Buh-Bye

I hope that this will be enough to hold off the idiots for now...

Sorry for any inconvenience that whomever illegally accessed my account may have caused.

Science/Nature | 'Doomsday' vault design unveiled

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Doomsday' vault design unveiled:
"The final design for a 'doomsday' vault that will house seeds from all known varieties of food crops has been unveiled by the Norwegian government.

The Svalbard International Seed Vault will be built into a mountainside on a remote island near the North Pole.

The vault aims to safeguard the world's agriculture from future catastrophes, such as nuclear war, asteroid strikes and climate change."

Let's be honest here... At this point there can be NO DOUBT that they are protecting the WORLD from the USA and its enemies.

A BIG thank you, in advance, to our European friends with intellectual foresight. You are the modern day "Noah's Ark", and the neocons missed the boat...

Report Says Pentagon Manipulated Intel, Report Depicts Pentagon That Purposely Manipulated Intelligence Before U.S. Invasion of Iraq

OK...

Report Says Pentagon Manipulated Intel, Report Depicts Pentagon That Purposely Manipulated Intelligence Before U.S. Invasion of Iraq - CBS News: "A 'very damning' report by the Defense Department's inspector general depicts a Pentagon that purposely manipulated intelligence in an effort to link Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida in the runup to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, says the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

'That was the argument that was used to make the sale to the American people about the need to go to war,' said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. He said the Pentagon's work, 'which was wrong, which was distorted, which was inappropriate ... is something which is highly disturbing.'"

Let's be honest here: Why only ask this question several years too late?

We knew this as fact for eons, and yet YOU ask this question only now? C'mon Levin...If you were being honest, this would have been the first question out of your mouth given the facts, not the last.

There is always something to be said for misleading the truth. Fuck you... Too little, too dishonest. Oh yeah... And too late, after the fact as per usual, that is.

Where were you when we pointed out this fact BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER the illegal invasion?

GOP Looks CHILDISH on Pelosi Flights

The GOP has done its best to make a scandal over the White House's policy of providing secure transport for the 2nd in line to replace the president, the Speaker of the House, since 9-11. They are trying to blame Pelosi for something she has little to do with.



Barny Frank drives home the fantasy of this non-existant "scandal" manufactured in the right wing MSM and childishly perpetuated by the GOP.

"The plane, Boss! The Plane!"

To make the point even more clear: Pelosi reportedly (on Faux news, of all places?) offered to take commercial flights rather than take the government flights.

They told me the first day that I was supposed to go that I couldn't make it across the country. And I said well, that's fine, I'm going commercial. ... I'm not asking to go on that plane. If you need to take me there for security purposes, you're going to have to get a plane that goes across the country, because I'm going home to my family. ... I'm happy to go commercial. But they want me to go on this plane, so the issue was distance, not size. And again, it's not about having a plane. It's about having transportation. These planes are used for other purposes in between trips, which are, you know, take place once or twice a week, going or coming. So, it isn't about that. But there are probably those in the Department of Defense who are not happy with my criticism of Secretary Rumsfeld, the war in Iraq, other waste, fraud and abuse in the Defense Department and I guess this is their way of making their voices heard. But it has nothing to do, as I say, with the president of the United States. He has encouraged my having the security I need.

(Via Josh Marshall)

Will this be enough to lay the right wingnut lie-fest to rest on this issue?

If the MSM's past record is any indication... I doubt it. They will just assign the propaganda to the next GOP mouthpiece in the GOP talking point echo chamber known as the MSM.

NSA Employee Pleads Guilty to Conflict of Interest

$770,000.00 worth of conflict of interest.

NSA Employee Pleads Guilty to Conflict of Interest:
"Wayne J. Schepens, 37, of Severna Park, Md., pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conflict of interest by using his official position as a National Security Agency (NSA) employee to cause government contracts to be awarded to companies owned and operated by Schepens or his spouse, announced Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher for the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein for the District of Maryland.

'While he was working for NSA, Wayne Schepens arranged to award government contracts worth over $770,000 to companies in which he and his wife had a financial interest,' said U.S. Attorney Rosenstein. 'It is a crime for government employees to participate in awarding contracts that bring them personal financial benefits.'"

What I find galling is that instead of getting ALL OF THE MONEY back the government only fines these con-artists a fraction of the amount. Maximum of $250,000.00 fine in this case.

And to make matters worse, this guy was stealing from a program that is supposed to train soldiers. And in the meantime soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and even here in the USA don't have all of the equipment they need to do their jobs safely.

The crook has yet to be sentenced and I hope he gets made an example of. Give Halliburton-Cheney something to think about.

Is The GOP Caving on Iraq Debate?

Does anyone doubt that the GOp's constituants raised a little hell over their refusal to get the Iraq debate to the floor with their procedural filibuster?

7 GOP Senators Back War Debate - washingtonpost.com:
"Senate Republicans who earlier this week helped block deliberations on a resolution opposing President Bush's new troop deployments in Iraq changed course yesterday and vowed to use every tactic at their disposal to ensure a full and open debate.

