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Thursday, February 17, 2005

Table Talk | Ward Churchill and the First Amendment - Give him a TV show!

   By Marion Delgado at 4:39 AM

Table Talk | Ward Churchill and the First Amendment:

Compare and contrast. We beat our breasts. We're sorry for ward churchill! We renounce him and all his ways! he's not with us! He isn't! let's go on denying it until we look guilty of ward churchill worship under the full moon! What a bunch of jellyfish! What a self-flagellating, yet self-righteous pack of alpha wimps!

THEY put their Ann coulters and David horowitzes and Laura ingrahams and Barbara olsens and rush Limbaughs and sean hannities and jerry falwells and mike savages and bill o'reillies and james dobsons and g. Gordon liddies and Oliver norths and so on and on and on - all of them far more extremist than ward churchill - on their TV shows and treat them with respect. Compared to them, does Bill Dr. Meowngele Frist look like a supervillain, which he is? no! AND THAT'S THE POINT.

All you have to do when they bring up ward is say, he's not a Democrat, not even into electoral politics, he's into Native American politics ... but like other professors, he has a right to express his ideas -- now, back to kicking your lying Nazi ass!

It's called the Malcolm X/MLK syndrome. The more Ward Churchills are out there, the truer we are to the tradition of protecting free speech, the STRONGER we get. We represent a lot of people. If we cave in, if we cower, if we cringe, if we show people we don't stand behind the alleged ideals of free speech that are among the last principles we haven't hopelessly compromised, we're DEAD.

INSTEAD, I say we always turn the focus on them. On Fred Phelps. On Pat Robertson. On Jerry Falwell. That does two things. It shows we aren't the lying, waffling, pandering, scared little bunnies the evildoers say we are. and it also reminds people that if they let the feudalists and neocons lock up the whole world and give people no venues for change or empowerment - well then, they will have to deal with people a lot harsher than Ward Churchill. Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable.

Instead, they can deal with us. But not if there's no incentive. A lot of Americans are far to stupid to see the carrot of a liberal body politic. But they are smart enough to grasp a stick when it's waved under their noses.

Give Ward a TV show and the Democrats will take back the House, Senate and presidency.

Monday, February 14, 2005

AAR In The News: Weekend Roundup

   By Emelius at 5:49 PM

      People in Miami got a surprise this morning when they turned on WZTA FM 94.9 and instead of rock music, got a dose of Morning Sedition when Air America Radio began broadcasting today. AAR is not just for AM anymore.

      To ride the wave, the NYU paper Washington Square News ran a profile of the Morning Sedition team of Marc and Mark. In this interview, you get some good insight on what makes this morning crew tick and a look at the ARR network.

      The top piece today though is Janeane Garofalo as she managed to take the headlines all the way to the AP. Over the weekend she was a part of a panel discussion that was held in Aspen. This discussion was headed by none other than Joe Scarborough and had some hard right guests on it. I would pay handsomely for the video. Here is a short take on the trouble that ensued. We love you JG!

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Table Talk | AIR AMERICA PSAs

   By Marion Delgado at 10:29 AM

Table Talk | AIR AMERICA: Marion Delgado - 07:16 am Pacific Time - Feb 13, 2005 - #6956 of 6956
Someone straighten me out - technically, is this the Fourth Reich now, or the Second Confederacy?

Here's a new sub-thread: the WLIB stream PSAs (and, I suppose, the ads, although they're almost universally awful like all radio ads). AC=Ad Council, which is a cleaned up propaganda organization. Privatized government lying group.

tolerable:

the racism psas [AC,freedom ride] - reasonably well-written, attempt to be as contemporary and natural as possible. The very first political correctness ads to show imagination, humanity, and common sense. Be very afraid. They convinced me!

child seat psas: They sound like straight-outta-Dobson bad-ass dare-to-discipline GOParenting ads. Bestest: mom forcing little shelly to climb 15 feet up and swing her little bat at a hornets nest. Mom is almost too good in that one. I love these PSAs way, way too much. Plus they're utterly unnecessary. You get serious, ouchy fines for not putting kids of a certain size in a child seat facing backwards - 5 second PSA. Whoever did these has the soul of an artist. Probably Bill Hicks' - he's not using his anymore.

national trust ad: actually repeated too much but the ad with the old woman and the wiped-out places is very well done. However, frankly, who gives a rat's? I hate quikmartizing and excess highways with the best of them, but i also can't see using my tax dollars or charitable giving to fetishize an old bandstand or meeting hall.

appalling: Most of them, but especially:

Anything to do with anti-drug, drug-free, or community coalition (AC). If I wanted this crap I'd move to Cuba, where at least you get free health care. Man, we've gotten a tin ear for nascent totalitarianism.

Who wants to volunteer (Freikorps): you'll get laid, you intellectual nerd loser. No you fucking will not. Christ. Don't fall for it. Actually, if they get enough intellectual nerd losers to go for it, you *might* get laid. Don't get your hopes pinned to the modelish guys and gals they lured you with, though. All cats are gray in the dark, my four-eyed friends. Only the very end of the ad points out that its to lure parents into the anti-drug fascism and kids into pre-hitler youth youth.

Eco-fish-buying: I seriously owned pathetic crap like this in high school. Hire a high-school kid to do your next one. It smacks of mentally challenged greenwashing of something. Hint: what about the NAFTA ruling that helped doom the dolphins? oops, that wouldn't be being folks, would it.

so bad you might as well do something about it like complain:

The American Jewish Committee Palestinian 2 minute hate - I would give this a pass as long as David Harris admitted that the American Jewish Committee is the actual organization that originally gave us the neoconservatives. These cowardly fucks use the word Jewish as a shield just like the clans of the alphane moon over at Jewish World Review do, people like Ann Coulter. To really twist the knife, they always play this during the Majority Report. Sam Seder's an observant Jew, but neither he nor Janeane are Zionists at all, let alone neocons.

