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.

Hadley on Pressing Forward to Failure - Pincus Propaganda

Hadley's response to the reporter's question:(paraphrased)

"I agree, I was spinning, so let me try and spin it completely another way: Please let the preznit continue to press on towards failure... It's our last-best chance to fail!"

Ok... Maybe you should watch the Video and get the real quotes...

"One of the things you should conclude from this NIE is the best plan is to have this plan succeed."

What plan? Stay the fuckin' course? Puhleeeese... That is all the ESCALATION/surge really is.

And of course in the WaPo, Pincus and DeYoung lie the BIG LIE:

In a discussion of whether Iraq has reached a state of civil war, the 90-page classified NIE comes to no conclusion and holds out prospects of improvement.

Let's take another look at the declassified version of the NIE to compare:

*The Intelligence Community judges that the term “civil war” does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict in Iraq, which includes extensive Shia-on-Shia violence, al-Qa’ida and Sunni insurgent attacks on Coalition forces, and widespread criminally motivated violence. Nonetheless, the term “civil war” accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict, including the hardening of ethno-sectarian identities, a sea change in the character of the violence, ethno-sectarian mobilization, and population displacements.

snip

*Nevertheless, even if violence is diminished, given the current winner-take-all attitude and sectarian animosities infecting the political scene, Iraqi leaders will be hard pressed to achieve sustained political reconciliation in the time frame of this Estimate.

Yeah... I think the NIE says Pincus is lying. I gave up reading the Pincus propaganda after I got to his second graph lie. It's like reading the thoughts of Bush, Lieberman or St. McCain. There is no point to it since they are all insane or liars or both.

The Rovian spin machine is cranking it up a notch.... We had better be ready to fight back.

[update] Billy-Willy Kristol seeps up from the Daily Muck:

When decadent neoconservatives lose political battles over the war, the results aren't pretty. The byline here reads Bill Kristol, but the words could very well have come from Shakespeare's Richard III (like, say, Act V, Scene IV):

John Warner of Virginia, Gordon Smith of Oregon, and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine are the four Republican senators (in addition to Nebraska's Chuck Hagel) currently signed on to the Democrats' anti-surge, anti-Petraeus, anti-troops, and anti-victory resolution.

That's right: a nonbinding anti-surge resolution is an act against the troops.

Oh, and there's more. Kristol threatens dire political consequences to all anti-surge GOP senators...

It is another full-court press from all of the usual ass-kissing Bush hacks...

Iraq NIE

Below are the Key Judgements of the NIE (at least the declasified version taken from the PDF that was released) and it is obvious that it does not paint a pretty picture. Of note is that while it mentions the influence of Iran, they also make it clear that Iran's influence is the negligible when you look at the overall picture of chaos.

I am including the "Explanation of Estimative Language" at the bottom of this so that you can get a clearer picture of what they mean to say with their specific choice of wording. Also, all emphasis and formatting is NOT mine, and is included as originally in the report.

-------------

Key Judgments

Iraqi society’s growing polarization, the persistent weakness of the security forces and the state in general, and all sides’ ready recourse to violence are collectively driving an increase in communal and insurgent violence and political extremism. Unless efforts to reverse these conditions show measurable progress during the term of this Estimate, the coming 12 to 18 months, we assess that the overall security situation will continue to deteriorate at rates comparable to the latter part of 2006. If strengthened Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), more loyal to the government and supported by Coalition forces, are able to reduce levels of violence and establish more effective security for Iraq’s population, Iraqi leaders could have an opportunity to begin the process of political compromise necessary for longer term stability, political progress, and economic recovery.

• Nevertheless, even if violence is diminished, given the current winner-take-all attitude and sectarian animosities infecting the political scene, Iraqi leaders will be hard pressed to achieve sustained political reconciliation in the time frame of this Estimate.

The challenges confronting Iraqis are daunting, and multiple factors are driving the current trajectory of the country’s security and political evolution.

• Decades of subordination to Sunni political, social, and economic domination have made the Shia deeply insecure about their hold on power. This insecurity leads the Shia to mistrust US efforts to reconcile Iraqi sects and reinforces their unwillingness to engage with the Sunnis on a variety of issues, including adjusting the structure of Iraq’s federal system, reining in Shia militias, and easing de-Bathification.

