Republicans, Evangelicals & Sex

I have been saying since the 1980's that the Republicans and the evangelicals "pro-life" stance is about much more than just abortions, it runs deeper than that issue, they have major problems with sex itself. The very act is something they want to limit as much as possible if not nearly eliminate except for breeding purposes. No, I am not joking.

Abortion has always been the "front" on this issue and the sexual behaviour of adults, not just teens, are the real target. That is why they are not interested in sex education because they just want you to just not have sex. Period. I have mentioned this before when talking with people about abortion and most have thought I was a little off base with this hypothesis. Or crazy.

Think this is so crazy now?

"The federal government's "no sex without marriage" message isn't just for kids anymore.

Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007.

The government says the change is a clarification. But critics say it's a clear signal of a more directed policy targeting the sexual behavior of adults.

"They've stepped over the line of common sense," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that supports sex education. "To be preaching abstinence when 90% of people are having sex is in essence to lose touch with reality. It's an ideological campaign. It has nothing to do with public health."

Abstinence education programs, which have focused on preteens and teens, teach that abstaining from sex is the only effective or acceptable method to prevent pregnancy or disease. They give no instruction on birth control or safe sex.

The National Center for Health Statistics says well over 90% of adults ages 20-29 have had sexual intercourse."

Read more here.

Thanks to Will Bunch for the tip.

A Conspiracy Against Air America Radio?

There is no advertiser blackout against Air America Radio.

It's just your imagination.

Go here.

More Bush & Cheney Insanity

"President Bush said terrorists will win if Democrats win and impose their policies on Iraq, as he and Vice President Cheney escalated their rhetoric Monday in an effort to turn out Republican voters in next week's midterm elections."

Read more here.

These are desperate times for Republicans, with good reason, as they turn up the volume on their fear based campaign heading into next weeks election.

Congressional hearings in January are coming.

Can't you hear the gavel pounding already?

Fascist Brownshirts In America Video?

Apparently in Colorado some of right wing Republican Marilyn Musgrave's followers look back with fondness on those brownshirts of 1930's Germany.

Her opponent is Democrat Angie Paccione .

Thanks to Down With Tyranny for the tip.

George Bush - Trying To Scare Voters Again

"Campaigning for Republicans, President Bush said Monday that "terrorists win and America loses" if opponents of his Iraq policy triumph in next week's elections. Undeterred, House Democrats countered with television ads critical of the war in several competitive races."

Read more here.

Do these guys have anything else besides fear?

the GOP "fear not, we will scare you into voting for us" party.

Britain Is Serious About Global Warming, The U.S. Is Not

Despite George Bush's state of denial about global warming other countries are taking it very seriously, Britain for example is taking action here and here as you can read for yourself.

“The evidence shows that ignoring climate change will eventually damage economic growth,” said Stern’s 700-page report.

“Our actions over the coming decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century,” Stern added.

Blair said the report had “done a crucial job. It has demolished the last remaining argument for inaction in the face of climate change.”

But it did not turn skeptics into allies. “The report’s estimates for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are laughably rosy, while the assumptions about the impacts of global warming are ridiculously overblown,” Myron Ebell, who studies global warming for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said in a statement. “The Stern Review may look professionally done, but it doesn't pass the laugh test.”

I don't know about you but I don't take much stock in someone who works for the Competitive Enterpise Institute (advancing liberty-from the economy to ecology!) and the term he used "doesn't pass the laugh test" is quite appropriate for describing his group and it's stance on global warming.

There is no evidence you can present that would make them ever admit global warming is happening.

Probable Committe Chairs When The Democrats Take The House

"A House Democratic majority -- should it happen in the Nov. 7 midterm elections -- would install a new lineup of veteran lawmakers to influential posts. The final say on committee chairs would be decided when the House convenes in January, but a few of the more prominent chairs probably will go to:

Ways and Means: Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who has represented Harlem for 36 years, would head the committee where all tax bills originate. Rangel has been a consistent opponent of President Bush's tax cuts and can be expected to push Democratic proposals for tax cuts narrowly aimed at the poor and middle class. Rangel has worked with Republicans on trade issues but is expected to push for stronger protections for American workers.

Judiciary: John Conyers, D-Mich., has represented the Detroit area for 42 years. He is the second-longest serving member of the House and one if its most liberal. Conyers was a member of the Judiciary Committee when it voted articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon in 1974. Last December, Conyers introduced a resolution calling on the House to form a committee to investigate the Bush administration's war policies "and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment.'' He has been a consistent critic of the Patriot Act, and the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance and military tribunal policies.

Government Reform: Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, has represented portions of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood for 32 years, and is expected to become the Democrats' chief congressional investigator. As chair of the panel's Health and Environment subcommittee prior to the Republican takeover in 1994, Waxman held high-profile hearings on AIDS, Medicaid benefits and drinking water. It was during a 1994 Waxman investigation into tobacco companies during which executives famously testified that nicotine was not addictive and they did not market to children. Waxman has expressed interest in investigating Iraq reconstruction, including Halliburton's no-bid contracts, the response to Hurricane Katrina and homeland security spending should he become chair.