Aww, heck, the community coalition shite, too. In Cuba, people *volunteer* to be CDRs (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution), you know. And it's the same people that will be in our CDRs. Decent people in Cuba scorn them. And the profound dishonesty of pretending that the anti-drug voices are tiny and separated and need to unite like the bundle of sticks in a fasces in order to defeat the overwhelming American pro-drug regime. It's People Power vs. the well-organized and well-funded Illegal Drug Lobby - the most powerful lobby in Congress!

Friday, February 11, 2005

WAKE UP PEOPLE! The Dominionists are Seizing Power

   By Fancy Pants Elitist at 9:14 PM

Or may have already...

"...As Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court explained a few months later, the Bible teaches and Christians believe “… that government …derives its moral authority from God. Government is the ‘minister of God’ with powers to ‘revenge,’ to ‘execute wrath,’ including even wrath by the sword…”"
Antonin Scalia, “God’s Justice and Ours,” in First Things 123 (May 2002): 17-21,ttp://www.firsthings.com/ftissues/ft0205/articles/scalia.html



Most people are well aware of such groups as the "Moral Majority", and the heads of their groups, like Ralph Reed, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, ad nauseum, who are Fundamentalist Christians with a political agenda.

What many are not aware of is that the people who follow them regard George Bush as the head of the "American Dominionist Church/State".

In The Despoiling of America, by Katherine Yurica, a free lance investigative reporter and biblical scholar who also conducted the study for the Subcommittee on Oversight of the House Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representives Federal Tax Rules Applicable to Tax-Exempt Organizations Involving Television Ministries on October 6, 1987, Serial 100-43, Ms. Yurica exposes the history and the agenda of "Dominionism" a chilling religious right wing movement, headed by our President. Yes.... George W. Bush.

Also called "Christian Reconstructionism", Dominionists have an agenda to turn this country into, literally, a "biblical" country, based on the 10 commandments and a very rigid and literal interpretation of the Bible. Their goal is to abolish the wall between church and state, to replace all social programs with church "charity" (by abolishing the department of education, the EPA, Social Security, and any other governmental group that helps the poor, disadvantaged, or disenfranchised), and by using government as the "Flaming Sword of Jesus" to mete out punishment against anyone perceived as having committed a sin against God... with execution. This would include anyone who is homosexual, or who has transgessed any of the 10 commandments, or quite literally are not "Christian enough". Their goal is to demolish the Constitution and turn us into a rigid, theocratic state, to marginalize all minorities, to eliminate all labor unions and civil rights, to make us a have/have not nation and to relegate women to the house.

"In 2000, the Republican Party of Texas declared that it "affirms that the United States is a Christian nation." Last month, [February 11, 2004,] that sentiment reached the national level. The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 would acknowledge Christianity's God as the "sovereign source" of our laws. It would reach back in history and reverse all judicial decisions that have built a wall between church and state, and it would prohibit federal judges from making such rulings in the future."

John F. Sugg, Weekly Planet, Tampa, Florida, March 2004

(From Theocracy Watch)


Fortunately, this did not pass out of committee, but 44 Senators and Representatives on the Republican side sponsored it (oh one of those wasn't a Republican... Zell Miller).

What's important about this is not that it probably had a "chance in hell" to pass, but that it reveals the agenda of these people and when you know the names of these people you will know who desire to destroy our Constitution. I will list these people here:

Sen Shelby, Richard C. [AL] (introduced 2/12/2004)
Rep Aderholt, Robert B. [AL-4] (introduced 2/11/2004)
Sen Allard, Wayne [CO] - 4/20/2004
Sen Brownback, Sam [KS] - 4/20/2004
Sen Bunning, Jim [KY] - 5/6/2004
Sen Graham, Lindsey [SC] - 4/20/2004
Sen Inhofe, James M. [OK] - 4/20/2004
Sen Lott, Trent [MS] - 4/20/2004
Sen Miller, Zell [GA] - 4/20/2004

Rep Bachus, Spencer [AL-6] - 2/24/2004
Rep Barrett, J. Gresham [SC-3] - 5/5/2004
Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [MD-6] - 6/2/2004
Rep Bishop, Rob [UT-1] - 4/27/2004
Rep Brown, Henry E., Jr. [SC-1] - 7/13/2004
Rep Cannon, Chris [UT-3] - 10/7/2004
Rep Collins, Mac [GA-8] - 5/18/2004
Rep Cramer, Robert E. (Bud), Jr. [AL-5] - 2/24/2004
Rep Davis, Jo Ann [VA-1] - 3/10/2004
Rep Deal, Nathan [GA-10] - 3/18/2004
Rep DeMint, Jim [SC-4] - 4/1/2004
Rep Everett, Terry [AL-2] - 2/24/2004
Rep Goode, Virgil H., Jr. [VA-5] - 7/13/2004
Rep Hall, Ralph M. [TX-4] - 4/27/2004
Rep Hayworth, J. D. [AZ-5] - 9/23/2004
Rep Herger, Wally [CA-2] - 6/18/2004
Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [NC-3] - 4/27/2004
Rep King, Steve [IA-5] - 6/25/2004
Rep Kingston, Jack [GA-1] - 2/24/2004
Rep Lewis, Ron [KY-2] - 4/27/2004
Rep McCotter, Thaddeus G. [MI-11] - 4/27/2004
Rep McIntyre, Mike [NC-7] - 9/23/2004
Rep Miller, Jeff [FL-1] - 3/10/2004
Rep Norwood, Charlie [GA-9] - 7/19/2004
Rep Pearce, Stevan [NM-2] - 3/18/2004
Rep Pence, Mike [IN-6] - 2/11/2004
Rep Peterson, Collin C. [MN-7] - 7/15/2004
Rep Pitts, Joseph R. [PA-16] - 2/24/2004
Rep Rogers, Mike D. [AL-3] - 2/24/2004
Rep Ryun, Jim [KS-2] - 3/11/2004
Rep Souder, Mark E. [IN-3] - 3/25/2004
Rep Stearns, Cliff [FL-6] - 5/18/2004
Rep Sullivan, John [OK-1] - 6/15/2004
Rep Terry, Lee [NE-2] - 5/5/2004
Rep Vitter, David [LA-1] - 6/15/2004
Rep Wamp, Zach [TN-3] - 3/10/2004
Rep Wilson, Joe [SC-2] - 9/9/2004

Do NOT VOTE FOR THESE PEOPLE!

