And the Records Department, after all, was itself only a single branch of the Ministry of Truth....

From the Albany Times Union:

Lincoln Memorial Video May Be Revised

By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN, Associated Press
Last updated: 9:26 p.m., Thursday, June 30, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The National Park Service sought out footage of "conservative - right-wing demonstrations" to revise the video shown to visitors at the Lincoln Memorial after being pressured by conservatives who complained the display implied Abraham Lincoln supported abortion, homosexuality and liberal causes...

Yes and so continues the quest of the always offended right to remodel history like Winston Smith did in his cramped little office. Is the Lincoln Memorial supposed to stand for the beliefs of one man? Hey I love Abe, I've written papers about Abe but I have never confused the statue inside for the man himself. The memorial is about the idea of "America", its goals, and aspirations. It is not about asking would Abe Lincoln approve of this? (Hey new button "WWLD?")

The service has spent about $20,000 revamping the video and buying footage -- including some from The Associated Press -- after conservative political groups criticized the current display and organized a campaign of petitions and e-mails demanding changes....

Documents about the revision were released to two liberal advocacy groups, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the People For the American Way Foundation, after they sued under the Freedom of Information Act. Major portions of the 1,500 pages, provided to AP by the groups, were blacked out on grounds they included pre-decision information that did not have to be disclosed....

What is with these people and redacted documents? The memorial is a public place and the public is handed a bunch of blacked out pages. Who the bleeding F&$*# do these people thin they are? The right's inability to be forthcoming and forthright is one of the most disturbing aspects of their ideology.

"This is yet another example of the Bush administration's efforts to turn the federal government into a right-wing propaganda machine," PFAW president Ralph G. Neas said. "Now they're trying to rewrite history on the basis of ideology and abuse FOIA to conceal the evidence...."

Nuff said.

Thanks For The News You Got The Weather?

State Dept.: Iraq Risky for Americans Yet

Well that just cancels my vacation plans. Gotta call American and cancel my reservations. I was really hoping to see the new Disney park they were opening this weekend Fallujah Disney. Sounded great...

New rides with that Middle East flava:

Muhjadeen of the Gulf
The Carosel of Corruption (sponsored by Halliburton)
Baghdad Betty's Castle
Its A Quagmire After All (sponsored by the Carlye Group)
Kurd Mountain

Ah well... maybe Afghanistan has a weekend package.....

And The New Name For Slime Beetle of the Year

From Cornell University News Service:

Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are now species of slime-mold beetles -- but strictly in homage

ITHACA, N.Y. -- U.S. President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may not all get a library, airport or highway named after them. But each has a slime-mold beetle named in his honor. Bush thanks entomologist.

Two former Cornell University entomologists who recently had the job of naming 65 new species of slime-mold beetles named three species that are new to science in the genus Agathidium for members of the U.S. administration. They are A. bushi Miller and Wheeler, A. cheneyi Miller and Wheeler and A. rumsfeldi Miller and Wheeler.

This is just too damn funny. The scientists claim that this was a homage to the men in question. I find it hysterical and all too appropriate.

The Speech Thingy Last Night

I would love to give a long diatribe and a blow by blow dissection of the Prezznits speech. However, after forcing myself to stay awake I could only hear this repeating through my boredom addled brain:

"Move along nothing to see here."

The reactions to the speech were actually more interesting. More on that when I have time.

What I will say is that this Flying Chimp so dishonored our brave men and women in uniform that it goes beyond the pale. His lies and distortions were no more apparent when he cheaply brought up 9/11 more than 5 times. By his own admission said that their is no evidence of a connection between the two events.


Why oh why do you feel the need to lie to us.

Impeachment must be our course of action.

Chinook Goes Down In Afghanistan

From MSNBC:

KABUL, Afghanistan - A U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed Tuesday while flying troops into eastern Afghanistan, and the fate of those on board was not immediately known, the U.S. military said.