In a letter distributed yesterday evening to Senate leaders, John W. Warner (Va.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and five other GOP supporters of the resolution threatened to attach their measure to any bill sent to the floor in the coming weeks. Noting that the war is the 'most pressing issue of our time,' the senators declared: 'We will explore all of our options under the Senate procedures and practices to ensure a full and open debate.'"

Another GOP filibuster flip-flop?

But some Republicans were uneasy about appearing to have stymied the debate. The letter appeared so suddenly that, although it was addressed to Reid, the Democratic leader had not seen his copy before Warner read the text on the Senate floor.

snip

"There's no doubt in my mind that the dialogue here in Washington strengthens our democracy. Period," Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the House Armed Services Committee. He added that potential enemies may take some comfort from the rancor but said they "don't have a clue how democracy works."

Or maybe they are finally ready to actually support the troops in a very real and democratic way?

Definately a punch to the gut of irresponsible Republican Neocons like Bush, McCain, and Lieberman.

Blog Link Meta Backlash

(Here I am with another "Link damnit!" moment...)

Skippy hops along in Jon Swift's "Liberal Linking Policy" footsteps:

skippy the bush kangaroo:
we got yer 'amnesty' right here

"and who are we to limit political discourse diversity? what's going on here? it's as if the major blogs are trying to emulate the democrats in washington who suddenly forget about their constituents.

(ok, it's not. our metaphors suck tonight. but we're pissed. so cut us some slack.)

ergo, we here at skippy are planning to retaliate by offering real blog amnesty. and here's how it goes:

many smaller blogs link to skippy for one or more of a few reasons: out of politeness, out of a hope that we might notice them and link back, or simply out of the imitation of what it takes to make a good blog. it's the second reason that interests us (we really should have put it as the last reason to be more clear with sentence structure (on the other hand, using less paranthetical phrases in a paragraph would go a long way towards grammatical clarity (too late now))).

to wit: any blog that has linked to skippy and has not received a reciprocal blogroll link will now be included on our roll! all you have to do is notify us in our comments section or email us, and we will happily include you! that will show those big shot elitists too good for the little guy blogs! ha!"

At a time when the bigger Blogs need to be doing more to help build the left community some are, and some aren't. I find it ironic that I posted just last week on Chris Bowers argument that we need to link more effectively:

If everyone on the left works a little harder on this we can turn the tides on on the Google Wars and win. We have already made a lot of inroads since this 2004 picture:

The graphs represent the aggregate linkage going on leading up to the 2004 election. Reds (them) are the Republican bloggers, and Blues (us) are the Democratic bloggers. The full expanation of the graphs particulars are on page 9 of the PDF paper. Basically, the first graph connects dots (blogs) when there is strong linkage between them (+25 during the period), the second one where there is less stronger linkage (+5), and they've a 3rd map that includes all linkage that I've not included.

Between blogs then (not taking into consideration that diaries on #8DailyKos and #17MyDD serve to allow massive coordiantion and spreading of message), there's just a lot more coordination through linking among Republican than there has been with Democratic bloggers, at least on the surface of particular URL's. The other interesting thing I noted was that the blog by George Bush's campaign didn't even make the top 40-- now that's pitiful.

We were less coordinated in '04. But in '06 we did little things a little better. I am sure the more recent graphs would look a lot better. But you know that we can still keep on improving on this.

Remember that every time you link to any site you are, over time, creating a kind of GOOGLEBOMB effect on that site when it comes to site rankings, search results, etc.. Tagging and choice of words that are used to link are important in these cumulitive effects as well.

Now this week... Brilliant at Breakfast has the scoop on how MyDD has become an apologist for those attempting to cut out the links that we need to build the Left:

Shorter Chris Bowers

"We innovate more than you, we hired people to help us, and because we did that there is no place for you lone bloggers anymore -- because WE decide who makes it and who doesn't."

Oh, you really have to read this self-congratulatory drivel to believe it. It's truly amazing to see one blogger fellating the entire Big Name Blogosphere in one post, while at the same time consigning the rest of us to the ranks of the MySpacers.

Kool Kidz Klub indeed.

It's funny how Bowers uses a quote by Jeffrey Feldman to illustrate his point, because as I've mentioned before, I had a very nice conversation about blogging just last week with Mr. Feldman, who seems to be in no way a blog snob. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there is at least one Big Name Blogger who isn't puffed up with his own self-importance.

But with Kos and Atrios making a big show about "culling the blogroll", and Chris Bowers playing "Mine's Bigger" with the rest of the blogosphere, is this really what it's come to? Is this the Revenge of the Nerds come to fruition? Is this the guys who DIDN'T get laid on prom night finally staking their claim to coolness?

If so, are we going to sit by and take it? Are we going to just toil away while guys like Atrios and Kos and Chris Bowers define the rules and brand the rest of us as useless?

What an amazing flip-flop-contortion there Bowers... This leaves me wondering just how committed he really is to the cause.

Jon Swift puts it all in perspective:

I adopted this policy in a spirit of both self-interest and altruism. In the blogosphere links are like capital. By offering links to others, others would be more inclined to offer links to me. But I am also very grateful to those who helped me out by throwing a link my way or adding me to their blogroll when I was just starting out. Now that I am a Large Mammal, according the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem, I have tried to return the favor by helping out those further down the food chain.