Energy and Commerce: John Dingell, D-Mich., is the longest-serving member of the House, arriving in 1955, when Nancy Pelosi was still a teenager. Dingell has led tenacious inquiries into energy and communications monopolies as well as the Department of Energy labs run by the University of California, and is expected to launch oversight hearings into the Federal Communications Commission if he becomes chair. Representing the Detroit area, Dingell has opposed raising fuel efficiency standards and helped Republicans thwart gun control legislation, which puts him at odds with a number of Democratic colleagues.

Financial Services: Barney Frank, D-Mass., has represented the Boston suburbs for 26 years and is widely regarded as possessing one of the sharpest minds, and tongues, in Congress. That he is often featured in Republican campaign attacks probably has more to do with his homosexuality and his liberal voting record than any particular financial service issues. As chair of the committee that oversees banking, Frank is expected to work to expand the availability of loans to the middle class and the pool of available housing. "

Read more here.

The men pictured above are the Republicans worst nightmare come to life, especially when they start holding hearings in January.

I don't know about you but that makes me very, very happy.

George Bush - Stay The Course Video

Keith Olbermann once again exposes the lies of the Bush regime by exposing press secretary Tony Snow's comment that Bush only said "stay the course" eight times.

Former Bush Official Weeps While Asking For Leniency From Judge

"Former Bush administration official David Safavian wept as he asked for leniency in his obstruction of justice case Friday, telling a judge that his lobbyist friend Jack Abramoff manipulated him and drew him into the scandal.

Safavian, who was convicted in June of lying to investigators about his relationship with the lobbyist while Safavian was chief of staff in the General Services Administration. He helped provided Abramoff with details about GSA projects and offered advice on dealing with the agency.

At sentencing Friday, Safavian apologized for giving the appearance of impropriety but said it was not fraudulent.

"Yes, Jack Abramoff was a friend but he wasn't my coconspirator and I wasn't his," Safavian said. "There was no conspiracy to defraud anyone, least of all the taxpayers."

Read the rest here.

It is interesting that not one of these Republicans charged so far in these Abramoff scandals has admitted to doing anything wrong.

It really is a strange thing, it's almost as if they really think becuase they are Republicans and are right about everything, then they can't possibly have done anything criminal.

There is almost some kind of character flaw in them.....I wonder what it could possibly be?

Talking Points Memo Gets It About Social Security Privatization And So Should You

The Democrats are missing a big weapon in this election season by not focusing on the Social Security ambitions of the President and the Republicans, namely they want to try and "save" the program in January 2007 by privatizing it.

Josh Marshall gets it though.

You may ask yourself how I know this and the answer is because I can read.

Interview with John Boehner (R-OH) in July:

Q: Where does Social Security reform stand?

A: I just met with Congressman [Frank R. Wolf, Virginia Republican], a few minutes ago with his SAFE Commission [formed to fix the entitlement programs]. In 1990 when I first ran for Congress, I talked about the need to reform these big entitlement programs because the sooner we began the process, the easier it would be to make the necessary changes so that these programs were sustainable for the long term. … If I’m around in a leadership role come January, we’re going to get serious about this.

President Bush, 6/27/06:

Now is the time for the Congress and the President to work together to reform Medicare and reform Social Security so we can leave behind a solvent balance sheet for our next generation of Americans. … If we can’t get it done this year, I’m going to try next year. And if we can’t get it done next year, I’m going to try the year after that, because it is the right thing to do.

White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, 6/17/06:

Looking ahead to next year, he is trying to lay the groundwork for a renewed effort to reform Social Security and Medicare, the federal health-care program for seniors. He suggests Mr. Bush and his aides may have learned from their failed attempt to push through Social Security reform in 2005.

Read more here.

Now I don't know about you but there is very little doubt in my mind what they want to do and have fantasized about doing since it's inception and that is to get rid of Social Security and Medicare.

Republicans despise social safety net programs.

Joe Lieberman's Nixonian Deception About Iraq

With this brilliant video you can see how parallels between Vietnam and Iraq are quite obvious in many ways.

I would imagine Joe Lieberman doesn't like being compared to Richard Nixon but that is an easy thing to change..........stop supporting this horrible disaster of a war that you have pushed from the start and have criticized Democrats who don't support it or George Bush.

Thanks to Down With Tyranny for the video tip.

Debra Saunders Of The San Francisco Chronicle - A Pro-War Type

Never let it be said that columnist Debra Saunders isn't gung ho for war becuase that would be a mistake as you would know if you read her latest writing about Iraq titled "Iraqis More Upbeat Than Californians".

"The Washington Post reported that the PIPA poll found that "71 percent of Iraqis questioned want the Iraqi government to ask foreign forces to depart within a year." Well, actually, make that two years. The PIPA poll found that 35 percent of Iraqis answered that they want their government to ask U.S.-led forces to withdraw within six months, 35 percent want their government to ask for a gradual withdrawal over two years and 29 percent want U.S. troops to be "reduced "as the security situation improves in Iraq." You could say that 64 percent of Iraqis want U.S.-led forces to stay for two years or more.

Other interesting tidbits from the PIPA poll: 64 percent of Iraqis think their country is headed in the right direction. Compare that to a recent poll that found that 44 percent of Californians say the state is headed in the right direction and 46 percent say it is headed in the wrong direction.