Our prayers for the pilots and passengers

Odds tonight for Bush's spew

Over/under:

He will use the words xxxxx (# of times):

Terrorism: 20 Freedom : 15 Iraq is a sovereign nation: 5 Iraqification: 3 Stay the course: 5 We are strong: 5

Odds:
This will save his presidency: 100-1 Will send his ratings even lower: 5-1 Apologize: 1,000,000-1 Will allude to pull out:3-1 Actually pull out: no odds--no chance

Just read this Mr/Ms Should be working but reading blogs instead

From the New Yorker a preview of tonight's speech:

The Flying Chimp Speaks!

Voice of Outsourcing?

From the Washington Post:

"American corporations, fleeing high labor costs, often head overseas. Turns out, some federal agencies may be doing the same.

The Voice of America, working with ever-tightening budgets, is planning a little outsourcing itself -- to Communist China -- to save some taxpayer dollars."

The affected graveyard shift employees (8) will be moved to daylight shifts. VOA sees (of course) financial benefits from the move:

"VOA says the move could save at least $300,000 in salaries and benefits each year, and would relieve people burdened by working those hours -- though we hear most of those affected like their hours and enhanced night pay."

The irony of the situation is not lost on some:

Tim Shamble, president of the American Federation of Government Employees local, notes it doesn't seem to make sense that "English news broadcasts by the Voice of America should be written by non-Americans in a foreign country." Then there's the notion, he said, of American taxpayer dollars providing jobs for noncitizens overseas. ...

This is not the beginning of an outsourcing policy but a "unique situation" and a very important news story. "There are no plans to do this anywhere else," he said.

We shall see.....

Wow! Did We Actually Win Something?

Yesterday the House voted to restore $100 million in cut funding to PBS! When asked members of the cast of Sesame Street could not be heard because Cookie Monster ate the microphone


For full details click the link:

H R 3010 RECORDED VOTE 23-Jun-2005 5:06 PM
AUTHOR(S): Obey of Wisconsin Amendment
QUESTION: On Agreeing to the Amendment

	Ayes	Noes	PRES	NV
Republican	87	140		3
Democratic	196			6
Independent	1
TOTALS	284	140		9

KUDOS to the 87 Republicans who crossed the aisle.

Surprise! Surprise!, with the exception of 6 Dems who didn't vote we presented an unanimous effort. Now you 6..... Why you hatin' on Elmo!?

They Are Not Just Numbers!

Heard about this site on The Mike Malloy show last night. It is powerful in its simplicity.

Knowing the wingnuts they'll want these folks in the same cell with the people from Air America.

And now for some Eye Candy ...

Links

The person you see here is none other than Goran Visnjic, the actor who plays Dr. Luca Kovac on NBC's ER. He also has some independent films that are worth looking at, namely The Deep End and Close Your Eyes. I also believe that he is one of the most underrated actors today.

And now, back to political ranting and raving.

• Google News


• Edit-Me


• Edit-Me

New CEO of CPB

CPB Press release

Patricia S. Harrison, former Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), has been named President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

---snip---

n making the announcement, CPB Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson paid tribute to the executive search firm Spencer Stuart for conducting a comprehensive review of potential candidates for the position. "They reached out to over 200 people and had extensive discussions with more than 80 contacts. Over 50 diversity profiles were developed and eleven diversity candidates were reviewed by the committee."

---snip---

(Katherine) Anderson, who chaired the search effort said, "Pat Harrison's career exemplifies outstanding leadership. She has demonstrated great strength in coalition building. She knows Capitol Hill and is devoted to public broadcasting and the mission."

Can't be good if Tomlinson likes her. Elmo could not be reached for comment.

And so it starts..........

From the New York Times

June 23, 2005

Chinese Oil Giant in Takeover Bid for U.S. Corporation

By DAVID BARBOZA
and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN

SHANGHAI, Thursday, June 23 - One of China's largest state-controlled oil companies made a $18.5 billion unsolicited bid Thursday for Unocal, signaling the first big takeover battle by a Chinese company for an American corporation.

This is a disturbing but not unexpected development. The world's competition for oil will only make such occurrences more common, as the developing industrial giant seeks to consume more and more fossil fuels.