• Many Sunni Arabs remain unwilling to accept their minority status, believe the central government is illegitimate and incompetent, and are convinced that Shia dominance will increase Iranian influence over Iraq, in ways that erode the state’s Arab character and increase Sunni repression.

• The absence of unifying leaders among the Arab Sunni or Shia with the capacity to speak for or exert control over their confessional groups limits prospects for reconciliation. The Kurds remain willing to participate in Iraqi state building but reluctant to surrender any of the gains in autonomy they have achieved.

• The Kurds are moving systematically to increase their control of Kirkuk to guarantee annexation of all or most of the city and province into the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) after the constitutionally mandated referendum scheduled to occur no later than 31 December 2007. Arab groups in Kirkuk continue to resist violently what they see as Kurdish encroachment.

• Despite real improvements, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)—particularly the Iraqi police—will be hard pressed in the next 12-18 months to execute significantly increased security responsibilities, and particularly to operate independently against Shia militias with success. Sectarian divisions erode the dependability of many units, many are hampered by personnel and equipment shortfalls, and a number of Iraqi units have refused to serve outside of the areas where they were recruited.

• Extremists—most notably the Sunni jihadist group al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI) and Shia oppositionist Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM)—continue to act as very effective accelerators for what has become a self-sustaining inter-sectarian struggle between Shia and Sunnis.

• Significant population displacement, both within Iraq and the movement of Iraqis into neighboring countries, indicates the hardening of ethno-sectarian divisions, diminishes Iraq’s professional and entrepreneurial classes, and strains the capacities of the countries to which they have relocated. The UN estimates over a million Iraqis are now in Syria and Jordan.

The Intelligence Community judges that the term “civil war” does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict in Iraq, which includes extensive Shia-on-Shia violence, al-Qa’ida and Sunni insurgent attacks on Coalition forces, and widespread criminally motivated violence. Nonetheless, the term “civil war” accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict, including the hardening of ethno-sectarian identities, a sea change in the character of the violence, ethno-sectarian mobilization, and population displacements.

Coalition capabilities, including force levels, resources, and operations, remain an essential stabilizing element in Iraq. If Coalition forces were withdrawn rapidly during the term of this Estimate, we judge that this almost certainly would lead to a significant increase in the scale and scope of sectarian conflict in Iraq, intensify Sunni resistance to the Iraqi Government, and have adverse consequences for national reconciliation.

• If such a rapid withdrawal were to take place, we judge that the ISF would be unlikely to survive as a non-sectarian national institution; neighboring countries—invited by Iraqi factions or unilaterally—might intervene openly in the conflict; massive civilian casualties and forced population displacement would be probable; AQI would attempt to use parts of the country—particularly al-Anbar province—to plan increased attacks in and outside of Iraq; and spiraling violence and political disarray in Iraq, along with Kurdish moves to control Kirkuk and strengthen autonomy, could prompt Turkey to launch a military incursion.

A number of identifiable developments could help to reverse the negative trends driving Iraq’s current trajectory. They include:

• Broader Sunni acceptance of the current political structure and federalism to begin to reduce one of the major sources of Iraq’s instability.

• Significant concessions by Shia and Kurds to create space for Sunni acceptance of federalism.

• A bottom-up approach—deputizing, resourcing, and working more directly with neighborhood watch groups and establishing grievance committees—to help mend frayed relationships between tribal and religious groups, which have been mobilized into communal warfare over the past three years.

A key enabler for all of these steps would be stronger Iraqi leadership, which could enhance the positive impact of all the above developments.

Iraq’s neighbors influence, and are influenced by, events within Iraq, but the involvement of these outside actors is not likely to be a major driver of violence or the prospects for stability because of the self-sustaining character of Iraq’s internal sectarian dynamics. Nonetheless, Iranian lethal support for select groups of Iraqi Shia militants clearly intensifies the conflict in Iraq. Syria continues to provide safehaven for expatriate Iraqi Bathists and to take less than adequate measures to stop the flow of foreign jihadists into Iraq.