The PIPA poll asked, "Thinking about any hardships you might have suffered since the U.S.-Britain invasion, do you personally think ousting Saddam Hussein was worth it or not?" The answer for 77 percent: yes, it was worth it."

Debra sure is right about those interesting tidbits from the poll here are some she didn't mention.

"Asked whether “the US government plans to have permanent military bases in Iraq or to remove all its military forces once Iraq is stabilized,” 80% overall assume that the US plans to remain permanently"

"Naturally the question arises why it is that only 35% want US troops to withdraw within 6 months, but 47% approve of attacks on US-led forces."

But you have no need to fear, Debra has never wavered in her support for this war based on lies and she isn't about to stop now.

WMD...we never said this war was about WMD.

October Surprise Or Just An Insane War Provocation With Iran?

"There is a massive concentration of US naval power in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. Two US naval strike groups are deployed: USS Enterprise, and USS Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group. The naval strike groups have been assigned to fighting the "global war on terrorism."

cut.

"Concurrent with ths concentration of US Naval power, the US is also involved in military exercises in the Persian Gulf, which consists in "interdicting ships in the Gulf carrying weapons of mass destruction and missiles"

The exercise is taking place as the United States and other major powers are considering sanctions including possible interdiction of ships on North Korea, following a reported nuclear test, and on Iran, which has defied a U.N. Security Council mandate to stop enriching uranium.

The exercise, set for Oct. 31, is the 25th to be organized under the U.S.-led 66-member Proliferation Security Initiative and the first to be based in the Gulf near Bahrain, across from Iran, the officials said."

A senior U.S. official insisted the exercise is not aimed specifically at Iran, although it reinforces a U.S. strategy aimed at strengthening America’s ties with states in the Gulf, where Tehran and Washington are competing for influence."

Read more here.

You know when I park a tank out in front of your house I am just doing an "exercise", I am not trying to intimidate you. It is just a coincidence that I am in front of your house. No need to be alarmed.

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the tip.

Richard Pombo - Too Close To Jack Abramoff

Richard Pombo or Jerry McNerney for Congress?

It's a no brainer.

Video The Vote 2006

Want to protect the vote this November 7th and have a video camera? Then you need to join Video The Vote and help document any problems this year.

See that wasn't hard.

I have this strange feeling it might be needed in Ohio.

You Buckeye's better be on guard.

All I Can Say Is.....No Shit, I Had No Idea!

"Using the report's criteria, Cuba is the only country in the world that has a high level of development, including good health and education systems, and does not use up more resources than is sustainable."

Cut.

"On current projections, humanity will be using two planets' worth of natural resources by 2050 — if those resources have not run out by then," the latest report said. "People are turning resources into waste faster than nature can turn waste back into resources."

"Humanity is living off its ecological credit card," Mathis Wackernagel, head of the Global Footprint Network, said in a statement. "While this can be done for a short while, overshoot ultimately leads to liquidation of the planet's ecological assets, and the depletion of resources, such as the forests, oceans and agricultural land upon which our economy depends."

Read the rest here.

I wonder how much people are really going to be able to sacrifice in the consumer driven, "advanced" countries.

The answer is....not much.

Especially when it's not in the economic interests of those that own the country or the rich as they are called.

Democratic National Comittee's Stay The Course Ad

Don't forget kids, Bush never said "stay the course",it's just in your imagination!

Great ad by the DNC.

But then with these liars in office it shouldn't be hard to find good material to use.

OPEC To Keep Oil Prices Low To Discourage Alternative Fuel Use

In the latest in the not surprising news category:

"OPEC announced late last week that they were planning on cutting oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day to keep costs of crude at about $60 per barrel. This cut, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, is designed to raise the cost of gasoline while keeping it low enough to be more attractive than alternative fuel prices.

"It's unfortunate that OPEC feels they can control the vision of this country and the destiny relative to alternative fuels," exclaimed Curtis Donaldson, Chairman of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.

OPEC expects to keep the price of gasoline at about $2.25 per gallon. The price is high enough for OPEC to invest in future production capacity but low enough to allow economic growth and deter a flood of alternative fuels."

Read the rest of the story here.

Classic 80's - Artists United Against Apartheid Sun City Video

Little Steve Van Zandt as he was known then wrote the song and produced the record Sun City with Arthur Baker (remember him?). I always thought the song was great and was the perfect antidote to the fuzzy and feel goodness of We Are The World even though it was for a good cause. This song, on the other hand, was right in your face.
Publish
The record featured a diverse and broad group of vocalists including Peter Wolf, Kurtis Blow, Duke Bootee, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendrick, Joey Ramone, Jimmy Cliff, Daryl Hall, Lou Reed, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Nona Hendryx, Kashif, Big Youth, Peter Garrett, Malopoets, Sonny Okosuns, Gil Scott-Heron, Afrika Bambaataa, Ruben Blades, Bono, George Clinton, Peter Gabriel, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Bonnie Raitt, Run DMC, Bruce Springsteen, John Oates, Michael Monroe, Darlene Love.

It would be great if someone would do a similiar single and video about the illegal Iraq war they could call it Artists United Against Iraq Insanity.

I guess that would be considered too "militant" now.