It should also come as no surprise that China is seeking to expand its global muscle by becoming a distributor as well as "the world's largest factory floor" .

This week, a consortium of investors led by the Haier Group, one of China's biggest companies, moved to acquire the Maytag Corporation, the American appliance maker, for about $1.3 billion, surpassing a bid from a group of American investors.

Last month, Lenovo, China's largest computer maker, completed its $1.75 billion deal for I.B.M.'s personal computer business, creating the world's third-largest computer maker after Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

California Republicans Duncan Hunter and Richard Pombo beseeched President Bush to inervene:

"As the world energy landscape shifts, we believe that it is critical to understand the implications for American interests and most especially, the threat posed by China's governmental pursuit of world energy resources. The United States increasingly needs to view meeting its energy requirements within the context of our foreign policy, national security and economic security agenda."

So why does China want Unocal, lets just say it a local issue:

Twenty-seven percent of Unocal's proven oil reserves and 73 percent of its proven natural gas reserves are in Asia, according to Merrill Lynch.

Here comes the carrot:

Trying to assuage concerns of some in Washington, CNOOC pledged to continue Unocal's practice of selling all of the oil and gas produced in the United States back to customers in the United States. The company also said it would retain substantially all of Unocal's employees in the United States.

Like I have said, expect to see more of this in the future. Even if this deal does not go through China will try again. They need to secure oil and natural gas reserves to fuel there economy. They cannot use unilateral military action like the US did in Afghanistan and Iraq, at least not yet. So, they will have to do it buy unleashing the money invested in them from around the world.

It would be ironic if the folks at the neo-fascist think tank New American Century,
tying us down in quagmires like Afghanistan and Iraq have helped innaugerate the Chinese century.

ME AM BIZZARO! ME AM LIVE IN MIRROR WORLD!

Living in New York you understand the newspaper pecking order:

NYT: Old time liberals (who still think the NYT is liberal), elitists, and the guy next to you on the train who does not know how to fold the huge SOB!
Grade Level: High School Grad

Daily News: Blue collar Democrats, and those with not enough time or energy to read and carry the times.
Grade Level: 7-8 th grade

New York Post: Right Wingers, those not fluent in English, and folks who like naughty stuff on page 6.
Grade Level:4-5th grade

Which means that I was completely bowled over when I read John Podhoretz's review of Edward Klein's smear book The Truth About Hillary,

"This is one of the most sordid volumes I've ever waded through. Thirty pages into it, I wanted to take a shower. Sixty pages into it, I wanted to be decontaminated. And 200 pages into it, I wanted someone to drive stakes through my eyes so I wouldn't have to suffer through another word".

Media Matters has more including a great point for point anal pounding of Klein's hack work

To further remove me from what I have commonly accepted as reality, Sean "Baby Jesus" Hannity took Klein to task on his book. I had to double take and then go read the transcript, did "Baby J" DEFEND Hillary Clinton. Read about it at News Hounds.

Could it be that "Baby J" has learned the error of his lying deceitful ways? Will he become a Democrat?

Yeah and when those monkeys get done with their version of Hamlet I want first dibs.

HI SHIT! HELLO FAN!

From the NYT

June 22, 2005
U.S. Spy Plane on Afghanistan Mission Crashes, Killing Pilot
By TERENCE NEILAN

An Air Force U-2 spy plane has crashed in Southwest Asia, killing the pilot, the military said today.

A short statement said the crash occurred at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday as the plane completed a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the name given to American military operations in Afghanistan. The pilot was not identified.

The crash occurred as the plane was returning to base, according to the statement issued by the Central Command. The base was not identified, but military officials who have been briefed on the incident said it was returning to Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

The location of the crash could not be disclosed "due to host-nation sensitivities," Capt. David W. Small of the Air Force, a spokesman for Central Command, told The Associated Press.

Where was it flying that there could a problem "due to host-nation sensitivities,"?

And Now the Home Builders Friend JOHN HOSTETTLER! Jerk.

Ah another week another Republican. Where do they find these people? What freaking rock do these nimrods crawl out from under.