A bit on the agenda of these Dominionists:

this from "Conquering by Stealth and Deception" http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheSwiftAdvanceOfaPlannedCoup.htm

This is why the budget was slashed so terribly.

"Americans and the main-stream media have been very slow in catching on to the fact that we are in a war - ­a war that is cultural, religious and political. One document not mentioned in The Despoiling of America is the closeted manual that reveals how the right wing in American politics can get and keep power. It was created under the tutelage of Paul Weyrich, the man who founded the Free Congress Foundation. Conservative leaders consider Weyrich to be the “most powerful man in American politics today.” There is no question of his immense influence in conservative circles. He is also considered the founder of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank made possible with funding from Joseph Coors and Richard Mellon-Scaife. Weyrich served as the Founding President from 1973-1974.


To get a sense of how revolutionary the political fight for power in the U.S. is, we need to look at a few quotes from what has been dubbed, “Paul Weyrich’s Teaching Manual,” the Free Congress Foundation’s strategic plan on how to gain control of the government of the U.S. Written by Eric Heubeck, and titled, “The Integration of Theory and Practice: A Program for the New Traditionalist Movement,” the document is no longer available at the Free Congress Foundation’s website for obvious reasons. But excerpts are published at the Yurica Report. The excerpts explain why the Dominionists are winning; the tactics they endorse are sheer Machiavellian:


I have paraphrased the four immoral principles of the Dominionist movement as the following:



1) Falsehoods are not only acceptable, they are a necessity. The corollary is: The masses will accept any lie if it is spoken with vigor, energy and dedication.

2) It is necessary to be cast under the cloak of “goodness” whereas all opponents and their ideas must be cast as “evil.”

3) Complete destruction of every opponent must be accomplished through unrelenting personal attacks.

4) The creation of the appearance of overwhelming power and brutality is necessary in order to destroy the will of opponents to launch opposition of any kind.

According to Jeffry Sharlet, Hitler’s Mein Kampf and William L. Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich are studied as textbooks in a particular leadership training group he wrote about in Harper’s magazine.

Eric Heubeck
, the author of Mr. Weyrich’s manual, does not mince words. Here is a sample of the most immoral political program ever adopted by a political movement in this country. Notice that the manual begins with the adoption of the fundamental fact of Machiavellianism:

“This essay is based on the belief that the truth of an idea is not the primary reason for its acceptance. Far more important is the energy and dedication of the idea’s promoters­in other words, the individuals composing a social or political movement…

“We must, as Mr. Weyrich has suggested, develop a network of parallel cultural institutions existing side-by-side with the dominant leftist cultural institutions. The building and promotion of these institutions will require the development of a movement that will not merely reform the existing post-war conservative movement, but will in fact be forced to supersede it­if it is to succeed at all­because it will pursue a very different strategy and be premised on a very different view of its role in society….

“There will be three main stages in the unfolding of this movement. The first stage will be devoted to the development of a highly motivated elite able to coordinate future activities. The second stage will be devoted to the development of institutions designed to make an impact on the wider elite and a relatively small minority of the masses. The third stage will involve changing the overall character of American popular culture….

“Our movement will be entirely destructive, and entirely constructive. We will not try to reform the existing institutions. We only intend to weaken them, and eventually destroy them. We will endeavor to knock our opponents off-balance and unsettle them at every opportunity. All of our constructive energies will be dedicated to the creation of our own institutions….

“We will maintain a constant barrage of criticism against the Left. We will attack the very legitimacy of the Left. We will not give them a moment’s rest. We will endeavor to prove that the Left does not deserve to hold sway over the heart and mind of a single American. We will offer constant reminders that there is an alternative, there is a better way. When people have had enough of the sickness and decay of today’s American culture, they will be embraced by and welcomed into the New Traditionalist movement. The rejection of the existing society by the people will thus be accomplished by pushing them and pulling them simultaneously.

“We will use guerrilla tactics to undermine the legitimacy of the dominant regime…

“We must create a countervailing force that is just as adept as the Left at intimidating people and institutions that are used as tools of left-wing activism but are not ideologically committed, such as Hollywood celebrities, multinational corporations, and university administrators. We must be feared, so that they will think twice before opening their mouths…

“We will be results-oriented rather than good intentions-oriented. Making a good-faith effort and being ideologically sound will be less important than advancing the goals of the movement…

“We need more people with fire in the belly, and we need a message that attracts those kinds of people….We must reframe this struggle as a moral struggle, as a transcendent struggle, as a struggle between good and evil. And we must be prepared to explain why this is so. We must provide the evidence needed to prove this using images and simple terms….”"

THIS! is what we are up against.

Here are a few other links worth noting...

Theocratic Watch

"Blood Guilty Churches"

A video or audio version of the Rise of Dominionism is here.

Vigilance!!!

Hey Hey Abu, Let's Gitmo Outta Here

   By Emelius at 8:06 PM

      In a story that will surely pick up speed next week. Prisoners at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being subjected to sexual tactics being used by female interrigators. Abu Ghraib was only one berry in a very large bush.


The prisoners have told their lawyers, who compiled the accounts, that female interrogators regularly violated Muslim taboos about sex and contact with women. The women rubbed their bodies against the men, wore skimpy clothes in front of them, made sexually explicit remarks and touched them provocatively, at least eight detainees said in documents or through their attorneys.

A wide-ranging Pentagon investigation, which has not yet been released, generally confirms the detainees' allegations, according to a senior Defense Department official familiar with the report. While isolated accounts of such tactics have emerged in recent weeks, the new allegations and the findings of the Pentagon investigation indicate that sexually oriented tactics may have been part of the fabric of Guantanamo interrogations, especially in 2003.