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain Live Video

Not a great quality video but musically it is fantastic. What a guitar solo by Michael Hampton.

George Bush Lies To The Public Once Again About Iraq

George Bush claims - "It's Never Been Stay The Course" and all I can say is who does he think he is fucking kidding? Does he not know that a thing called videotape exists? Or is it that he doesn't care?

He is a corrupt liar and his party, the Republicans, are a corrupt party promoting a nasty, extremist ideology.

Vote November 7th.

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the video tip.

Michael J. Fox Political Ad

Michael J. Fox makes a political ad for Claire McCaskill, who is running for the Senate in Missouri, about stem cells research because he obviously has a stake in this and her opponent opposes it.

Parkinson's is a horrible disease as you can see.

I have had a major health problem myself, although quite different from what Fox has, but it makes you appreciate what good fortune it is to have good health and be able to do the basic things that most people take for granted.

Thanks to This Modern World for the tip.

John McCain's Fantasy World

You really have to see this clip of John McCain being interviewed by Chris Matthews in front of a large college audience at Iowa State university. Matthews did something that isn't done very often, he asked the audience made up mainly of students who supported the Iraq war and a decent amount stood up and then he asked how many were going to join the armed forces and almost all of them sat down.

If you watch the whole thing you will see how out of touch he really is.

It's priceless.

Thanks to Crooks and Liars yet again.

Gary Brooker Of Procol Harum - Conquistador Live Video

Yes, that is Peter Frampton on guitar.

"Conquistador your stallion stands
in need of company
and like some angel's haloed brow
you reek of purity
I see your armour-plated breast
has long since lost its sheen
and in your death mask face
there are no signs which can be seen"

Dedicated to Neo-Cons everywhere.

Bill O'Reilly - I’d Go In With A Hand Grenade

Bill "sexual harasser" O'Reilly is once again threatening people, only this time he isn't going to call in the Fox News brown shirts to get you (if your a leftwing blogger that is)..... no our "loofah" Bill is going to do it himself, with a hand grenade.

How this guy is taken seriously by anyone is truly amazing.

But I guess we live in strange times and Bill actually having a career saying the crazy things he does is proof of it.

I am so shaken by Bill's threat that my hands are trembling as I write this, for fear he may come after me.

Be afraid the big bad loofah is coming to get you!

Just in time for Halloween.

Habeus Corpus Killed By King George Bush

Yesterday George Bush signed into law The military tribunals bill which marks the first time the right of habeas corpus has been curtailed by law for millions of people in the United States.

I will let someone more eloquent than me tell you about it.

Go to Crooks and Liars to see Keith Olberman comment on this desecration of our rights as citizens of this country.

The Republican Noise Machine White House Photo Op

Last month George Bush called in some right wing radio hosts to have a chat at the White House to shore up their support and get the ground troops (dupes) in line for the upcoming election. Here is a picture of the event with a murderers row of right wing fantatics who make their living lying to their listeners on a daily basis. From left to right is Mike Gallagher, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Michael Medved.

We have proof that the meeting was effective in getting the right wing microphone swallowers riled up, in Sean Hannity's case at least.

The fear among the right is at anxiety inducing levels at this point as you can see from this statement by the nutcase Michael Savage. Try not to laugh too hard as you read what Savage said.

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the photo tip and for the Hannity clip.

Holy Joe Lieberman Lies About Social Security

Joe: "I have not supported the Bush administration's social security privatization plan. The record shows I have been against it during the entire Bush administration...I'm never going to do damage to SS...I concluded it was a terrible idea in the 1990s. Ever since then throughout the Bush administration I've been against it."

Fact: In 1996, Lieberman voted for Social Security privatization. In 1998, Lieberman said privatization "has to happen." In 2000, the New York Times reported that "Lieberman has suggested that he could support allowing workers to invest a portion of their payroll taxes in the private markets. That is Mr. Bush's position." In 2005, Lieberman told the Hartford Courant it is "great" that President Bush was pushing privatization. In March 2005, NY Times columnist Paul Krugman noted that Lieberman "gave the administration cover by endorsing its fake numbers" pushing privatization.

Thanks to David Sirota for this great piece of information. There's more of Joe lying (surprise!) here.

I don't understand why the Democrats are not talking about Social Security in this election. With a little research you will find out that Bush wants to try and privatize Social Security yet again starting in January 2007. The Republican's are practically drooling with anticipation of getting rid of one of the "entitlement" programs they despise so much.

Remember the reaction after the 2004 election when Bush came out talking about privatizing and people went nuts over it? Many of them voted for him, stupidly not knowing that this is one of his pet projects to destroy the program. You want to get the baby boomers and those already retired to go to the polls make a good 60 second spot with quotes of Bush and other Republicans talking about how they want to privatize in 2007. It would be just another log on the fire that is already burning across the country against the GOP.

You will see a turnout.

guaranteed.

Right Wing Fanatics Don't Like The Lancet Study Of 600,00 Iraqi Civilian Deaths

Okay. So, it's the same guys ... and looks to me like they used the same flawed methodology. How much did they allow for hear-say in the households involved, how many households reported deaths for each other thus doing double and triple tallies, and did the researchers extrapolate beyond places like Fallujah and Ramadi? What's the matter with physically counting graves, anyway?

