WAR IS OVER (If you want it)

Why War with Iran? Dollar dropped in Iran asset move

Why the US really wants war with Iran:

BBC NEWS | Business | Dollar dropped in Iran asset move:
"Iran is to shift its foreign currency reserves from dollar to euro and use the euro for oil deals in response to US-led pressure on its economy.

In a widely expected move, Tehran said it would use the euro for all future commercial transactions overseas."

The last country that tried to switch to selling their oil in Euros? Iraq... Not long before they were illegally invaded under the bogus threat of impending mushroom clouds.

Cue the drumbeat of war...

Sound familiar?

Wal-Mart Carries the Communist Banner

Walmart goes all Communist:

Wal-Mart hosts Communist Party:
"US retail giant Wal-Mart has set up a new branch of the Communist Party at its China headquarters after allowing unions to operate in its stores earlier this year.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, known for it's anti-union stance in other countries, opened the new branch at its head office in the southern city of Shenzhen."

They do everything they can to bust unions in the USA, but love them AND the Communist Party in China.

Do you think American Wal-mart employees that must rely on State controlled medicare in the USA should feel just a bit slighted by their Communist lovin' employers and the GOP that is so closely tied to the Wal-Mart Corporation?

And BIG business loving conservatives call Liberals communist? heh. Gives a whole new meaning to the words "better dead than red." GOP red that is....

NORAD Tracks Santa 2007

NORAD Tracks Santa

According to NORAD Santa was last seen over Peru and will soon be entering the United States of America.

"For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command, known as NORAD. Canada and the U.S. believed they could better defend North America together as a team instead of separately.

NORAD carried out its first Santa tracking in 1958 after inheriting the tradition from CONAD. Since that time, Canadian and American men and women who work at NORAD have responded to phone calls from children personally. Additionally, media from all over the world call NORAD on Christmas Eve for updates on Santa's location. Last year this Website was visited by millions of people who wanted to know Santa's whereabouts. This year, the information is provided in six languages.

NORAD relies on many volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible. Hundreds of volunteers spend part of their Christmas Eve at the Santa Tracking Operations Center answering phones and emails to provide Santa updates to thousands of inquiring children worldwide."

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Merry Fucking Christmas Jodi Rell - Gag on this!

In a recent Courant article they talked about "a gubernatorial ritual," where "Gov. M. Jodi Rell handed out her Christmas gag gifts Tuesday to an appreciative, sellout crowd of more than 900 at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce pre-holiday breakfast."


In honour of that I thought that we should give Jodi her very own internet gag gift:

A Jet Ski so that Rell won't have to try and cover up any family members (ie: Mike Rell) involvement in a theft of a Jet Ski ever again.

Colonel Barone was Sergeant Brelsford’s immediate supervisor
during the first 6 months of Sergeant Brelsford’s 1995-1996 jet ski
investigation and was Director of Law Enforcement at the
conclusion of Brelsford’s investigation. Vito Santarsiero
complained to Barone about the "delay" in completing the
investigation. . According to Barone, after this conversation,
Barone explained to Brelsford that "other principal parties" were
interested in the consequences of the investigation and ordered
Brelsford to "wrap this thing up." Barone explained that by “other
principal parties” he meant “the other suspects, Michael Rell and
the Lieutenant Governor because it was her son.” As Sergeant
Brelsford's supervisor, and a high ranking DEP official, Colonel
Barone had a direct conflict of interest in the investigation of the
allegations concerning Sergeant Brelsford’s 1995-1996 jet ski
investigation, which unavoidably involved the competence and
integrity of his supervision of Sergeant Brelsford during the
1995-1996 jet ski investigation and the communications he made to
Sergeant Brelsford at the direction of Vito Santarsiero.
[PDF update] http://www.ct.gov/ag/lib/ag/press_releases/2002/enviss/dep.pdf

This may be really old news, but remember that this just typifies modern day GOP politics. Steal, lie, cover up... Oh yeah! And promote those who help you in your efforts. Rinse and repeat, at least, until you finally get caught. Just ask the DeLays, Noes, Cunninghams, and Rowlands of the GOP party.

Merry Fucking Christmas Jodi Rell.

Lieberman: Forget peace, declare war!