• More national security news
The inquiry uncovered numerous instances in which female interrogators, using dye, pretended to spread menstrual blood on Muslim men, the official said. Separately, in court papers and public statements, three detainees say that women smeared them with blood.

DINO Is His Nameo

   By Emelius at 6:53 PM

      2 Democrats have crossed the line to join Bush in his campaign to privatize Social Security. Dem Senator Tom Carper joined ranks with Dem Senator Ben Nelson in supporting Bush. Add these two with other weak links in the fence, like Lieberman, and it looks like it might be a hard crunch. I can only assume that some Dems are speaking against the party platform in order to gain leverage and special interests.


"I don't believe that we should rule out the accounts," Carper said Friday in an interview. "We have a very low savings rate in this country and clearly need to find ways to stimulate savings, and I think we should be open to a wide range of ideas and not dismiss them out of hand."

Medicare Fraud

   By Emelius at 6:33 PM

      Medicare fraud isn't just for HMO's anymore. Now it starts at the White House. In an attempt to put money in the drug makers pockets, Bush pushed for and got his Medicare "reform" last year. The estimate of the cost of his plan was about $400 Billion over 10 years. Numbers released earlier this week push the point that democrats made at the time. The numbers that Bush was pushing were wrong. In a report filed this week, the new estimate sits at $720 billion for the next 10 years, nearly double to original estimate. Where do the people turn when they can't count on the government to at least try to be honest? Bush has stated that any attempt to revisit the bill and make changes will receive his first veto. Good, lets see it.


The biggest cost comes from Medicare. In 2003, Bush pushed through the biggest expansion of the health program since its creation in 1965 with the new universal prescription drug benefit.

Even the administration's $720 billion 10-year estimate is a net figure that assumes big savings and offsets; the total price without those is estimated at $1.2 trillion.

Congress passed the legislation based on a 10-year cost projection of $400 billion. Members in both parties are now expressing shock and outrage at the higher figure.

$15 For A Frisbee?

   By Emelius at 6:15 PM

      New reports on the record trade deficit are coming out and all I can say is HELLO! Like it or not trade is the back bone of any western economic based economy. Without balanced trade, prices go up. Prices go up and you can't afford things. You can't afford things, you end up on the street living in a box and being harassed by the cops for being a lazy bum. While Bush is going around trying to impose democracy, he is plummeting us into a trade deficit that will cripple the middle class of America. Compound this with record fiscal deficits and budget deficits and you have my candidate for worst president ever.


The Commerce Department reported that the deficit for all of last year was 24.4 percent above the previous record, an imbalance of $496.5 billion in 2003. The U.S. deficit with China also set a record of $162 billion, up 30.5 percent from last year and the largest imbalance ever recorded with a single country.

The sharp worsening of America's performance in trade was certain to spark new political criticism of President Bush's economic policies. Democrats contend that the administration has not done enough to crack down on unfair foreign trade practices. These include China's currency policy, which U.S. manufacturers believe has deliberatively undervalued the yuan by as much as 40 percent, giving Chinese companies a huge competitive advantage over U.S. firms.

Gannongate

   By Emelius at 6:01 PM

      Sorry to be so cheesy as to use the word 'Gate' in a headline, but it just kind of fits as things ramp up in the Jeff Gannon story. One of the questions on everybody's minds is how he got into the white house to start with. With a fake name and a day pass, he had total access to the white house and the president in a post 911 world where tighter security means that visitors around the world are denied access to monuments of democracy. Today, two democrats from Congress have asked for an investigation into the Jeff Gannon story and thus receiving the title ... Gannongate.

Olbermann Vs Gannon, The Video

   By Emelius at 5:49 PM

      Did you miss Kieth Olbermann the other night when he looked into the Jeff Gannon story? No worries as the blog Overspun has posted the video for your viewing pleasure. I am still not on board with Olbermann, but he is gaining my viewing consideration with every great blog pick up.


Jeff "the too sexy" Gannon

Bush Science

   By Emelius at 2:35 PM

      In a survey of Fish and Wildlife scientists, it has been uncovered that politics weighs over science. This really is no surprise considering the anti-science white house that we currently have. The survey was asked of scientists in 90 national offices were asked 42 questions. Some of the findings are alarming when it comes to entire studies being reversed for political or commercial purposes. The Fish and Wildlife Service is charged with determining which animals and plants should be placed on the endangered species list and designating areas where such species need to be protected. The results of their findings can determine which animals live or die, or if a logging company can log in a particular area. It is one of the most sacred departments of the government and is being manipulated as a political tool.


One scientist working in the Pacific region, which includes California, wrote: "I have been through the reversal of two listing decisions due to political pressure. Science was ignored — and worse, manipulated, to build a bogus rationale for reversal of these listing decisions."

More than 20% of survey responders reported they had been "directed to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information."

However, 69% said they had never been given such a directive. And, although more than half of the respondents said they had been ordered to alter findings to lessen protection of species, nearly 40% said they had never been required to do so.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

AAR In The News: New Haven Advocate

   By Emelius at 11:25 PM

The New Haven Advocate released a year end wrap up of Air America Radio with only 2 months to spare. You can never be too early I guess. This is a great write up called Air America The Beautiful that will take more than a few minutes to read.

Franken Says No To Senate Bid

   By Emelius at 6:56 PM

      In a much awaited announcement, today Al Franken said live on his radio show that he will not run for the Senate in Minnesota in 2006 but does not rule out a 2008 bid. Franken gives among many of his reasons, the contract he signed to stay with AAR for another 2 years. You can hear the audio here.

An Evildoer and a Curious Person: Why I'm Calling for Ward Churchill to Die

   By Marion Delgado at 12:35 AM

MAES: It doesn’t matter what I think. He has a right to say ....

GIBSON (yelling, overtalks last 6 words): No!! But it does!!! Because he’s a teacher and you’re a student!!! What happened to you, listening to this teacher!!!!

MAES (calmly, overtalks last 4 words): I have a right, I have a right to decide on - for my own. But that’s not it, that’s not [indecipherable] ...