The other question I'd just love to have somebody ask is: "How many Iraqi's have died to deliberately write bloody headlines for the New York Times ...?"

Hat tip to Crooks and Liars for the link to the blog Once Upon A Time for documenting this insanity and the completely right on the money response to it which I recommend you read.

I have just started to watch on dvd the first season of the HBO series Rome and it seems as if some of our fellow "citizens" would feel much more at home in that place and time. Brutality and lack of compassion were "virtues" then.

There are some really, really sick people out there who are so fanatical in their ideology that it truly is hard to fathom what the world must look like to them.

They simply have no heart or soul of any kind and in my opinion are barely human. The person who wrote what is quoted above is one of them.

Strange Idea Of "Nonpartisan" By Mark Sandalow Of The San Francisco Chronicle

"They'll be thrown together in kind of a shotgun marriage where they will have to cooperate on a number of things,'' said Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the nonpartisan American Enterprise Institute. "And they are probably not going to get through this campaign and be in a mood to be warm and compromising.''

Pelosi will need Bush's acquiescence to get any bill passed by the Democratic House (and the Senate) signed into law. And because the speaker controls the House agenda, Bush will need Pelosi's cooperation to have any of his initiatives even considered on the House floor.

"If Democrats are in control of the House, the president will have to listen,'' Pelosi said. "The only way to deal with him is as a co-equal branch of government.''

I got this excerpt from an article about Nancy Pelosi and George Bush and the kind of relationship they will have if she becomes speaker of the house, which for the future of the country, I hope happens.

But the part highlighted above caught my eye when the reporter of this story named Mark Sandalow claimed that the analyst Norm Ornstein, who is from the American Enterprise Institute, is "nonpartisan". The reason I found that interesting is when you look up the institute on Yahoo it says this:

"Conservative think tank dedicated to preserving and strengthening the foundations of freedom."

I guess conservative is the new nonpartisan now.

As anyone who has watched one of the members of AEI talk about policy on tv could tell you they are not "nonpartisan" and it is completely dishonest to say so.

People For The American Way have a nice little breakdown of the American Enterprise Insitute for you to check out:

Principal Issues

* American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is a think tank for conservatives,
neoconservatives, and conservative libertarians.
* Areas of interest include: America’s “culture war,” domestic policy and federal
spending, education reform, neoconservatism, affirmative action, and welfare
reform.
* President George W. Bush has appointed over a dozen people from AEI to senior
positions in his administration. AEI claims that this is more than any other
research institution.

Does this sound like a "nonpartisan" group to you?

I really get tired of this shit and it happens all the time.

Stop lying to your readers Mark Sandalow. All you had to do was put the word conservative in the sentence instead of nonpartisan.

See how easy it is to tell the truth?

Just one little word.

Oliver Stone To Direct Film About Osama bin Laden, The CIA & Afghanistan

"The film will be based in part on "Jawbreaker," a recent book chronicling the U.S.-led assault on the al Qaeda stronghold in Afghanistan's Tora Bora region and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, a spokeswoman for Paramount, which will make the film with Stone, told Reuters."

Cut.

"The book was written by Gary Bernstein, a CIA officer who led the so-called "Jawbreaker" paramilitary unit that helped topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Among his more controversial assertions is that bin Laden was present at Tora Bora during the U.S.-led assault on the region in 2001 but managed to slip away.

His account contradicted public statements by President George W. Bush and retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks, former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, that U.S. officials were never certain bin Laden was at Tora Bora."

Read about it here.

Gee do you think Oliver Stone will create any controversy with this one?

I am a fan of Oliver's films although I don't think he has ever made a better one than Salvador with a brilliant performance by James Woods and Jim Belushi, plus Platoon and Born On The Fourth Of July are both very good as well and I don't think Tom Cruise will ever give a better peformance than he gave in Born. I thought parts of JFK were brilliant and then parts were just not very good at all.

I think this will be some material that Stone can really sink his teeth into.

John Stauber Video Interview

John Stauber the co-author of The Best War Ever: Lies, Damned Lies, and the Mess in Iraq was interviewed about his book.

For most people who know what is going on it will be nothing new but it is still an excellent interview packed with good information.

Obviously the propaganda worked so well that Stauber talks about the fact that 50% of the population still believe Saddam had WMD's.

I guess cognitive dissonance isn't a fun thing for people to go through and so they don't look at truths that could disturb them.

Truly mind boggling.

Universal Healthcare In California

I just read this article that was in yesterdays paper. On the surface it seems great, here is the CEO of Blueshield named Bruce Bodaken talking about universal healthcare in California, except he talks in really vague terms and of course he leaves out some really, really important information. Such as universal healthcare that is a single payer system.

"As a longtime advocate of universal health coverage, I see reason for hope in the current political environment. Leaders of both parties and many important interests agree that the current system is failing. No matter who wins on election day, virtually everyone acknowledges the need for serious reform to control rapidly rising costs and extend coverage to the more than 6.5 million Californians who have no health insurance. If negotiators all come to the table ready to find a compromise, we could be looking at a dramatic breakthrough."

Cut.