Links are capital! It is the foundation of bringing views from fellow bloggers out of obscurity and into the top of search engine results. And just how much does it cost any blogger to spend some of this valuable capital?

ZIP. Zilch. Zero dollars.

Not even one penny to use the most effective marketing tool that Blogtopia has to offer.

All you have to do is put a few seconds into the act of cut'n'paste into your Blogroll or into a post... And you make a huge difference for everyone in our fight.

As ctblogger commented in an earlier MLN diary of mine on building a better community:

We should all work together to fight the good progressive fight and not be so critical in terms of other people's sites. I read CTBlue, Ed's Daily Rant, CT Local Politics, and the watch sites everyday and I learn something new from all of those guys which I incorporate into my site and that's the way it should be. Learn something from me and I learn something from you.

2006 is going to be a HUGE election year and Connecticut will be ground zero in terms of who controls Congress (2nd, 4th 5th district races). The faster we can all work to get this site up to full-speed, the more national attention it will recieve.

He also called me out for not having links to his sites... Which I quickly fixed. lol

2006 is behind us but there are still a lot of common causes that we all share, and we can all help eachother in achieving our goals. Linking is the first, easiest AND cheapest way to start.

For more background on all of this: Boston Joe has a Meta diary up x-posted at BooTrib and at MLW covering a bit more of this Meta discussion in a thoughtful way. Both have generated a lot of comments. I usually hate Meta... But this topic is the foundation of what Blogging is all about.

Independent Republican Joe Lieberman Proposes New TAX

Independent Republican Senator Joe Lieberman proposes a "Military Industrial Complex TAX":

An outspoken supporter of the Iraq war on Tuesday called for a new tax to pay for its astronomical cost as Congress opened a debate on President George W. Bush's $2.9 trillion budget plan for next year.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut proposed a "war on terrorism tax" at a Senate hearing during which he said the Pentagon's $622 billion defense budget proposal for fiscal 2008 threatened to crowd out funds for domestic programs.

To clarify the matter for you Joe: There already is a massive tax for the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq... It is payed in the blood of Americans and Iraqis.

Independent Republican Joe Lieberman
addresses the Dead Elephant caucus of the GOP.

Got Tinfoil? You are going to need it!

Senator Bob Graham points the 911 conspiracy finger squarely at the criminal Bush administration:

9/11 hijackers tied to Saudi government, Graham says in book - The Boston Globe:
"WASHINGTON -- Two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers had a support network in the United States that included agents of the Saudi government, and the Bush administration and FBI blocked a congressional investigation into that relationship, Senator Bob Graham wrote in a book to be released Tuesday.

The discovery of the financial backing of the two hijackers "would draw a direct line between the terrorists and the government of Saudi Arabia, and trigger an attempted coverup by the Bush administration," the Florida Democrat wrote.

And in Graham's book, "Intelligence Matters," obtained by The Miami Herald yesterday, he makes clear that some details of that financial support from Saudi Arabia were in the 27 pages of the congressional inquiry's final report that were blocked from release by the administration, despite the pleas of leaders of both parties on the House and Senate intelligence committees."

OK... Now if this doesn't make a certain "moderate right-wing libertarian" look like the paranoid one after banning all of those conspiracy diarists...

[update] And in the UNFUCKIN' REAL FILE...

Who else but FAAARRRR-RIGHT-WINGNUT REPUBLICAN Joe Neocon Lieberman would stand up and attempt to give Bush political cover today concerning escalation in Iraq:

Via Scarce at MLN:

Republicans bump Sen. Collins (R) for Lieberman
Sen. Collins (R-ME) would later vote for the resolution, Lieberman would not.

Grotesque as always.

Giuliani Files for 08

Rudy Giuliani announces his bid:

In a sign that he's serious about running for the White House, the two-term mayor filed a so-called "statement of candidacy" with the Federal Election Commission indicating that he would seek the presidency as a Republican should he decide to go forward.

Needless to say, the republican tag on his party affilliation should be a real drag on his campaign. Though, the same can be said of almost any GOP candidate given the current political climate based on the GOP's past records that more closely resembles criminal rap sheets than curriculum vitaes.

Popcorn Time! Libby tapes to be released

I see many juicy tidbits concerning White House lies in your future...

Audio recordings of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's secret grand jury testimony will be released publicly after they are presented at his trial, the judge at Libby's trial ruled Monday.

In a victory for the news media, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he had little choice but to make them public under the law as applied in the federal court system in Washington, D.C, even though he has concerns about releasing the recordings while the case is under way.

Libby is charged with perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI in an indictment that focuses in part on his statements to a federal grand jury investigating the leak of the CIA identity of Valerie Plame.

If this is the precedent, I hope they have to enter Cheney's lying, err, testimony to the Grand Jury as evidence in this case as well. heh

The more witnesses' Grand Jury testimony tapes are entered as evidence, the better picture we will get as to the inner workings of the propaganda machine that brought us to an illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.