• For key Sunni regimes, intense communal warfare, Shia gains in Iraq, and Iran’s assertive role have heightened fears of regional instability and unrest and contributed to a growing polarization between Iran and Syria on the one hand and other Middle East governments on the other. But traditional regional rivalries, deepening ethnic and sectarian violence in Iraq over the past year, persistent anti-Americanism in the region, anti-Shia prejudice among Arab states, and fears of being perceived by their publics as abandoning their Sunni co-religionists in Iraq have constrained Arab states’ willingness to engage politically and economically with the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad and led them to consider unilateral support to Sunni groups.

• Turkey does not want Iraq to disintegrate and is determined to eliminate the safehaven in northern Iraq of the Kurdistan People’s Congress (KGK, formerly PKK)—a Turkish Kurdish terrorist group.

A number of identifiable internal security and political triggering events, including sustained mass sectarian killings, assassination of major religious and political leaders, and a complete Sunni defection from the government have the potential to convulse severely Iraq’s security environment. Should these events take place, they could spark an abrupt increase in communal and insurgent violence and shift Iraq’s trajectory from gradual decline to rapid deterioration with grave humanitarian, political, and security consequences. Three prospective security paths might then emerge:

• Chaos Leading to Partition. With a rapid deterioration in the capacity of Iraq’s central government to function, security services and other aspects of sovereignty would collapse. Resulting widespread fighting could produce de facto partition, dividing Iraq into three mutually antagonistic parts. Collapse of this magnitude would generate fierce violence for at least several years, ranging well beyond the time frame of this Estimate, before settling into a partially stable end-state.

• Emergence of a Shia Strongman. Instead of a disintegrating central government producing partition, a security implosion could lead Iraq’s potentially most powerful group, the Shia, to assert its latent strength.

• Anarchic Fragmentation of Power. The emergence of a checkered pattern of local control would present the greatest potential for instability, mixing extreme ethno-sectarian violence with debilitating intra-group clashes.

------------------------

What We Mean When We Say:
An Explanation of Estimative Language

When we use words such as “we judge” or “we assess”—terms we use synonymously—as well as “we estimate,” “likely” or “indicate,” we are trying to convey an analytical assessment or judgment. These assessments, which are based on incomplete or at times fragmentary information are not a fact, proof, or knowledge. Some analytical judgments are based directly on collected information; others rest on previous judgments, which serve as building blocks. In either type of judgment, we do not have “evidence” that shows something to be a fact or that definitively links two items or issues.

Intelligence judgments pertaining to likelihood are intended to reflect the Community’s sense of the probability of a development or event. Assigning precise numerical ratings to such judgments would imply more rigor than we intend. The chart below provides a rough idea of the relationship of terms to each other.



We do not intend the term “unlikely” to imply an event will not happen. We use “probably” and “likely” to indicate there is a greater than even chance. We use words such as “we cannot dismiss,” “we cannot rule out,” and “we cannot discount” to reflect an unlikely—or even remote—event whose consequences are such it warrants mentioning. Words such as “may be” and “suggest” are used to reflect situations in which we are unable to assess the likelihood generally because relevant information is nonexistent, sketchy, or fragmented.

In addition to using words within a judgment to convey degrees of likelihood, we also ascribe “high,” “moderate,” or “low” confidence levels based on the scope and quality of information supporting our judgments.

• “High confidence” generally indicates our judgments are based on high-quality information and/or the nature of the issue makes it possible to render a solid judgment.

• “Moderate confidence” generally means the information is interpreted in various ways, we have alternative views, or the information is credible and plausible but not corroborated sufficiently to warrant a higher level of confidence.

• “Low confidence” generally means the information is scant, questionable, or very fragmented and it is difficult to make solid analytic inferences, or we have significant concerns or problems with the sources.

A Moment of Clarity

A moment of clarity, if you are one of those Bush-Lieberman-McCain clones that refuse to accept the reality of the situation, from former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski's prepared testimony for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“The war in Iraq is a historic, strategic, and moral calamity.”

“If the United States continues to be bogged down in a protracted bloody involvement in Iraq,” Brzezinski cautioned, “the final destination on this downhill track is likely to be a head-on conflict with Iran and with much of the world of Islam at large. … It is obvious by now that the American national interest calls for a significant change of direction.”