"--There's no monopoly on wisdom: Consuming 16 percent of our economy, our health care system is huge, complex and vital to every American. People who want to reform the system must recognize that compromises are necessary to create a political consensus that can produce substantial change.

-- There's no free lunch: Health care costs money. Providing it to more people will cost more money. The idea that we can make significant gains without anyone having to contribute more to the system is attractive, but doesn't square with reality. Achieving universal coverage will require universal responsibility, with business, individuals and the government all contributing to the solution. It will also require health plans, providers, technology manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies to provide better value."

Read the whole story here.

What he means by "compromises" is that the system essentially must stay the same and that private companies must make huge amounts of money on your healthcare no matter what and the very thing that will save us the most money the quickest and easiest would cause his company not to exist anymore. Not surprisingly, that is one of the "compromises" he is not willing to make and probably is not interested in having you know that at least 25% of healthcare costs are administrative and tied to doctors and support staff dealing with all the different insurance companies in order to get all the proper forms filled out and get paid.

You can read some good information here about what I am talking about.

Below is an example.

* Number of bankruptcies in the US in 2001: 1,458,000

* Percent of these bankruptcies for which illness was a significant cause: 50 [7]

* Percent increase in bankruptcies between 1981 and 2001: 360

* Percent increase in medical bankruptcies between 1981 and 2001: 2,200

* Percent of medical bankruptcies in which the sick person was insured when they fell ill: 75.7

* Percent of these bankruptcies that happen to the middle class: 90

* Percent of terminally ill patients reporting that medical costs caused financial problems: 39

* Rank of “lapse in health insurance coverage during the two years” as a predictor of medical bankruptcy: 1

* Rank of US in fairness of financial contribution to health care: 55

* Rank of Iraq: 56


This idea that there is no "free lunch" is absurd and he knows it, we already pay the most per capita in the world for healthcare and our outcomes (life expectancy, infant mortality rate) are, shall we say, not very good for the money as you can see for yourself if you go here and have a look.

In fact our healthcare "system", which isn't a system at all, is an embarrassment to any sane person.

Or should be.

Here is an interesting Pew survey of healthcare. Scroll down.

What is interesting is that people are willing to pay more in taxes for everyone to have universal healthcare.

Just keep this in mind when they tell you people don't want to pay for universal healthcare. Quite simply they are lying. The vast, vast majority of people want universal healthcare but the large companies that make billions of profits from the current system don't want it.

Leonard Cohen - Tower Of Song Live Video

A great performance of a favorite Leonard Cohen song on a late 80's music program that was called Night Music. It was a good show, but short lived, naturally. That is David Sanborn on sax.

I remember seeing this when it originally aired.

Paul Westerberg - It's A Wonderful Lie Live Video

Another great song from a great songwriter.

Bush Keeps Revising Iraq War Justification

"We can't tolerate a new terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East, with large oil reserves that could be used to fund its radical ambitions, or used to inflict economic damage on the West," Bush said in a news conference last week in the Rose Garden.

When no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, Bush shifted his war justification to one of liberating Iraqis from a brutal ruler.

After Saddam's capture in December 2003, the rationale became helping to spread democracy through the Middle East. Then it was confronting terrorists in Iraq "so we do not have to face them here at home," and "making America safer," themes Bush pounds today.

"We're in the ideological struggle of the 21st century," he told a California audience this month. "It's a struggle between good and evil."

Vice President Dick Cheney takes it even further: "The hopes of the civilized world ride with us," Cheney tells audiences."

Read the rest here.

I have only one thing to say about this.

Thanks big media I had no idea to you brought this up.

Keith Olbermann Nails The Fox News Liars Again

Keith exposes the usual right wing dishonest charlatans that everyone knows so well by now... Hannity, O'Reilly, Ingraham, Bozell and some guy named Zelnick, doing what they do best...lying to their viewers.

Fox News is news for people who don't really want to know what is going on in the world and enjoy being rubes and dupes.

Hat tip to Crooks and Liars.

Warren Zevon - Mr. Bad Example Live Video

Warren performing Mr. Bad Example on the David Letterman show. Another classic wry, witty tune by Mr. Zevon, one of my favorite songwriters.

We have our own Mr. Bad Example in office right now, but unlike the character in the song, he has no self awareness.

Talking To A Bush Political Ad

This is a great 30 second ad that kind of says it all in really simple and effective way. I doubt if Bush, Cheney or Rove will like it but that is a good thing.

Hat tip to Crooks and Liars one of my favorite sites.

Robert Rodríguez & Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse Movie Trailer

Way over the top ultra violent movie trailer for the upcoming film. I like how they make the film scratched, the color and audio is off a bit, to make it look like a b-movie.

Study Suggests Over 650,000 Iraqi Civilian Deaths

No need to worry about this inconvienent fact, the war was started by a "pro-life" administration who have "family values" and want to spread "freedom" and "democracy".

Just don't mention the WMD they said was the real reason for the invasion.

I am curious who still supports this war of choice.