Forget peace, declare war!:
"Lieberman on Saturday said that Israel needs to wake up and declare war on the 'Palestinians,' who do not truly desire peace with the Jewish state."

OK... So it is Israel's Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman. But isn't it interesting that Israel has it's own warmongering Lieberman to contend with?

Must be an isolated Liebergene. Maybe the Lieberkids will finally get the itch and volunteer to stand up for Doh!'s warped beliefs?

The Raw Story: Redacted Iran op-ed Decoded

Raw Story has done their best to try and piece together Flynt Leverett's "highlighted" op-ed:

The redacted Iran op-ed revealed:
"The New York Times has taken the unusual step of publishing an op-ed in which parts of the contents have been 'redacted' or blacked out by government censors, who believe that its contents would reveal 'sensitive' information that the White House wants to withold. Below is RAW STORY's best informed guess at what might hide behind the redactions."

CIA Uses Black Highlighter - NY Times Prints Anyways

We have all heard about FLYNT LEVERETT's efforts to get his OP-ED printed in the NY Times. Even after the CIA had cleared the piece as being OK, and un-classified material, the Bush administration scrambled to get the piece - at least, parts of it - edited out.

It should be interesting for the Blogosphere to play a game of "Fill In The Blanks" as the NY Times prints the OP-ED anyways, but with the edited parts blacked out.

A Sample of some of the material:

The argument that Iran helped America in Afghanistan because it was in Tehran’s interest to get rid of the Taliban is misplaced. Iran could have let America remove the Taliban without getting its own hands dirty, as it remained neutral during the 1991 gulf war. Tehran cooperated with United States efforts in Afghanistan primarily because it wanted a better relationship with Washington.

But Tehran was profoundly disappointed with the United States response. After the 9/11 attacks, xxx xxx xx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx xx set the stage for a November 2001 meeting between Secretary of State Colin Powell and the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s six neighbors and Russia. xxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxx xx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx xxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxx xx xxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx Iran went along, working with the United States to eliminate the Taliban and establish a post-Taliban political order in Afghanistan.

In December 2001, xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx x Tehran to keep Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the brutal pro-Al Qaeda warlord, from returning to Afghanistan to lead jihadist resistance there. xxxxx xxxxxxx so long as the Bush administration did not criticize it for harboring terrorists. But, in his January 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush did just that in labeling Iran part of the “axis of evil.” Unsurprisingly, Mr. Hekmatyar managed to leave Iran in short order after the speech. xxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxx the Islamic Republic could not be seen to be harboring terrorists.

It should be interesting to see if some of the brighter bulbs in the Blogosphere can piece some of the edited material together. To make the game easier and more fun for all of us: Leverett has provided his original citations “to demonstrate that all of the material the White House objected to is already in the public domain.”

Merry Christmas To All...

And to all some good lights.



Merry Christmas!

Bush - Lieberman & The Ship Of Fools

BrandfordBoy picks up on Lieberman's announcing his officially foolish position:

My Left Nutmeg:
"President Bush may not be certain he wants more troops in Iraq, but Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman is.

'After speaking with our military commanders on the ground,' he said Wednesday in an e-mail, 'I strongly believe that additional U.S. troops must be deployed to Baghdad.'"

The real problem with all of this is that Generals don't quite agree with Lieberman according to the ArmyTimes:

Long-rumored shuffle of generals expected:
"A shuffle of top American generals in Iraq is likely to accompany the shift in U.S. policy that President Bush is considering.

Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, has submitted plans to go ahead with a retirement that is months overdue, according to the U.S. Central Command.

And the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, has indicated in recent months that he also may not stay much longer than the end of this year.
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Since they have opposed sending more troops to Iraq, their departures could make it easier for Bush and his new Defense Secretary Robert Gates to switch course in the troubled campaign, where they are considering a short-term surge in forces."

And they are retiring rather than get onboard with the Bush and Lieberman troubled course of action. Sound like a familiar situation?