Ya don't say? Anyone that supports the axis of weasels' (Bush, Lieberman, McCain, AEI) continuence of failed policy in Iraq is playing right into the terrorists' hands... These idiots need to be removed from office and/or prosecuted for their criminal negligence.

Lincoln Group - Funding the Insurgents?

Ok... Who or what, exactly, are "Sunni Religious Scholars":

Lincoln Group - SourceWatch:
"Hiring Sunni Religious Scholars, Working with AEI's Michael Rubin

The New York Times reported January 2, 2006, that the Lincoln Group 'has been compensating Sunni religious scholars in Iraq in return for assistance with its propaganda works ... [T]he company's ties to religious leaders and dozens of other prominent Iraqis is aimed also at enabling it to exercise influence in Iraqi communities on behalf of clients, including the military. ... Lincoln has also turned to American scholars and political consultants for advice on the content of the propaganda campaign in Iraq, records indicate. Michael Rubin, a Middle East scholar at the American Enterprise Institute ... said he had reviewed materials produced by the company.' [24] Rubin was political adviser for the Coalition Provisional Authority (Baghdad), 2003-2004, following two years (2002-2004) as staff assistant on Iran and Iraq in the Office of Special Plans in the Office of the Secretary of Defense."

Can you read "Fundementalist Clerics"... And why the fuck would the Lincoln propoganda team have been funding these "Sunni Religious Scholars" (a plan supported by AEI) when many of these "Scholars" are the ones that are the most responsible for all of the exploding Iraqis everywhere?

Are they trying to feed the fire and tilt Iraq further into the chaos of Civil War? Just WTF kindof crack are these assholes smoking?

Sell propaganda to the US government to help spread peace in Iraq... Meanwhile fund the insurgents that help create more chaos there.... Sell more propaganda to the US government to help spread peace in Iraq... Meanwhile fund the insurgents that help create more chaos there...

Rinse and repeat.
Rinse and repeat.
Rinse and repeat.
Rinse and repeat.
Rinse and repeat.

Without heroes like the Lincoln group the Shia wouldn't have such a well funded insurgency to to attempt to ethnically cleanse.

And, right now, Mr. Bush and his insane clown posse is trying to spin to you that it is Iran that is supporting much of the chaos?

But even our feeble knowledge here at TPM is enough to tell us that when we start hearing catch-alls like 'Iranian-trained' for anything that happened in southern Iraq, we're dealing with meaninglessly vague words meant to bamboozle and hoodwink. Remember too this incident occurred in Karbala, where the Badr Brigade is headquartered.

To be clear, I'm not saying the Badr Brigade was behind this, only that in the context of paramilitaries in southern Iraq, 'Iranian-trained' is a meaninglessly broad category.

Really? Spin, Spin, Spin! What a fuckin' racket...

WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

I smell an early House election campaign in California

Hypocrisy in action in CA-42:

Gary Miller (not to be confused with George Miller, D, CA-7) was first elected to the House in 1998. In 2006, he ran for election unopposed. His growing seniority has garnered him an appointment as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Investigations on the House Financial Services Committee. (And under investigation as a tax cheat! Yikes!!)

snip

LUCRATIVE LAND DEAL
Dennis Hastert cleared a cool million for land he sold for a highway development he slipped into an earmark. And the Pombo family in California apparently benefitted from a similar highway related deal. So this kind of thing is not unheard of. But Miller’s real estate windfall was an order of magnitude greater than Hastert’s. A cool ten million! CREW filed a IRS complaint against the Congressman last summer:

In 2002, Rep. Miller sold 165 acres to the city of Monrovia, California, making a profit of approximately $10 million. In 2004, Rep. Miller reinvested the proceeds of the sale in land and building purchases in Fontana, California, and Rancho Cucamonga, California. Rep. Miller again claimed IRC 1033 exemption when he sold some of his Fontana land and building acquisitions in April and June of 2005. He used proceeds from this sale to purchase additional land in Fontana, which he subsequently sold to the city in 2006 for $50,000 more than his original purchase price.

So, ten million profit in a land deal. And federal earmarks for improvements that increased the property value. This has been business-as-usual for entirely too many Republicans in Tom Delay's short-lived "Permanenet Majority." Sigh.