U.S. Population Passes 300 Million Mark And There Are Too Many People On The Planet

"America is the only industrialized nation in the world experiencing significant population growth," Victoria Markham, the director of the Centre for Environment and Population (CEP), says in a new report. "The nation's relatively high rates of population growth, natural resource consumption and pollution combine to create the largest environmental impact, felt both within the nation and around the world." She adds: " The US has become a 'super-size' nation, with lifestyles reflected in super-sized appetites for food, houses, land and resource consumption. 'More of more' seems to characterize modern-day America - more people than any generation before us experienced, more natural resources being utilized to support everyday life and more major impacts on the natural systems that support life on earth."

Some commentators believe this growth has a modest impact on the nation's resources and can bring many benefits. Greg Easterbrook, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based, independent research and policy institute, recently wrote: "What should not worry us about continuing US population growth ... is the question of whether we can handle it - we can," he said.

Lester Brown, the director of the Earth Policy Institute, an environmental group also based in Washington, said: "In times past, reaching such a demographic milestone might have been a cause for celebration - in 2006 it is not. Population growth is the ever-expanding denominator that gives each person a shrinking share of the resource pie. It contributes to water shortages, cropland conversion to non-farm uses, traffic congestion, more garbage, overfishing, crowding in national parks, a growing dependence on imported oil and other conditions that diminish the quality of our daily lives."

Read more here.

I would think that most people who have a reasonable amount of intelligence know that over population of the planet is not a good thing, but hey, you never know. Then again, some don't get it at all and think it is all a "myth" of some kind. Yeah, the evidence is overwhelming that it is a "myth".

6.4 billion, no problem, bring em on!

More Bush Chicanery

Did you know the federal defecit is down? That would be good news except for this part:

"The 2006 deficit was far lower than the $423 billion figure the administration had projected last February and also represented an improvement from a July revised estimate of $295.8 billion."

I mean it sounds like good news except for one small fact. The Bush administration has been over estimating how large the defecit will be for years so that they can come back later and say "see our economic policies have been working, the defecit is going down, keep those tax cuts to the rich coming" but they never mention that they started with a surplus and that those very tax cuts to the rich started the defecit in the first place.

Paul Krugman has been writing about this for the last couple of years.

James Inhofe, Republican Of Oklahoma - Denial Of Reality Nutcase Poster Child Of The Far Right

"Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., has argued repeatedly that the idea that humans are warming the climate is a hoax. In a speech on the Senate floor last month, he declared that the "greatest climate threat we face may be coming from alarmist computer models."

"We're going through a warming period. No one's denying that," Inhofe said on CNN last week. "The question is, is it due to man-made gases? And it's not."

Cut.

In the Senate, since 1994, he's been a staunch conservative who fought for a missile defense system, wrote a bill to make English the national language, and called the Environmental Protection Agency a "Gestapo bureaucracy." He opposes abortion and gay rights, and he gave a floor speech in June backing a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in which he showed a photo of his 20 children and grandchildren and boasted that "in the recorded history of our family, we've never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship."

Read more here.

Just curious, but who would vote for this guy?

How divorced from reality and life and filled with fear would you have to be?

I Hate Republicans Song & Video

Now, more than ever.

Here you go.

Golly, Could This Be Bush's October Surprise?

"I hope I am wrong about all this, but the sailing of the Eisenhower, which had been pushed forward recently by about a month by the Pentagon for clearly political reasons, makes me think I'm right. A key will be what happens with the Enterprise carrier strike force, which has already been on station in the Arabian Sea for six months, where it has been launching air strikes against Afghanistan and Iraq targets. Ordinarily, such deployments last six months and then the carrier group returns to base for resupply and for R&R for the crew. If the Enterprise is held over for a longer deployment, after the arrival of the Eisenhower, we will know that something serious is planned."

Read the rest of the story here.

I have this horrible, sick feeling in my stomach.

Doesn't it seem like the whole country is filled with zombies walking towards their doom?

"The horror, the horror"

David Sirota Unmasks Thomas Friedman For What He Is Yet Again

"Today, your column starts out by invoking your Judaism, which is disgusting unto itself – please, I beg you, stop invoking a religion based on social justice to package your propaganda that trumpets the evisceration of the social safety net and the economic persecution of American and foreign workers.

You quickly move on to say "I've always believed in free trade, accompanied by better pension and health care safety nets." Of course, you offer us no explanation for what you mean, but then, that's likely the point: there is no explanation, because as economists on both sides of the ideological spectrum agree, the kind of free trade that you "have always believed in" forces American workers to compete with slave labor, and thus has accelerated the slashing of workers pensions and health care benefits, even as corporate profits and worker productivity skyrocket. Perhaps we are to read from your line that you believe in all of that, but that you believe the solution is just to have everyone's jobs be outsourced, and incomes be replaced with welfare. We, the readers, can't be sure.

Then you go on to say "I'm not a free trader anymore. I'm now a radical free trader." Why? Not because of hard data on stagnating wages, increased poverty, higher economic inequality - no, using that to make conclusions wouldn't be the Friedman way. No, you are a "radical free trader" now (as if you weren't before) because on a few of your junkets, you picked up a few interesting anecdotes that help you keep shilling for Big Money interests. At one point, you cheer on how your CEO buddies are really excited to outsource more American jobs. At another point, you provide us an anecdote of a businessman in Nebraska, and write breathlessly: "Midwest Indians publishing Arabic brochures for Nebraskans importing from Koreans for customers in Kuwait." Oh, how Friedmanesque. Like your colleague Paul Krugman today, you could have just as easily written about Wal-Mart's Arkansas white corporate executives exploiting Chinese slave labor to sell dry goods to now-unemployed people in Toledo. But no, only the little people think about that."

