened in Afghanistan.
And the photos were staged, not "snapshots."
And they knew something was up in November, but they fixed it. But they were surprised by the allegations in January.
But no one knew about it. But everyone knew about it, because there was a breakdown in command.
But there was no breakdown. And the Geneva Convention has always applied.
Except when it hasn't.
And we've always followed it. Except when we didn't.
And we don't abuse prisoners. Except when we do. It's not "American." Except it is expressly sanctioned by military regulations. Except it can only be sanctioned by the DoD, because Rumsfeld keeps tight rein on everything.
Except he doesn't. Because this was authorized in Iraq, not in Washington. Except it couldn't have been, because Rummy runs a tight ship.
Except he didn't know. But don't call it "plausible deniability." Because there's a chain of command.
Except Rumsfeld doesn't know what it is. He only knows about the PR campaign he's been conducting since these photos went public.
But he isn't lying. He just doesn't know anything.
But it's okay. Because he's doing a great job.
Even though everything is a shambles.
This is a recurring theme in this Administration. If something goes wrong they appoint an independent commission to investigate while refusing to fully accept responsibility. If there is a person who sheds an unfavorable light on them they attack by calling the perp a racist, liar, homosexual, "out of the loop" or incompetent. I have one question that may never be answered...
Where is the accountability?
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Still Pictures of Tragedy
The beheading video of Nick Berg is available online, but I will not be linking to that. The still pictures are graphic enough.
BE AWARE THAT THE PICTURES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LINKED PAGE ARE VERY GRAPHIC
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The beheading video of Nick Berg is available online, but I will not be linking to that. The still pictures are graphic enough.
BE AWARE THAT THE PICTURES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LINKED PAGE ARE VERY GRAPHIC
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Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Government Officials Bought Degrees
The Government Accounting Office is saying that hundreds of federal employees got bogus degrees from "diploma mills." Some "students" used money from federal programs to buy their diplomas:
...it became a scandal last year when Laura Callahan, the former deputy chief information officer at the Homeland Security Department, resigned following disclosures that she had obtained three phony academic degrees.
If they ever name names you'll read it here.
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The Government Accounting Office is saying that hundreds of federal employees got bogus degrees from "diploma mills." Some "students" used money from federal programs to buy their diplomas:
...it became a scandal last year when Laura Callahan, the former deputy chief information officer at the Homeland Security Department, resigned following disclosures that she had obtained three phony academic degrees.
If they ever name names you'll read it here.
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Rape in the U.S. Military
NPR aired an informative piece on All Things Considered this afternoon. Apparently this problem is more prevalent than many people realize:
May 11, 2004 -- Prisoner abuse in Iraq isn't the only explosive issue before the Department of Defense. More than 100 women have returned from war duty in the Middle East and Afghanistan and reported being sexually assaulted by male soldiers.
Late last month, a task force completed a report on the military's response to the problem; the results have not been released yet. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker told a Senate committee in February that the Army was addressing the issue "aggressively," adding: "It's a chain of command issue, it's a leadership issue, it's a discipline issue."
Despite the Pentagon's assertion that sexual violence has been cut in half in recent years, some female soldiers and rape counselors say the problem remains acute. In a Veterans Affairs survey published last year, three-fourths of the female respondents who said they were raped said they did not report the incident to a ranking officer.
Be sure to listen to the audio of the story. It will be available after 7:30pm EST.
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NPR aired an informative piece on All Things Considered this afternoon. Apparently this problem is more prevalent than many people realize:
May 11, 2004 -- Prisoner abuse in Iraq isn't the only explosive issue before the Department of Defense. More than 100 women have returned from war duty in the Middle East and Afghanistan and reported being sexually assaulted by male soldiers.
Late last month, a task force completed a report on the military's response to the problem; the results have not been released yet. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker told a Senate committee in February that the Army was addressing the issue "aggressively," adding: "It's a chain of command issue, it's a leadership issue, it's a discipline issue."
Despite the Pentagon's assertion that sexual violence has been cut in half in recent years, some female soldiers and rape counselors say the problem remains acute. In a Veterans Affairs survey published last year, three-fourths of the female respondents who said they were raped said they did not report the incident to a ranking officer.
Be sure to listen to the audio of the story. It will be available after 7:30pm EST.
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Retribution: American Beheaded
If this turns out to be true, it's only the beginning:
DUBAI (Reuters) - A video tape of a Qaeda-linked group in Iraq beheading a man said to be an American was shown on an Islamist Web site Tuesday and the group vowed more executions as revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
The poor quality tape showed a man sitting on the floor with five masked men behind him. After one of the masked men read out a statement, they pushed the bound man to the floor, cutting off his head and holding it aloft.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the tape carried on Muntada al-Ansar Islamist Web site.
Sickening.