The Democratic party out west might want to start think about lining up a candidate for this one ASAP... Whether Miller manages to hang around until 2008 or not, the campaign is on. The sooner there is a candidate to oppose him the better. Get that "name/face recognition" spinning in the media now.

As a side note: I may not write much the next couple of days... I am trying to do a bit of research to help out ePluribusMedia and it involves WAY TOO MUCH reading! lol

One possible source of Krayeske's illegal treatment

I am not saying that this is how Ken Krayeske ended up on "THE LIST" but it is definately a possibility.

FBI turns to broad new wiretap method:
"The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed.

Instead of recording only what a particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations appear to be assembling the activities of thousands of Internet users at a time into massive databases, according to current and former officials. That database can subsequently be queried for names, e-mail addresses or keywords.

Such a technique is broader and potentially more intrusive than the FBI's Carnivore surveillance system, later renamed DCS1000. It raises concerns similar to those stirred by widespread Internet monitoring that the National Security Agency is said to have done, according to documents that have surfaced in one federal lawsuit, and may stretch the bounds of what's legally permissible."

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Carnivore:

Carnivore Redux:
In late 1999, Corn-Revere, a partner at the Davis Wright Tremaine law firm, had been fighting on EarthLink's behalf to keep a government surveillance device off the company's network. A short while later, though, a federal magistrate judge sided with the FBI against the Atlanta-based Internet provider.

Worried about the privacy impact, Corn-Revere revealed the existence of Carnivore in testimony before a House of Representatives subcommittee on April 6, 2000. "They were using a technology called Etherpeek, which was off the shelf," Corn-Revere told me last Friday. "When we challenged it, they said, 'We're not using that. That would be wrong. We have our own software developed. It's called Carnivore.'" (Etherpeek is a Windows surveillance utility from WildPackets that can decode protocols used with e-mail, Web browsing and instant messaging.)

Now history is repeating itself. A flurry of press reports this month noted that the FBI has ceased using Carnivore, which had been renamed DCS1000. But not all of them mentioned that the government is hardly calling a halt to Internet wiretaps--instead, it's simply buying its surveillance tools from private companies again.

A review of the government's self-reported wiretap statistics from 2000 to 2003, the most recent data available, shows that the total number of "electronic" wiretaps has stayed between 4 percent and 8 percent of all reported wiretaps each year. (In 2003, for instance, there were 1,442 reported non-terrorism wiretaps in total that intercepted 4.3 million communications or conversations.)

snip

...those numbers don't include "pen register" and "trap and trace" devices, which tend to be about five to six times as popular as traditional wiretaps. Those awkward names, which hail from the days of analog phone taps, refer to capturing only the addresses of Web sites visited and the IDs of e-mail and instant-messaging correspondents rather than the complete content of the communication.

Translated: The concept of Carnivore isn't going away. If anything, police surveillance of the Internet is increasing over time.

There is a possibility that this sort of software is what may have brought Krayeske to the FBI and CTIC's attention since it would track and find sources of comments on Blogs. IMHO it is highly likely.

If this sort of illegal surveillance is what brought Krayeske to their attention, it still would not explain the human error of actually taking anything Krayeske has said, written, or done in the past as a sign that he should be on "The List"... Anyone that actually read the full comments refered to as reasons for the abuse of his rights would see that he is just a photo-journalist/blogger/peaceful political activist.

Are there any CT politicians that could ask for the original source of these Federal agencies monitoring Ken Krayeke? My guess is that question will lead back to software controlled "wiretaps" that are inherrantly illegal because of the wide net they cast in surveillance of the internet without any probable cause.

Given the subject matter of this diary... They are probably reading this! What a fuckin' waste of taxpayers' money.

You are what you eat?

Is this a case of "you are what you eat" or was the author making a political statement after the fact?



The book was written by the White House pastry chef. The author wrote the book before being hired to work at the White House so they must have hired the chef based on his ability to cater to the current White House occupants' needs...

Revolution in DC - Out of Iraq

out of Iraq and into
PEACE!

America Wants Congress to Cut Bush Off

A Newsweek poll that is up at the moment:

Should Congress try to stop President Bush from deploying more U.S. troops in Iraq? 32622 responses
	Yes 80%
	No 16%
	Not sure 4.1%

America seems to want Congress to cut Bush off...