GIBSON (loudly, overtalks last 8 words): You’re dodgin’ the question!!! He’s polluted both your minds and for THAT REASON ...

MAES (smiles, calmly, shakes his head): That is not true, sir.

GIBSON (overtalks last 5 words): ... he should be FIRED!!!




http://www.newshounds.us/2005/02/07/how_to_drive_a_fox_host_batty.php#more


This indictment and affidavit is sworn by Marion, against Ward Church-hill.

Ward is guilty of refusing to recognize the God recognized by the state, and of introducing new divinities. He is also guilty of corrupting the youth. The penalty demanded is death.

Ward is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others.

Ward is guilty of corrupting the young and of not believing in the God in whom the nation believes, but in other new divinities.

He teaches students that the sun and moon are stones, not divine lights placed in the heavens and separated from the firmament, one to rule the day and one the night, by a wise Creator God.

Clearly, if he has any decency and respect for our institutions he will drink the hemlock the government will provide him.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Where O' Where Is My Majority Report?

   By Emelius at 6:51 PM

      The Majority Report finds it's way to Aspen Colorado this week for the Aspen Comedy Festival. While there, they will broadcast their show live and partake in various panels of discussion and networking. If we get some pics of our stars at the fest, we will try to get them up.

Felonious Military

   By Emelius at 6:42 PM

      At a military hearing tomorrow, Cpl. Dustin Berg of the Indiana National Guard will stand to charges of murder, false swearing and wearing an unauthorized award. This stems from an incident from when Cpl. Berg was on patrol with an Iraqi police officer when he shot and killed him, shot himself, then received a Purple Heart for the occasion.


Thursday's Article 32 hearing, which is similar to a grand jury proceeding, will be run by an investigative officer. The officer's recommendation likely won't be issued the same day as the hearing, Sinclair said.

The final decision will rest with Maj. Gen. Terry Tucker, commander of Fort Knox and the U.S. Army Armor Center.



Senator Franken

   By Emelius at 4:44 PM

      It has been joked about and referenced to on AAR's The Al Franken Show for almost a year now. Should/would/could Al Franken run for Senator in the state of Minnesota? News surfaced a little bit ago that Sen. Mark Dayton of Minnesota will not seek another term which will leave his seat up for grabs. In a Senate that has 17 republican seats and 15 democratic seats up for the taking in the 2006 elections, these could be some of the most important elections of our times.

Republican; See Repulsive

   By Emelius at 4:23 PM

      Katrina Vanden Heuvel of The Nation comes out fighting yet again with another great article. Katrina updates her Republican Dictionary with the definition of the Bush's privatisation of Social Security and outlines his plan in an easy to understand way. A recommended and quick read for everyone.


But here is the really funny thing about the personal/private accounts debate. Not only are they not personal accounts, they're not private accounts either. They are in fact US government loans. (Bear with me now, because this will only hurt for a moment.) You see, your payroll taxes will still be used to cover the benefits of current retirees, but under Bush's scheme the government will place a certain "diverted" amount into an account in your name. It sounds like a personal retirement account, but it's not. It's a loan. Because if your account does really well (above 3 percent), when you retire the government will deduct the money it lent you (plus 3 percent interest) from your monthly Social Security check leaving you with almost the same amount you would have received under the current system. If your account does really poorly (below 3 percent), you are out of luck. According to Congressional Budget Office, the expected average return will be 3.3 percent, so the net gain will be zero.

Gay As A Billboard

   By Emelius at 3:54 PM

      A recent billboard put up by a group of ex-gays proclaims that homosexuality is a choice. What the billboard does not do is go at the heart of the matter that choice or genetic, being gay is not wrong or harmful to anyone. I will also state that my belief is that some choose to be gay for whatever disfunction void they need to fill, and that most homosexuals are gay out of the box. Maybe we should be putting on billboards the faces of people who are gay but refuse to admit it out of public fear. If Bill O'Reilly ever wants to come out of the closet, I will welcome him with open arms.


Officials with the Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays (PFOX), a nonprofit advocate for the ex-homosexual community, said people can choose to change from a homosexual to a heterosexual orientation.

"We believe that no one is born with same-sex attractions," said Richard Cohen, a former homosexual who is the group's president.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Daily Kos :: Who was the Iraqi Woman in the balcony? Updated info.

   By Marion Delgado at 11:06 PM

Daily Kos :: Who was the Iraqi Woman in the balcony? Updated info.: "Her name is Safia Taleb Al Souhail.

She works for the 'International Alliance For Justice,' which no longer has a website that is functioning. [ www.i-a-j.org. ] I tried to do a google search for the site and found a cached version of another one, www.a-i-j.org, which is down now as well and looks like it's been taken over by a defunct porn website. As for www.i-a-j.org, its now a rather generic 'antispyware' website.

Beats me. I have my theories about all of these freedom and justice and happy iraqi websites that are oh so slick and oh so American, but I can't draw any conclusions because I have no background in doing so.

I was struck by the line 'three days ago in Baghdad, Safia was finally able to vote...'

I did a search and found that she published an article in December of 2003 for the group 'Foundation For the Defence of Democracies.'
[www.defenddemocracy.org]

They seem pretty reasonable when you look at their mission statement on the website.

The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a non-partisan, non-profit policy institute dedicated to:

* Finding the most effective ways to defeat terrorism--and the totalitarian ideologies used to incite and justify terrorism.
* Employing strategic communications, education and research to fight terrorism across national, ethnic and religious lines.
* Promoting freedom and basic human rights for all peoples.

So, then I went to see who they are, being non-partisan and all. Board of Directors?

Steve Forbes.
Jack Kemp.
Jeanne Kirkpatrick.

OK, so far not so balanced.

Distinguished Advisors?
Newt Gingrich.
R. James Woolsey.

OK, yikes. Still a bit off kilter.

Board of Advisors?
Gary Bauer.
Charles Karuthammer, (yes the columnist)
Bill Kristol.
Zell Miller.
Richard Perle.

wow. OK and then finally we see who represents the other side on that board.