JOHN HOSTETTLER (IN-R)

His Recent Voting Record From Govtrack.us

His FEC Disclosure Covering Period 01/01/2005 Through 03/31/2005

His Top Contributors from Open Secrets (2004 cycle)

From the WTF? Department:

Seattle Post Inteligencier: 6/20/05

"Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians," Hostettler said.

Democrats leapt to their feet and demanded Hostettler be censured for his remarks. After a half-hour's worth of wrangling, Hostettler retracted his comments.

His causes:

From the Hoosier Gazette (Nov. 2003)
John Hostettler, the Congressman representing the 8^th district of Indiana, has been convinced by local religious groups to introduce legislation in the House that would change the name of an Interstate 69 extension to a more moral sounding number....
“Naming the road I-63 not only follows numbering guidelines, it doesn’t have the sexual undertones that I-69 has,” says Hostettler, “It is a win-win situation.”

Just Dumb:

From CNN 4/20/2004:
Rep. John Hostettler, R-Indiana, "completely forgot" he had the gun in his bag as he prepared to take a US Airways flight to Washington for the first day of work after a two-week recess, a spokesman for the congressman said.

A Homeland Security Department official said Hostettler had a loaded 9 mm Glock pistol in his bag at Louisville International Airport .

From Issues2000.org:

Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 36% by the ACLU, indicating a mixed civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
Rated 87% by the US COC, indicating a pro-business voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 30% by CURE, indicating anti-rehabilitation crime votes. (Dec 2000)
Rated 25% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003)
Rated 15% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)
Rated 100% by the Christian Coalition: a pro-family voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated A- by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun rights voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 100% by FAIR, indicating a voting record restricting immigration. (Dec 2003)
Rated 22% by SANE, indicating a pro-military voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 40% by the AFL-CIO, indicating a mixed record on labor issues. (Dec 2003)
Rated 20% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record. (Dec 2003)

A real peach eh?

OI

An addendum to this prior post:

Why are you crying Durbin! Stop it! and stop f&*^#% apologizing!
And I have to re-edit this because that did not rock! It was embaressing!

Dick Durbin took a lot of heat for standing up for his beliefs. The Christo-fascist Zombies and the 101st Flying Keyboardists were out to fry the honorable man from Illinois. His statement on Friday IMHO is not an apology, nor did it need to be. It is a simple matter of political necessity while still getting in a jab at the flying monkey right.

From Dick Durbin's Web Site

Friday, June 17, 2005

More than 1700 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and our countryÂ’s standing in the world community has been badly damaged by the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. My statement in the Senate was critical of the policies of this Administration which add to the risk our soldiers face.

“I will continue to speak out when I disagree with this Administration.

I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood. I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support.

Save PBS

The folks over at Moveon.org are running a petition to get Congress to stop roasting
Big Bird and guttin Elmo. Give them a hand.

Looking for a Job?

I just had to do this. Given the uncertainties of employment I waltzed over to a website where I know they are hiring:

The have a full assortment of career opportuinites with some interesting requirements like this one:

Job Description:

Must have 10 years with Special Operations, Army SF, Rangers, Delta; Navy Seals or prior experience within the police force (SWAT – 10 years exp. or under cover investigations) Must be able to obtain a Security Clearance. Will be responsible for the supervision of the daily operations of installation security, Force Protection, Coordination and Liaison interaction pertaining to security with the client. Management of Security Technicians at the given location. Access Control, Protection of property and assets as well as Investigations and incident reporting

A full list of jobs and gainful employment can be found by following this link, good luck! Happy Hunting!

I just love this one!

DICK DURBIN JUST F&*&ING ROCKS!!!

Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Lets get behind the Double D man!

From the Washington Post:

What he said:
"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime _ Pol Pot or others _ that had no concern for human beings,"

Our man stands behind his Gitmo assault, and fires back

"This administration should apologize to the American people for abandoning the Geneva Conventions and authorizing torture techniques that put our troops at risk and make Americans less secure,"

This man has BALLS!