C-Ya! Wouldn't wanna B-Ya!

The longer the GOP talking point clown is gone the better off the NewsTimes readers will be:

News Times Live Online Editor: "(Political reporter/blogger Fred Lucas, by the way, moved onto greener pastures. He's covering the feds down in Washington, D.C. His blog is on hiatus for the moment.)"

Fred Lucas has to be one of the worst abusers of the written word in the local area. As long as he is gone it frees up a lot of Blogging time that was previously wasted correcting his second rate Rovian spin.

It is safe to assume that Lucas is in Washington to get his lips closer to the Bush ass that continuously refills his koolaide dispenser. Suck it up Freddie! But you are already full of it.

This is THE Healthcare Plan YOU Have Asked For

The United States National Health Insurance Act

H.R. 676

("Expanded & Improved Medicare For All")

*introduced by Reps. John Conyers, Dennis Kucinich, Jim McDermott and Donna Christensen

"National health insurance is not only the best answer,

it is the only answer to eliminating health disparities."

Representative John Conyers, Jr., State of the Black Union 2005

Via SarahLee's dKos diary:

If you want to read the bill, H.R. 676, just go to Thomas.gov, click in Conyers' name and scroll down to 676 - right now it says that the bill has not yet been received from the GPO.

NEW CO-SPONSORS LIST:


(Three are not yet listed yet, so I am not sure who they are).

Rep Abercrombie, Neil [HI-1] - 1/24/2007


Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] - 1/24/2007


Rep Carson, Julia [IN-7] - 1/24/2007


Rep Christensen, Donna M. [VI] - 1/24/2007


Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 1/24/2007

Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 1/24/2007


Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7] - 1/24/2007


Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5] - 1/24/2007


Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17] - 1/24/2007


Rep Farr, Sam [CA-17] - 1/24/2007


Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2] - 1/24/2007


Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 1/24/2007


Rep Green, Al [TX-9] - 1/24/2007


Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 1/24/2007


Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 1/24/2007


Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 1/24/2007


Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] - 1/24/2007


Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. [IL-2] - 1/24/2007


Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 1/24/2007


Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [TX-30] - 1/24/2007


Rep Kilpatrick, Carolyn C. [MI-13] - 1/24/2007


Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 1/24/2007

Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 1/24/2007


Rep Lewis, John [GA-5] - 1/24/2007


Rep Loebsack, David [IA-2] - 1/24/2007


Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7] - 1/24/2007


Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 1/24/2007


Rep McNulty, Michael R. [NY-21] - 1/24/2007


Rep Meehan, Martin T. [MA-5] - 1/24/2007


Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 1/24/2007


Rep Moore, Gwen [WI-4] - 1/24/2007


Rep Pastor, Ed [AZ-4] - 1/24/2007


Rep Payne, Donald M. [NJ-10] - 1/24/2007


Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] - 1/24/2007


Rep Roybal-Allard, Lucille [CA-34] - 1/24/2007


Rep Scott, Robert C. [VA-3] - 1/24/2007


Rep Towns, Edolphus [NY-10] - 1/24/2007


Rep Watson, Diane E. [CA-33] - 1/24/2007


Rep Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9] - 1/24/2007

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 1/24/2007


Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 1/24/2007


Rep Wynn, Albert Russell [MD-4] - 1/24/2007

HMMM? I believe that there may be some CT Reps missing from that list...

Write Your Rep... <<< :)

(x-posted at MLN)

Kennedy Tears the Corrupt Ones a New One

Kennedy tears the corrupt Republicans a new one over their refusal to allow a vote on minimum wage.



Via C&l:

What is it with Republicans and their refusal to help the working class?

"Do you have such disdain for hard-working Americans that you want to pile all your amendments on this? Why don’t you just hold your amendments until other pieces of legislation? Why this volume of amendments on just the issue to try and raise the minimum wage? What is it about it that drives you Republicans crazy? What is it? Something. Something! What is the price that the workers have to pay to get an increase? What is it about working men and women that you find so offensive?"