Donna Brazille. (?)
Frank Lautenberg.
Chuck Schumer.

All very i"

Mud Throwing In Iraq

   By Emelius at 9:35 PM

      Who says it is all work when fighting a war. It seems some GI's in Iraq have taken to mud wrestling as a way to kick back after a hard day of performing sex crimes. I am not talking about just watching, but performing in the Girls Gone Wild match to elevate our troops to an even higher regard around the world. Add to it the wild sex parties and the general disregard for any military rules of conduct, and you wouldn't think it was the worlds strongest military, but rather frat night in Owls Crotch, KS.



The Birth Tax

   By Emelius at 8:02 PM

      The great folks over at The Free Speech Zone have given up some art for circulation on the web. This is one of the posters they have called "The Birth Tax"





Reshaping Hastert

   By Emelius at 7:23 PM

      The Nation ran a story today that discusses the reshaping of the House Ethics Committee. Dennis Hastert has removed several members who had voted against Tom Delay in the recent ethics fights.

Valley Advocate: The Return of Rachel Maddow (More on her, from last june)

   By Marion Delgado at 12:41 AM

Valley Advocate: The Return of Rachel Maddow: "Maddow's prot�g�, Dwight, recently quit the Big Breakfast (see 'Where, Where the Hell is Bill?' June 17, 2004) after a dispute with WRSI Program Director Sean O'Mealy over salary and full-time status. Dwight, like Maddow, had brought a liberal-leaning angle to the FM station's morning show. Now Big Breakfast listeners might make the switch from FM to AM to listen to Maddow's show.

Unfiltered, which runs from 9 a.m. to noon, features 'a lot of news and politics and a good amount of culture: movies, art, music,' Maddow said. Of the three co-hosts, Maddow is the newsy one. Winstead, co-creator and former head writer of television's The Daily Show, handles the guests. And Chuck D? The outspoken former MC of rap group Public Enemy is the show's 'wild card,' according to Maddow, who finds herself adjusting to being an ensemble player. 'Comically enough, I'm the straight man of the three,' she said."

Monday, February 07, 2005

The work ahead for Howard Dean - Democrats no longer trust the party

   By Marion Delgado at 11:56 PM

Salon.com Politics: The work ahead for Howard Dean:

As Howard Dean prepares to take over the Democratic National Committee -- Donnie Fowler and Simon Rosenberg pulled out of the race over the weekend -- Stan Greenberg and James Carville are out with a new Democracy Corps memo on perceptions of the Democratic Party. The most troubling news: Democrats have seen their popularity plummet among . . . Democrats.

Republicans are 'viewed more favorably overall than the Democrats, led by a crash of positive sentiment for the Democratic Party among voters who identify as Democrats,' Greenberg and Carville write. 'Republican voters look at the parties today much as they did before the election; among independents, regard for the Democrats dropped somewhat, though independents still prefer them to the Republicans. Democratic voters are another story: 'warm' feelings for the Democrats dropped 12 points (from 86 to 74 percent) since the election. It is the Democrats who are demanding something more, perhaps a reckoning.'

The Democracy Corps memo is available here.


Do recall, though, that even though Stan Greenberg was a pollster for the DLC, during and after the 2000 election they painted him as a far-out McGovernick pollster. In addition to immediately stabbing Gore in the back in 2000, urging him to concede on November 7 and calling him a populist flake and a loser, they also attacked Greenberg and Democracy Corps, because Greenberg gave Gore the campaigning advice that turned him around 21 points, from being down by 11 points to up by 10 in 2000.

AAR: Washington Blade

   By Emelius at 7:40 PM

      Air America Radio got a good write up at The Washington Blade. The article focuses on the lesbian host's on AAR, the activism, and the future of the network.


AS A CO-HOST of one of the network’s weekday shows, Maddow says her job is not only to deliver news and viewpoints less represented on mainstream media outlets, but to entertain listeners as well.

“We work really hard all the time and take it very seriously,” she says. “Going in the studio is like going into surgery. Once those studio doors close and the red light goes on, there’s no turning back. I feel like the way we do the show is baking, not cooking. You put in all the ingredients, but you don’t know really what you have until it’s over. Until the timer goes off, we’re live.”


Highlights of Bush's $2.5 trillion budget

   By PoliticalGeek at 2:45 PM

      Bush introduced his $2.5 trillion dollar budget in which The Pentagon would get five percent more at $419.3 billion. The Department of Education's budget is a mere $63.4 billion. Under this proposed budget there will be $355.9 more Billion spent on defense than education.
      What is wrong with that picture? We have kids that can not even read at proper levels when they graduate from high school. There are companies that are forced to hire outside the country because the graduates from the United States schools are not proficient enough in math and science. Teachers are forced to buy supplies for their classrooms from their own small paychecks. The Government needs to take a look at their priorities and focus on the future of this country which starts with education.

Can we get the USO here ASAP?

   By PoliticalGeek at 1:39 PM

      In a case of MPs gone wild Female GIs were flashing breasts and thongs in mud-wrestling contests at an Army detention center in Iraq. They need the USO to stop by and entertain them as soon as possible so the boredom does not set in again. Jerry Springer might be a good addition for that stop.

Saturday, February 05, 2005

Blacklisted from seeing Bush

   By Marion Delgado at 8:28 PM

Salon.com Politics: "When Bush traveled to Fargo, N.D., for a forum there Thursday, more than 40 area residents found themselves on a list that prohibited them from getting tickets. Suspected terrorists? In the eyes of local Republicans maybe -- the residents on the list all seem to be known, one way or another, for their liberal political views.

Fargo City Commissioner Linda Coates made the list. So did several university professors, the producer of a liberal radio show, the deputy campaign manager for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and a couple of high school students, according to the Forum, Fargo's newspaper. But most of the members of the list had exactly one thing in common: They were also members of a Howard Dean Democracy for America Meetup group.