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If this turns out to be true, it's only the beginning:
DUBAI (Reuters) - A video tape of a Qaeda-linked group in Iraq beheading a man said to be an American was shown on an Islamist Web site Tuesday and the group vowed more executions as revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
The poor quality tape showed a man sitting on the floor with five masked men behind him. After one of the masked men read out a statement, they pushed the bound man to the floor, cutting off his head and holding it aloft.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the tape carried on Muntada al-Ansar Islamist Web site.
Sickening.
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Perfect
Courtesy of Jerome Doolittle at Bad Attitudes:
A drawing by Marc Simont, one of the country’s foremost illustrators of children’s books, was born to Catalan parents in 1915 and came to this country at the age of 19. He has been a working artist ever since, even during his World War II service in the U.S. Army.
Marc has illustrated close to a hundred books in his long career, among them the works of James Thurber. He is a winner of the Caldecott Medal, the publishing industry’s highest prize for children’s books, along with numerous other honors.
As immigrants so often do, Marc has a clearer perception of what it means to be an American than many of us who were born here. And right now he fears that we are being led down a dangerous path that carries us farther and farther away from our highest and best ideals.
If you haven't found your way over to Bad Attitudes yet, I encourage you to do so. Wonderful analysis about all of the current outrages we are facing.
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Courtesy of Jerome Doolittle at Bad Attitudes:
A drawing by Marc Simont, one of the country’s foremost illustrators of children’s books, was born to Catalan parents in 1915 and came to this country at the age of 19. He has been a working artist ever since, even during his World War II service in the U.S. Army.
Marc has illustrated close to a hundred books in his long career, among them the works of James Thurber. He is a winner of the Caldecott Medal, the publishing industry’s highest prize for children’s books, along with numerous other honors.
As immigrants so often do, Marc has a clearer perception of what it means to be an American than many of us who were born here. And right now he fears that we are being led down a dangerous path that carries us farther and farther away from our highest and best ideals.
If you haven't found your way over to Bad Attitudes yet, I encourage you to do so. Wonderful analysis about all of the current outrages we are facing.
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Nancy Reagan Calls for Stem Cell Research
Going against the Bush Administration and the pro-life contingent, Nancy Reagan is hoping further research would help in battling diseases like Alzheimers, which afflicts her husband, former President Reagan.
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Going against the Bush Administration and the pro-life contingent, Nancy Reagan is hoping further research would help in battling diseases like Alzheimers, which afflicts her husband, former President Reagan.
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Inhofe The Idiot
From the blog Kicking Ass:
"From today's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing (rush transcript):
Sen. Inhofe (R-OK): First of all, I regret I wasn't here on Friday. I was unable to be here. But maybe it's better that I wasn't because as I watch this outrage that everyone seems to have about the treatment of these prisoners I have to say and I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment.
The idea that these prisoners, they're not there for traffic violations. If they're in cell block 1A or 1B, these prisoners, they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents, and many of them probably have American blood probably on their hands and here we're so concerned about the treatment of those individuals."
And then there is this piece of information from the Red Cross:
Certain CF military intelligence officers told the ICRC that in their estimate between 70% and 90% of the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake.
Evidently some Senators were aghast at this statement by Inhofe. Blame them?
UPDATE: According to CNN-TV McCain walked out after the Inhofe statement.
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From the blog Kicking Ass:
"From today's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing (rush transcript):
Sen. Inhofe (R-OK): First of all, I regret I wasn't here on Friday. I was unable to be here. But maybe it's better that I wasn't because as I watch this outrage that everyone seems to have about the treatment of these prisoners I have to say and I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment.
The idea that these prisoners, they're not there for traffic violations. If they're in cell block 1A or 1B, these prisoners, they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents, and many of them probably have American blood probably on their hands and here we're so concerned about the treatment of those individuals."
And then there is this piece of information from the Red Cross:
Certain CF military intelligence officers told the ICRC that in their estimate between 70% and 90% of the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake.
Evidently some Senators were aghast at this statement by Inhofe. Blame them?
UPDATE: According to CNN-TV McCain walked out after the Inhofe statement.
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Taguba Tesifies
What a mess:
The Army general who first investigated prisoner abuse in an Iraqi prison told Congress on Tuesday the mistreatment resulted from faulty leadership, a 'lack of discipline, no training whatsoever and no supervision.'
(...)
"A few soldiers and civilians conspired to abuse and conduct egregious acts of violence against detainees and other civilians outside the bounds of international laws and the Geneva Convention," Taguba told the Senate Armed Services Committee...
Imagine what's going to happen when John Negroponte takes up residence in Baghdad.
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What a mess:
The Army general who first investigated prisoner abuse in an Iraqi prison told Congress on Tuesday the mistreatment resulted from faulty leadership, a 'lack of discipline, no training whatsoever and no supervision.'
(...)
"A few soldiers and civilians conspired to abuse and conduct egregious acts of violence against detainees and other civilians outside the bounds of international laws and the Geneva Convention," Taguba told the Senate Armed Services Committee...