It Must Be Scumsuckbagger Day!

Here:

is the response Scumsuckbagger offered as to why he shut down the PATRIOT ACT hearings.

Bastard.

Of course look who was the Sponsor!

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER JR. (R-WI)

AND YES "F" IS HIS REAL FIRST INITIAL. Although it does express my sentiments towards this bastard. The father of the Real ID Bill and most recently is seeking to overturn the 22nd ammendment so that we can have Lord Dim Wit and Cardinal Cardiac in the Oval Office forever.

Lets kick it off with these "accomplishments "

Rated 7% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)

Rated 80% by the US COC, indicating a pro-business voting record. (Dec 2003)

Rated 8% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003)

Rated 30% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)

Rated 76% by the Christian Coalition: a pro-family voting record. (Dec 2003)

I've had this jack booted thug stuck in my craw for a while now. Once I did Duncan (Scroll down for that one) I knew I had to do this SOB.

For the Polcies of this dreg check out Issues2000
Here's a sample

Voted YES on forbidding human cloning for reproduction & medical research. (Feb 2003)
Voted YES on funding for health providers who don't provide abortion info. (Sep 2002)
Voted YES on restricting bankruptcy rules. (Jan 2004)
Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage. (Sep 2004)
Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
Voted NO on maintaining right of habeus corpus in Death Penalty Appeals. (Mar 1996)

From OpenSecret.org

Let's see who Lil' Jimmy is screaming "Thank You sir may I have another from?" Shall we boys and girls?

Top Contributors 2004 Cycle
1 Time Warner $12,500
2 American Medical Assn 10,599
3 MLB Commissioner's Ofc 10,250
4 General Electric 10,000
Mass. Mutual Life Insurance
(4 others tied at 4)
10 National Cable & Telecom Assn 9,999
11 American Bankers Assn 9,917
12 News Corp 8,500
13 Walt Disney Co 7,500
Viacom
15 AT&T 6,500
and coming in tied at 18
Clear Channel Communications 5,500
Sony Corp of America 5,500

Jeez Louise I could go on about this scummer all freaking day. Check the links for the full picture.

Might be the Greatest Liberal Rant of ALL Time!!!

Thank You Bill from Portland:

Over at DailyKOS Bill from Portland has posted a diary that is absolutely what many of us have wanted to say but didn't have the words. Here is a brief sample:

A brief message to the Knuckledragger wing of the Republican party:

You guys are idiots. Total, blazing idiots. In fact, I've never seen such a collection of morons in my life, and that includes the Nixon guys.

When I say idiots and morons, I don't mean walking into walls or sticking your hands into vats of bubbling tomato sauce. I mean, you guys are wrong. And you're wrong so often and on such a massive scale that science should come up with a new term for your species: homo stupidus.

Gods if I wasn't a thirty four year old man, I would want him to have my baby!

KUDOS !

Looking to be the Next Deep Throat?

Tired of shilling for the Right. Want to raise the expectation of your peers. Looking to meet people in the journalism field. Do you like looking for flower pots on hotel balconys?

Then click here:

Ladies and Gentleman Let's Meet Our Pro Lynching Senators!

Couldn't be the only Lefty blog not acknowledging the Shame of the Senate:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN) - (202) 224-4944
Robert Bennett (R-UT) - (202) 224-5444
Thad Cochran (R-MS) - (202) 224-5054
John Cornyn (R-TX) - (202) 224-2934
Michael Crapo (R-ID) - (202) 224-6142
Michael Enzi (R-WY) - (202) 224-3424
Chuck Grassley (R-IA) - (202) 224-3744
Judd Gregg (R-NH) - (202) 224-3324
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) - (202) 224-5251
Kay Hutchison (R-TX) - (202) 224-5922
Jon Kyl (R-AZ) - (202) 224-4521
Trent Lott (R-MS) - (202) 224-6253
Richard Shelby (R-AL) - (202) 224-5744
John Sununu (R-NH) - (202) 224-2841
Craig Thomas (R-WY) - (202) 224-6441

SAVE ELMO!!!!!!!!!