Some of the blacklisted liberals managed to get into the event anyway -- Coates scored a ticket from the mayor -- but it's still an odd way to operate for a president who sells the power of freedom in Iraq and calls for an 'open, candid' debate on Social Security back home.

"

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Janeane Get's The Headline

   By Emelius at 11:17 PM

      Fresh off of last nights appearance on MSNBC's After Hours, our very own Janeane Garofalo got her own headline in the World Daily Net:




Garofalo: Fingers with ink comparable to Nazi salute. Actress, liberal radio host calls Republican gesture 'disgusting'


"The inked fingers was disgusting," said Garofalo, who is one of the hosts on the Air America radio network.

"The inked fingers and the position of them, which is gonna be a 'Daily Show' photo already, of them signaling in this manner [Nazi salute], as if they have solidarity with the Iraqis who braved physical threats against their lives to vote as if somehow these inked-fingered Republicans have something to do with that."

Book Watch: Road To Air America

   By Emelius at 10:52 PM

Road To Air America by SHELDON DROBNY


      From one of the founders of Air America Radio, comes the story in his own words.


At last, from the man who built it, comes the first-hand account of the rocky road that led us to our nation’s first liberal talk-radio network.

After years of listening to monologues from right wing radio ideologues, Sheldon Drobny had enough. He decided the public airwaves needed balance, and that the way to get that balance was by starting his own full time, liberal radio network--what would become Air America Radio.

In Road to Air America, Drobny tells the story of the obstacles he and his wife Anita faced as they tried to make their concept for a progressive radio network a reality. Their journey took them through a world of politics, money, and media as they were helped by some of America's most powerful political figures. Determined to get his liberal radio network on the air, Drobny sold his concept to a team of radio executives only to have it fall back in his lap, nearly undone, five months later.

Today, after a high profile and bumpy launch, Air America is growing and going strong, on the air in 31 markets nationwide. Road to Air America is a story of determination and creativity, and it gives a first hand account of what it takes to get a progressive voice heard in a time when the conservative right dominates the radio airwaves. Drobny, a Chicago-based venture capitalist, philanthropist, and political activist, also has plenty to say about the destructive self-interest of today's corporate-owned media, and how it inspired his concept for a more balanced public discourse.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Stake In The Union Part III

   By Emelius at 5:48 PM

      Many this week will try to say that democrats were wrong in saying that democracy would not be good for Iraq. It just continues to show the short term memory of these critics. The position of democrats has been that the war that Bush waged against the people of Iraq was wrong, based on lies to the American people, ill planned, mis-leading, and inaccurate. Bush today tries to tell us that Iraq is free and that we invaded Iraq to give those people freedom. That was not the reason we were given though. We were told about impending danger to the American people and it's allies. We were told about weapon manufacturing plants, chemical weapons, drones, illegal activities, and atrocities. Never was it mentioned that we were invading Iraq to install a democracy. If told that our sole purpose was to install democracy in Iraq, I doubt that the American people would have supported the war in the numbers that they did.

      It is my belief that the American people know that it is up to a nation's people to determine what is best for them. While democracy is the best way to give people that chance, we know that revolution brings about real change and serves the people best in laying the foundation of their future. It was good enough for America, why is it not good enough for the rest of the world? What is done in Iraq is done, and we must move on. It is on this basis that we must move forward and find the best way to serve the Iraqi people. With a form of democracy in place, we must finish the job. Added resources must be made in forms other than money and the basic foundations must be established. A constitution must be sought based on the will of the people of Iraq and the rules of modern human rights. The Iraqi government's assets must be dismantled and the wealth and resources given to the people to manage. The country must face certain struggles on it's own in order to grow properly and serve it's people the best.

      We need an exit plan and it needs to be made public. Many republicans are saying that we should not tell the terrorists what our plans are, but it is not the terrorists asking. It is the American people and their cries and voices should not be ignored. The American people deserve to be answered when they question their government and to keep it a secret does not serve their interests. Does it serve an enemy government to tell them the day of that you will start bombing? No, yet we told them that. Now the American people are asking what is next and we are told that we are too young and should not ask questions. The American people are the grown ups at this table and deserve to be included in the discussion about where their money is being spent and when the killing will end.

      My fellow American's, we must not rewrite history. We must come clean with the American people and the world. I propose that we stand up to corruption and lies in our government and hold strong to our beliefs. We must remind people on a constant basis that it is not the democracy in Iraq that we oppose, but the manner in which it was imposed. Through lies, deceit, back room meetings, torture, and cover ups, this war was waged with false support and lies about the bloodshed. We are not an honorable nation and no amount of rewriting history will restore it. We must start anew now and help these troubled people but not forget about ourselves. Under my plan we will reduce spending on the war by 50% over the next year. Troop step downs will begin this July and an accelerated program to properly train Iraqi police and military should begin immediately. Audits of all American companies should begin immediately and all contracts should be canceled and up for re-evaluation by the proper owners upon the signing of the Iraqi constitution and the official establishment of a new state of Iraq. All American assets in the region should be reconsidered and maximized to recoup costs garnished in this war in accordance with Iraqi approval. No more money needs the be spent then is needed at a time when our nation is in record spending and deficits. It is time to put American interests at the front of the line while not ignoring true human right violations and humanitarians efforts around the world. We can regain our respect in the world with hard work if we use our hearts and our heads and not our greed and arrogance.

Stake In The Union Part II

   By Emelius at 5:01 PM

      Our children are an important part of our growing nation and must not be overlooked. Every year we ignore our education system is a set back in 4 years. The current crisis in America's education goes back to 1978 when the invasion of the portables invaded the elementary school campuses across our nation. It was the sign of a lack of classroom space and classroom over crowding. As students marched in the 80's there was hope that someone would hear them as project 2000 began. Across the nation communities launched programs to start from the ground up with ambitious plans to get their local schools back on track with a 13 year plan. Starting with Kindergarten and advancing it one grade every year to the year 2000. Everyone applauded the effort, yet there seemed to be funding problems. Most programs went bust by the 5th grade and by the year 2000, news reports were left with only interviews of these students that they had followed for 13 years that lacked any substance of education reform. These failures belong to Reagan, Bush Sr, and Clinton. Nothing they did helped to bolster a dying education system or to prepare our nations children for a changing workforce that they knew was coming. This is criminal.