Read the rest of it here.

Thomas Friedman is as nutty as any of the extremists currently occupying the White House, except that Friedman's religion is "free trade" and the mythical "free market", and when it comes to his religion he is a fundamentalist fanatic also.

Bob Woodward - It's A Metaphor For What's Going On Video

I agree with you Bob, except that this has been going on from the start of these extremists getting in power in 2001.

It's not something new.

Nice to know you and some of the other inside the beltway big media types are finally getting it after 6 long years.

Jon Stewart Comments On How Bad Things Are

"Those people wearing "Stewart/Colbert '08" T-shirts can stop hoping — Comedy Central's fake news stars have no intention of making a run for the White House.

Jon Stewart said the T-shirts promoting him and Stephen Colbert "are a real sign of how sad people are" with the state of affairs in the country.

"Nothing says 'I am ashamed of you my government' more than 'Stewart/Colbert '08,' Stewart told an audience Sunday at the New Yorker Festival. He was interviewed by the magazine's editor, David Remnick.

Stewart, who recently hosted Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on "The Daily Show," said he's been trying to get top Bush administration officials to appear. "We have requests in there to everyone including Barney," Stewart said. "Only Barney replies." Barney is the president's Scottish terrier.

Stewart scoffed at suggestions that some people actually get their news from "The Daily Show."

"There's no way you could get the news from us," he said. "I've seen the show. It couldn't happen."

I couldn't agree more with Jon and that's why there is a picture of him drinking straight from the bottle, because these radical extremists in office will drive you to it. Things are bad in this country, but for a very real reason, the Republican party is corrupt.

But that is old news unless you have been living under a rock.

Is James Carville Just Another Phony Inside The Beltway DLC Democrat?

"On page 344, Woodward describes the doings at the White House in the early morning hours of Wednesday, the day after the '04 election. Apparently, Kerry had decided not to concede. There were 250,000 outstanding ballots in Ohio. So Kerry decides to fight. In fact, he considers going to Ohio to camp out with his voters until there is a recount. This is the last thing the White House needs, especially after Florida 2000. So what happened? James Carville gets on the phone with his wife, Mary Matalin, who is at the White House with Bush."

You can read the rest of it here.

All I can say is that if this is true then James Carville can go fuck himself.

Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys

A couple of days ago I bought the new Hal Willner produced recording Rogue's Gallery, featuring an eclectic mix of musicians both famous and not so famous singing just what the title suggests, over 40 different pirate ballads, sea songs and chanteys.

As you can imagine songs about cruel ship captains, men being lost at sea and in war never to come home again makes me think of our current affairs and the rogues who are in power at the moment.

That is why there is a picture of Bush, Cheney, Rove and Rice above and not a picture of the record cover.

Simple ain't it.

The record is great, by the way, although not for the faint of heart.

According To Fox News Mark Foley Is Now A Democrat!

Apparently this was shown 3 times on the Bill O'Reilly show. Now, this is not a mistake or an accident to any sane or normally functioning human being. It must be meant for the absolutely imbecile rubes and dupes who are the "base" of the Republican party and think Fox is "fair and balanced" too. There really can't be any other explanation. I guess they really think people are dumb enough to believe it, otherwise why try?

Fox News=No propaganda too blatant.

Unfucking believable.

Why Would Top Republicans Have A Zen-Like Calm?

"The polls keep suggesting that Republicans could be in for a historic drubbing. And their usual advantage--competence on national security--is constantly being challenged by new revelations about bungling in Iraq. But top Republican officials maintain an eerie, Zen-like calm. They insist that the prospects for their congressional candidates in November's midterms have never been as bad as advertised and are getting better by the day. Those are party operatives and political savants whose job it is to anticipate trouble. But much of the time they seem so placid, you wonder whether they know something."


Read more here.

According to the article quoted above Republicans aren't worried about the coming election in November because they have more money to spend and are better organized than Democrats and because of redistricting also. However, I have a different hypothesis for their supposed confidence as I am sure othe people would have as well.

They are going to steal the election and so that is why there is a Diebold electronic voting machine pictured above.

I would actually call it a vote stealing machine myself.

Simple ain't it.

Have You Had Enought Of Dirty Dick Pombo Video?

The song is sung by Rickie Lee Jones, Tom Maxwell and Ken Mosher formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Enjoy the video and kick the Republican crooks out by voting on November 7th.

Predatorgate & Coverupgate

Does anyone doubt that the Republican party is all about power and never, ever about doing the right thing? It is now very obvious that Denny Hastert is a complete liar and knew for about a year that Mark Foley was a sexual predator, and that he and others high up in the party did absolutely nothing about it.

It would be ironic that a sex scandal and the coverup of the scandal, and not the war in Iraq, tax cuts to the rich and the biggest defecit in the history, plus all the other criminal acts would help bring down the house Republicans.

Read more good coverage over at Talking Points Memo.

Quick question: Who on earth is going to vote for this criminal party?