U.S. Military Spied on Hundreds of Antiwar Demonstrattions

Just waiting for that next Ken Krayeske moment:

U.S. Military Spied on Hundreds of Antiwar Demos:
"At least 186 antiwar protests in the United States have been monitored by the Pentagon's domestic surveillance program, according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which also found that the Defense Department collected more than 2,800 reports involving Americans in a single anti-terrorism database.

snip

"It cannot be an accident or coincidence that nearly 200 antiwar protests ended up in a Pentagon threat database," Ann Beeson, associate legal director of the ACLU, said in a statement. "This unchecked surveillance is part of a broad pattern of the Bush administration using 'national security' as an excuse to run roughshod over the privacy and free speech rights of Americans."

The internal Defense Department documents show it is monitoring the activities of a wide swath of peace groups, including Veterans for Peace,
Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Code Pink, the American Friends Service Committee, the War Resisters League, and the umbrella group United for Peace and Justice, which is spearheading what organizers hope will be a massive march on Washington this Saturday.

This Ken Krayeske moment was brought to you by your Constitution hating republicans everywhere, in conjunction with our highly paranoid Governor Jodi Rell.

I wouldn't be surprised if some quaint wiretapping or mail opening was involved in this repeated Constitutional rape of Americans' rights...

Bill Moyers, the respected TV journalist, analyzes the threats to constitutional government posed by an illegitimate network operating from within the government but using secrecy to set itself up outside of the government / peoples oversight. All this back in 1987. This documentary gives a fascinating overview of what has actually happened in the last 50 years regarding the CIA and the Cold War (including Iran, Guatamala, Cuba, Vietnam and Chile). The foundation for the massive push towards greater secrecy in government going on today.

Not like anyone really cares, right? Right? Well... Not anyone that is Republican.

Building a Better Community (continued)

I am stealing a comment made by liza in a MyDD diary that explains what everyone on the left needs to do more of, and more often:

Repugs look at blogs, more so than static sites, as real estate. Linking to one another creates a tightly knit community and lowers the barrier for locking sites in with their message. It works brilliantly for framing attacks and going for the kill.

Look at how from Drudge and the Freeper site information is passed down at lighting speed into the red blogosphere. Once you have 10-15 sites hitting the same topic, Google does it's job. And if those 10-15 sites happen to be repugblogs, then they've won.

This is not rocket science. This is the law of links and Google ranking. That blue bloggers don't get it begs the question, why are they doing this in the first place. Do get a book deal and then bail? If this is really a movement, then we have to think tactically. How do you do so?

-- encourage building not just blogs but community blogs with platforms like Drupal, CivicSpace or Scoop. There is great potential in those MySQL databases.

-- Link and link generously. If possible, run an RSS aggregator on your site and invite people to add their feeds; making it easy for people to comment on other networked blogger's posts.

-- use the "nofollow" tag only sparingly; maybe for the sites you're fisking

-- METAs & FOAF still work. Use it.

-- Categories are a good thing. Use them widely. Tag, tag and tag some more. And if possible, ecourage the use of folksonomies in your blogs, diaries and comments. And allow live links on your comments as well.

-- Then link, quote and link some more.

It's not rocket science. It's just good blog networking.

I challenge every single one of you on the left to try and increase the visability of everyone else on the left by using the basic rule of LINKING. And I mean gratuitous links. Any reason you can find to link, in any post, to any site on "OUR SIDE" that you can find.

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.

So link... Link often. To diaries on your own blog, diaries on your friends' blogs, diaries from everyone on the entire left side of the Blogosphere. And consider expanding your Blogroll when you come across any site that is covering similar issues that you want to see pushed up in search results.

As far as Tagging and the words you use to link: Try and chose many varieties of words over time and it will draw more, and different readers in. Also use certain key words repetitively to make sites "look" more authoritative to search engines. IE: This Joe Lieberman link just helped make MLN an authority on Joe lieberman. Or this Krayeske link just helped make ConnecticutBLOG an authority on all things Krayeske. Easy, eh? You might be surprised at just how many visits this fucking link might send to a site... Now multiply this effect by a dozen links and they become even more relevant in searches on those subjects.

The words you choose to link (and tag) with can be just as important as where those links end up on on the other end.

There are a lot of lessons and tips that can be shared, but linking and tags are the first, and easiest, for everyone to begin to use. And we all need to use these weapons if we are going to beat the right in the Google War.