SAVE ELMO!!!

The folks at moveon.org are getting signatures together to help save PBS from the budget axe.
No matter your political stripe you know you love ELMO!

Lets Support 'EM 

Duncan Hunter is a real ass!

From CNN:

Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, defended the Guantanamo facility and flatly rejected suggestions that prisoners are mistreated.

"I think that's accepting a falsehood and giving to the American people that somehow we don't treat prisoners right," said Hunter, a Republican from California.

Hunter cited a menu of food served to prisoners Sunday -- including oven-fried chicken, rice pilaf, fruit and pita bread -- as a sign that they are treated well.

"These are the people who tried to kill us," he said. "It includes the guy -- the 20th hijacker, that was Mr. Qahtani who was caught coming in -- who didn't make it to the planes that drove into New York," Hunter said following an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."

Earlier on the program, Hunter said the "legend" of Guantanamo Bay is "different than the fact" and repeatedly cited the menu.

What an asshole!

All about GITMO Public Relations Rep: Duncan Hunter (CA- R)

From Open Secrets
Top Contributors:
1 Titan Corp
2 Northrop Grumman
3 Orincon Corp
4 General Dynamics
Science Applications International Corp

Not in the pocket of the defense industry eh? Keep readin' oh fearless one

6 Collazo Enterprises
General Atomics
Lockheed Martin

and surprise surprise

12 Carlyle Group

From Issues 2000

Yep another clear thinking man of god, eh?

I'm not sure which god, maybe Baal.

Bob Jones Summer Camp?

Today in the NYT:

In an article concerning the rightwingnuts' Heritage Foundation's internship program we learn all sorts of interesting tidbits like:

Ronald D. Utt, a Heritage senior fellow: the National Park Service is: "the world's largest lawn care and janitorial service."

Edwin J. Feulner, the longtime president at Heritage: That young conservatives are persecuted at place like Harvard and Yale and "had to cultivate [their own] alternative."

Crying for them yet. Yes like the freedmen and women's movement have struggled valiently to be seen and heard in this liberal dominated and creul society.....

Wait I can't, I'm laughing to much while typing this crap.

Here's a laugher: "In the face of derogation, many intelligent young conservatives have simply responded by hiding their beliefs or going with the crowd,"

What should really scare us is the filtering process to be considered for this singular (and paid honor):
Heritage applicants... "answered a 12-item questionnaire designed to ferret out latent liberalism with questions about guns, abortion, welfare and missile defense. (If you agree with the statement that "tax increases are the most appropriate way to balance the budget," this is probably not the internship for you.)

Let's not kid ourselves this program just goes to prove the type of machine we are fighting against. They are orgainized and have the dollars to back them up. Progressives, as pointed out by Ralph G. Neas, the president of People for the American Way, "We're trying to catch up."

Leave ELMO the Fu*& Alone

Jesus Christ! Is anything safe from the thugs:

Picked this up from Raw Story

The good old GOP apparently has a problem with our old friends from Sesame Street. What happened Ernie & Bert were outed and want to get married? Next target, the other muppets. Can't have mixed relationships like Piggy and Kermit going on 'roun here.

Be Afraid!

Over at Rising Hegemon:

Holy Shahuba-dooba!

http://rising-hegemon.blogspot.com/2005/06/rock-swings.html

I wonder if he does Master of Puppets?

Aid for Africa or more of the same?

From Common Dreams
Groups Say UK-US Aid for Africa Falls Woefully Short

From the NYT

U.S. and Britain Agree on Relief for Poor Nations

This sound familiar to anybody?

Todays Washington Post:

Building Iraq's Army: Mission Improbable
Project in North Reveals Deep Divide Between U.S. and Iraqi Forces
By Anthony Shadid and Steve Fainaru
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, June 10, 2005; A01

BAIJI, Iraq -- An hour before dawn, the sky still clouded by a dust storm, the soldiers of the Iraqi army's Charlie Company began their mission with a ballad to ousted president Saddam Hussein. "We have lived in humiliation since you left," one sang in Arabic, out of earshot of his U.S. counterparts. "We had hoped to spend our life with you."