Imagine what's going to happen when John Negroponte takes up residence in Baghdad.
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There Goes The Chances of a Pirates Pennant
Evidently, Raul Mondesi owes someone some money and will not be playing baseball again this season.
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Evidently, Raul Mondesi owes someone some money and will not be playing baseball again this season.
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Monday, May 10, 2004
President Praises Rumsfeld
Today, at the Pentagon:
...With Rumsfeld at his side, Bush said his Cabinet officer was "courageously leading our nation in our war against terror... . You are a strong secretary of defense and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude."...
Debt of gratitude for what? This administration has already made sure that it will be at least another generation before we can righteously defend human rights abuses anywhere in the world. It's pathetic, I didn't think it was possible to alienate ourselves any further from the world.
To give you an idea of how much a (growing) portion of the world hates us read this post from Baghdad Burning:
...People are so angry. There’s no way to explain the reactions- even pro-occupation Iraqis find themselves silenced by this latest horror. I can’t explain how people feel- or even how I personally feel. Somehow, pictures of dead Iraqis are easier to bear than this grotesque show of American military technique. People would rather be dead than sexually abused and degraded by the animals running Abu Ghraib prison.
(...)
And through all this, Bush gives his repulsive speeches. He makes an appearance on Arabic tv channels looking sheepish and attempting to look sincere, babbling on about how this 'incident' wasn't representative of the American people or even the army, regardless of the fact that it's been going on for so long. He asks Iraqis to not let these pictures reflect on their attitude towards the American people… and yet when the bodies were dragged through the streets of Falloojeh, the American troops took it upon themselves to punish the whole city.
He's claiming it's a "stain on our country's honor"... I think not. The stain on your country's honor, Bush dear, was the one on the infamous blue dress that made headlines while Clinton was in the White House... this isn't a 'stain' this is a catastrophe. Your credibility was gone the moment you stepped into Iraq and couldn't find the WMD... your reputation never existed.
(...)
We heard about it all… we heard stories since the very beginning of the occupation about prisoners being made to sit for several hours on their knees… being deprived of sleep for days at a time by being splashed with cold water or kicked or slapped… about the infamous 'red rooms' where prisoners are kept for prolonged periods of time… about the rape, the degradations, the emotional and physical torture… and there were moments when I actually wanted to believe that what we heard was exaggerated. I realize now that it was only a small fragment of the truth. There is nothing that is going to make this 'better'. Nothing...
Rumsfeld talked about reparations. I don't know if Iraqis or Afghans would take anything from us. I don't blame them.
I feel helpless.
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Today, at the Pentagon:
...With Rumsfeld at his side, Bush said his Cabinet officer was "courageously leading our nation in our war against terror... . You are a strong secretary of defense and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude."...
Debt of gratitude for what? This administration has already made sure that it will be at least another generation before we can righteously defend human rights abuses anywhere in the world. It's pathetic, I didn't think it was possible to alienate ourselves any further from the world.
To give you an idea of how much a (growing) portion of the world hates us read this post from Baghdad Burning:
...People are so angry. There’s no way to explain the reactions- even pro-occupation Iraqis find themselves silenced by this latest horror. I can’t explain how people feel- or even how I personally feel. Somehow, pictures of dead Iraqis are easier to bear than this grotesque show of American military technique. People would rather be dead than sexually abused and degraded by the animals running Abu Ghraib prison.
(...)
And through all this, Bush gives his repulsive speeches. He makes an appearance on Arabic tv channels looking sheepish and attempting to look sincere, babbling on about how this 'incident' wasn't representative of the American people or even the army, regardless of the fact that it's been going on for so long. He asks Iraqis to not let these pictures reflect on their attitude towards the American people… and yet when the bodies were dragged through the streets of Falloojeh, the American troops took it upon themselves to punish the whole city.
He's claiming it's a "stain on our country's honor"... I think not. The stain on your country's honor, Bush dear, was the one on the infamous blue dress that made headlines while Clinton was in the White House... this isn't a 'stain' this is a catastrophe. Your credibility was gone the moment you stepped into Iraq and couldn't find the WMD... your reputation never existed.
(...)
We heard about it all… we heard stories since the very beginning of the occupation about prisoners being made to sit for several hours on their knees… being deprived of sleep for days at a time by being splashed with cold water or kicked or slapped… about the infamous 'red rooms' where prisoners are kept for prolonged periods of time… about the rape, the degradations, the emotional and physical torture… and there were moments when I actually wanted to believe that what we heard was exaggerated. I realize now that it was only a small fragment of the truth. There is nothing that is going to make this 'better'. Nothing...
Rumsfeld talked about reparations. I don't know if Iraqis or Afghans would take anything from us. I don't blame them.
I feel helpless.
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Quote of The Day
"I know how important voting is."
Former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris after failing to sign an absentee ballot in a local election.
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"I know how important voting is."
Former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris after failing to sign an absentee ballot in a local election.
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