Retired generals speak out to oppose Rumsfeld:
"In this, Powell echoed former Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, who told Congress just weeks before the 2003 invasion that several hundred thousand US troops would be necessary to secure Iraq after the invasion. For this he was publicly contradicted by then Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Rumsfeld named General Shinseki's replacement a year before he was to retire and broke custom by not attending his retirement ceremony."
--- csmonitor.com

Remember that General Shinseki was pretty much forced into retirement for disagreeing with the fool on the hill.

sptmck offers 1% more insight into this foolish course of action:

1% MORE CONSCIOUS:
"It’s official: Oedipus Lieberman has morphed into Captain Ahab, another tragically fueled figure. In this unfolding novel of contemporary American foreign policy, Melville’s masterpiece certainly comes to mind because as we grapple with how to “catch” some sort of success in Iraq, the ubiquitous presence in the American psyche, it eludes us just like the whale-the ubiquitous presence in the novel—escapes mad Ahab. And Ahab’s as deranged as they come. So is Lieberman. "

And so is Bush.

And they all want us to climb onboard on their ship of fools.

Get Your Vids on TV - Be On the Sam Seder Show?

How to get your video Blog some real views...

How to Be Seen and Be Heard

Take these easy steps and submit your video in no time.
| Send in Your Video

Or how about bidding on some great stuff AND supporting a civil liberties organization? Get Your Bids in Now:

Auction For the American Way Closes Tomorrow, December 21!
Now is your last chance to bid on one-of-a-kind pieces of rare celebrity memorabilia, once-in-a-lifetime celebrity experiences, and blue-chip artwork from today’s leading artists! Every penny helps fight for democratic rights and freedoms, so bid now to support our important work while scoring unique celebrity memorabilia at the same time! The auction ends tomorrow, December 21!

At this point you have about 9 hours left to look and bid. Normally I wouldn't plug stuff in my Blog that would cost ya... It has to be for a half decent cause. PFAW, along with several left groups like American Progress, spearheaded the campaign against Alito and has helped chammpion other imprtant issues and I am sure many of you are already familiar with them. Plus, there is some pretty cool stuff still left there.

Man! If I Had the money I'd be playing that signed Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young guitar OR the John Fogerty (CCR) signed guitar. (Why do I suddenly feel like I am some sort of antique memerobilia after re-reading that last sentence? lol) Though, it wouldn't be safe to bring jewels like that into my house considering what my 3 kids have already done to my guitars. You can also bid on a chance to participate in the Sam Seder Show.

Great experiences like a live on-air conversation with Janeane Garofalo and host Sam Seder on “The Sam Seder Show” on Air America Radio; a VIP visit and cast introduction on the set of Wes Craven's next film; and lunch with world-renowned designer David Rockwell.

[Update] There is now about 4 hours left in the auction... Tick tick tick

Surging To Defeat In Iraq

W. Patrick Lang and Ray McGovern have a great piece up at tompaine.com talking about the politics of the "surge" foolishness and a breakdown of what bush failures loom on the horizon if anybody takes this option seriously.

TomPaine.com - Surging To Defeat In Iraq:

"The media are abuzz with trial balloons with official leaks that President George W. Bush is about to approve a “surge” in U.S. troop strength in Iraq by tens of thousands. At the same time, surge advocate Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., just back from a brief visit to the Green Zone with fellow surgers John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., has warned that “the amount of troops will make no difference” if Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki avoids taking “bold” moves. The three pretend to be unaware that the most important move for which they pressed—breaking with radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr—would amount to political suicide for Maliki.

Meanwhile, back at the Sunday talk shows, incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who owes his position to the popular revolt in November against the war, said he can “go along” with a surge, but only for two to three months and only as part of a broader strategy to bring combat forces home by early 2008. Meanwhile, says Reid, Democrats will “give the military anything they want.”

Can Reid be oblivious to the reality that this has to do with the next two years—not the next two months? Former Army vice chief of staff Gen. Jack Keane, one of the anointed retired generals who have Bush’s ear, is urging him to send 30,000 to 40,000 more troops and has already dismissed the possibility of a time-frame shorter than one and a half years. What seems clear is that the president is determined that the war not be lost while he is in office. But events are moving too fast for that. It was not quite the way he meant it, but Bush has gotten one thing right; there will indeed be no “graceful exit.” That goes in spades, if he sends still more troops."

Go read the entire piece. It is well thought out.