Not surprisingly the US combat soldier does not have a lot of confidence in their erstwhile allies:

"We can't tell these guys about a lot of this stuff, because we're not really sure who's good and who isn't," said Rick McGovern, a tough-talking 37-year-old platoon sergeant from Hershey, Pa., who heads the military training for Charlie Company.

My father, a Vietnam vet chuckels when he hears stuff like the above and usually comments, "Christ, now where have I heard that before. "

Frustrated U.S. soldiers question the Iraqis' courage, discipline and dedication and wonder whether they will ever be able to fight on their own, much less reach the U.S. military's goal of operating independently by the fall.

Overall, the number of Iraqi military and police trained and equipped is more than 169,000, according to the U.S. military, which has also said there are 107 operational military and special police battalions. As of last month, however, U.S. and Iraqi commanders had rated only three battalions capable of operating independently.

So our soldiers not only have to watch for road-side bombs, snipers, and ambushes but we have to babysit the Iraqi security forces as well. This is not progress people this is a quagmire. If the Iraqi forces do not believe in their mission they will NEVER be effective an effective fighting force.

Along dirt roads bisected by sewage canals, the men of Charlie Company crouched, their weapons ready. Before them was their home town, dilapidated and neglected. Cpl. Amir Omar, 19, gazed ahead.
"Look at the homes of the Iraqis," he said, a handkerchief concealing his face. "The people have been destroyed."
By whom? he was asked.
"Them," Omar said, pointing at the U.S. Humvees leading the patrol.

Hence another problem with this whole fiasco. When your allies believe you are part of the problem we are simply arming and future terrorists. In part who can blame the members of C company. We dropped the bombs, promised to rebuild and have sat on our thumbs.

We cannot blame our soldiers for this one. We have placed them in a no win scenario and from what I have been gathering our men and women in uniform are starting to get it. They have been forced to stay undermanned and under equipped for the course of this debacle.

I dont know if cut and run is a viable option at this point. We owe our soldiers a real "Mission Accomplished" and the Iraqi's a stable country.

How before the lid, which has been rumbling from the steam, blow off this pot?

Chewing gum is really gross, chewing gum I hate the most.

Not politics I know but hell its Friday. PLAYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone who knows me could tell you, that only my toys have gotten more expensive.

Willie Wonka 18" Figure

I really have high hopes for Tim Burton's take on Dahl's Chocolate Factory. Check out the teaser trailer. The song will have you singing it all day.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Teaser Trailer

Also of note, I am not one for corporate mascots but I just LOVE the M&M guys. Check this one out as well.

Long live the M-Pire

This is the Kind of Shit That Makes Me Wanna Join the Greens

How long are we Democrats going to cannibalize ourselves? Who needs Republicans pissing on us when we have Joe MBNA and John NottheVP. Jesus I’m surprised Joe Lieberman hasn’t jumped on this train yet. At least Nancy Pelosi came to her senses and gave a much nicer appraisal of Howard Dean’s comments. Even the aforementioned King of Credit Cards and Johnny “Baby Face” Edwards did act more contrite later on.

Why the backtracking/ face saving, well in my humble opinion, their offices’ phones probably rang off the freaking hook! Good work people! Take back the country? We first have to take back our party from these Republicrats. Either people like Biden, Peolsi, Edwards and Dodd get on the bandwagon or they are out of this freakshow.

No more triangulation, no more deals that hurt more than an elephant sized enema (yeah thanks Harry Reid –D NV, really nice deal. We support the bottom of the freaking judicial barrel and what do we get?), and god damn it fellow Democrats lets get to those phones and call these DLC stillborns!

Toll Free- 877-762-8762.

Be polite to the nice switchboard people and when you get on the horn with one of the congressional office workers remember they are poor schleps like us (just doing a job). One final request, give the DNC a call or go to their website http://www.democrats.org and donate!

This party needs a Howard Dean. He’s ornery and not afraid to call a spade a spade.