      Enter today and we are still with the same issues and an even bigger gap in education across the world. One thing that none of these presidents, including the current president Bush, seem to understand is that you need real money to fund these schools and the American people in overwhelming numbers support taxes for education. Above any other program in this country, American's are willing to sacrifice the most for the education system. So why is it that the government refuses to extend a helping hand in this area? We need to relieve state and local school boards of the burden of spending on the high price of school construction and encourage better use of space. Skyscrapers of education should scratch the sky instead of institutes of financial interests. If we want to raise future leaders and barons of industry, we must make the investment today. The result will be strong financial security for American's on a level that will relieve burdens of Social Security, Medicare, and Welfare in the future. If we had made the investment and sacrifice in the 80's, the painful part would be over and we would be starting on the path of pay back into the system and be prepared for the new world job market that we are struggling in today.

      I propose that we do not teach children to pass tests, but teach them to learn on their own and give the tools and ambition to learn. We must set basic standards that all states and communities must adhere to with realistic goals that are understood. We must implement these standards not in the schools first, but in the educational systems that train our teachers. We must teach our teachers in colleges first what is expected of them. Once that is established and we have the feedback needed to execute a successful program, we can then take those newly trained teachers and place these techniques into the system. We must also provide grants for teachers to be re-educated and kept up to current standards. Funding must be made available for longer school days and school years to further enable an environment where things can be learned and allow teachers a chance to earn a living wage they so deserve. It is time, my fellow American's, to raise our education leaders above those of stock brokers and hollywood stars. We need to give our future a chance and listen to those that are products of not only our success, but our failures. We need not gamble on the future when we can ensure it.

Stake In The Union Part I

   By Emelius at 3:50 PM

      My fellow Americans. I speak to you today to tell you about the stake in the union. America is a great country when it wants to be and it is never too late to change. At any moment, a president can turn the page and start fresh and work for the good of all it's people. America does not have to be like old England where the rich reaped the rewards from the poor. Instead, we can work off a dream that will provide for those less fortunate than ourselves. We can plant the seeds and watch them grow as long as we do things in good faith and without selfishness. We can plan for a better tomorrow when we can dismantle our social programs, not because we have to, but because they are no longer needed.


      Between 1981 and 1983 President Reagan had informed the country that Social Security was on the brink of bankruptcy and at one point saying that it would not last another 5 years. It was through hard work and smart planning that we were able to plan for the changing world and ensure that Social Security would be around for our future aging citizens. Truth is that we have heard these threats time and time again. Over and over we have been warned about the failures of Social Security. We have been told it would go bankrupt so many times, I have lost count. Under Reagan Social Security was in so much trouble that the government used the money from it to fund it's cold war against the Soviet Union. There are many truths out there and one of the truths is that Social Security is stronger than ever. Bush has stated that Social Security will go bankrupt in 1988. It did not. We were warned that it would go bankrupt in. 2029. It won't. We have heard warnings of impending doom in 2018. Bush has said it will go bankrupt in 2040 and 2042. Now we are told 2052. Truth be told, I don't think Bush really knows and has taken no time to research the matter personally. Our president has come up with an agenda and demanded that his people do it at any costs. Those costs being to scare the American people and do nothing to actually try to fix the problems.


      No one has ever said that Social Security would be funded for the next 1000 years. We all know that there will be a cap on it. To deny that it will have an end of funding date is to be uneducated to the point that you should not be allowed to function in society. It will always have an end date and you can choose to look at the glass as half empty or half full. 50 years is better than 5 years and if we start to make small changes today, it will head off big changes tomorrow. A penny today is better than 10 pennies tomorrow. With strong leadership and a true vision, this so called problem can be headed off and social security can be extend beyond our lifetime. The alternative is to saturate the workforce with the elderly that are too weak or unwanted. Create a growing number of unemployed, homeless, and poor, and have people die every year from starvation instead of old age. I ask my fellow Americans to stand with me and demand an end to chain rattling and ghost stories, and demand answers and solutions from our nations best and if they can't do it, then tell them to stand aside to let the people with real leadership and knowledge a chance to make America the greatest nation on Earth. In the words of John Ashcroft, "Let the eagles soar". The rest of you turkeys need to get out of the way.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

The Bybee Memo

   By Emelius at 4:42 PM

      The other torture memo as drafted by Assistant Attorney General Judge Bybee.

Deception Remembered

   By Emelius at 12:50 PM

      Iraq: Denial and Deception. That is the title of a speech given by Bush on October 7th 2002. In this speech at the Cincinnati Museum Center, Bush outlined the grave threat that Iraq posed. I propose that the speech instead should have been called 'Bush: Denial and Deception'. This speech highlights many of the lies that president Bush told the American people in order to get his war against Iraq. Most of the content of this speech would later be found to be false.


And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons. Every chemical and biological weapon that Iraq has or makes is a direct violation of the truce that ended the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Yet, Saddam Hussein has chosen to build and keep these weapons despite international sanctions, U.N. demands, and isolation from the civilized world.

Iraq possesses ballistic missiles with a likely range of hundreds of miles -- far enough to strike Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, and other nations -- in a region where more than 135,000 American civilians and service members live and work. We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States. And, of course, sophisticated delivery systems aren't required for a chemical or biological attack; all that might be required are a small container and one terrorist or Iraqi intelligence operative to deliver it.


Gonzales Torture Memo

   By Emelius at 11:43 AM

      In light of today's vote to appoint Alberto R. Gonzalez as Attorney General and the only man who could order an independent investigation of White House crimes, I thought it would be fun to read his most well known writing to date. MSNBC/Newsweek has put up a PDF of the "Torture Memo" for your enjoyment. I can't believe these filthy bastards are getting away with this.

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