Now before all of these learned people out there say that this guy has no creds, and is wrong because "we just have to send more troops!" much like they say to me when I say the same effin' thing in diary comments, bear in mind that Col. Lang is a guy that Wolf Blitzer had this to say about in an interview with Lang the other night:

BLITZER: I went back and took a look at what you told me back on May 24, 2004, that's two and a half years ago when you were interviewed by me. And you were pretty much on. You were really concerned about his notion of having some autonomous zones, if you will, a Kurdish zone, a Shiite zone, a Sunni zone.

You said if the U.S. were to go in that direction and let it happen that would be a recipe you said for creating civil war and leading the Middle East in chaos. Is that worst fear that you had then being materialized right now?

LANG: Yes it really is. There's a lot of talk about how some people think we should partition Iraq. Actually, we're past the point of what I said there. Iraq is in fact partitioning itself. It's in the process of doing that right now.

The danger is that this process will continue and that all of the outside players who are allied to people inside Iraq will join in the fighting, and you'll have a tremendous regional war. There are some people who think that wouldn't be a bad idea, but I think it will be a disaster.

Yep... that is Pro-Iraq-War Wolfie and what is he saying? Holy shit! Two-and-a-half years ago people like Lang were saying this would happen... And they were right.

I bet bush still will not listen to people that know a bit about what is happening in the real world. But, then again, neither do right-wingnut pundits in the Blogosphere that cheer for more soldiers just because they don't want to lose face any more than bush does. Nobody likes to admit they have been flat out wrong on almost every important issue for years. For bush it is all about one last hail mary pass to save his political legacy or, at the very least, to push the failure off onto the next White House administration.

As for the rest of you right-wingnut Blogosphere pundits content to cheer on surging towards more failure: What's your fucking excuse?

It is not like you have any credibility left to lose.

Oh what a tangled web we weave

"Oh what a tangled WWW we weave, When first we practice to deceive."

The more we piss off the incompetents entrenched in the MSM, and the more that some of them would like to margenalize us, the more it validates that what we are doing is not only the right thing to do, but that we do it very well.

Sucks to be you, Rago! heh

Net Neutrality

They failed to take the net's neutrality away from us on the federal level. Now they will try to come after us on the state level.

Together we won the first round in the battle for Net freedom. But the phone and cable giants are launching a counterattack. We need to raise the alarm and send a clear message to our new Congress: Make Net Neutratlity the Law in 2007!

What is Net Neutrality?

How this Affects You

Join the Coalition

It really doesn't matter if you Blog about politics, music, gardening, or if you have a website that deals with anything else, like a small business, or a community service oriented site. Ending Net Neutrality would have the direct result of cutting you out of the internet information loop if you don't have the money to pay for ELITE access. The big telco's will try and slip this in at the state level everywhere if we don't keep a constant watch for laws that could strip us of equality in our internet voice.

The internet belongs to everyone.

We need to be pro-active on this issue by urging our state politicians to pass laws guarenteeing Net Neutrality in the State of Connecticut. This is an issue that we can effectively end before they come after us.

A clear picture of what has happened so far:

The Dangers of Citizen Journalism

Aldon Hynes at orient-lodge points to an important story about how the NYPD stole a video camera from a "Citizen Journalist" at a demonstration.

On October 30, 2006 at a demonstration protesting the murder of journalist Brad Will in Mexico, members of the NYPD assaulted an independent videographer and stole his videocamera.

That's right, stole. The filmmaker, FluxRostrum, was not arrested. He did not receive a receipt for seized property. He was not even directly asked for his camera. Instead, without any warning, he was jumped by two police officers, one of whom is an NYPD captain, and knocked down onto the asphalt of 39th Street. One police officer was succcesful in wrenching the camera out of Flux's hands. As Flux crawled around on the ground looking for the eyeglasses which had been knocked off his face during the attack, the cop with the camera quickly conferred with another officer. Then he ran off to hide the camera.

The big problem for the NYPD here: They forgot to steal the video evidence of their theft and assault from other people with cameras at the demonstration.

The video is worth checking out and demonstrates the need for Citizen Journalists and video Bloggers to take precautions and always watch each others' backs when they are in politically charged situations.

[update]The YouTube videos:




Who is FluxRostrum?




Courtesy of Scarce at MLN