A few tidbits from the Taguba Report
What follows are direct cut/paste from the report.
(S) I find that the intentional abuse of detainees by military police personnel included
the following acts:
a. (S) Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet;
b. (S) Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees;
c. (S) Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for
photographing;
d. (S) Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several
days at a time;
e. (S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear;
f. (S) Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being
photographed and videotaped;
g. (S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;
h. (S) Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and
attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture;
i. (S) Writing “I am a Rapest” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly
raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked;
j. (S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a
female Soldier pose for a picture;
k. (S) A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee;
l. (S) Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten
detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee;
m. (S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.
a. (U) Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees;
b. (U) Threatening detainees with a charged 9mm pistol;
c. (U) Pouring cold water on naked detainees;
d. (U) Beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair;
e. (U) Threatening male detainees with rape;
f. (U) Allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was
injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell;
g. (U) Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick.
h. (U) Using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats
of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.
When asked why the rules in 1A/1B were different than the rest of the wings, SGT
Davis stated: “The rest of the wings are regular prisoners and 1A/B are
Military Intelligence (MI) holds.” When asked why he did not inform his chain
of command about this abuse, SGT Davis stated: “ Because I assumed that if they
were doing things out of the ordinary or outside the guidelines, someone would
have said something. Also the wing belongs to MI and it appeared MI
personnel approved of the abuse.” SGT Davis also stated that he had heard MI
insinuate to the guards to abuse the inmates. When asked what MI said he stated:
“Loosen this guy up for us.” Make sure he has a bad night.” “Make sure he
gets the treatment.” He claimed these comments were made to CPL Granier and
SSG Frederick. Finally, SGT Davis stated that (sic): “the MI staffs to my
understanding have been giving Granier compliments on the way he has been
handling the MI holds. Example being statements like, “Good job, they’re
breaking down real fast. They answer every question. They’re giving out good
information, Finally, and Keep up the good work . Stuff like that.”
They made them do strange exercises by sliding on their stomach, jump up and down, throw water on them and made them some wet, called them all kinds of names such as “gays” do
they like to make love to guys, then they handcuffed their hands together and
their legs with shackles and started to stack them on top of each other by
insuring that the bottom guys penis will touch the guy on tops butt.”
(U) There is a general lack of knowledge, implementation, and emphasis of basic
legal, regulatory, doctrinal, and command requirements within the 800th MP Brigade
and its subordinate units. (Multiple witness statements in ANNEXES 45-91).
However, MG Fast, according to BG Karpinski, routinely denied the board’s recommendations to release detainees in this category who were no longer deemed a threat and clearly met the requirements for
release. According to BG Karpinski, the extremely slow and ineffective release
process has significantly contributed to the overcrowding of the facilities.
The Iraqi guards at Abu Ghraib BCCF) demonstrate questionable work ethics and
loyalties, and are a potentially dangerous contingent within the Hard-Site. These
guards have furnished the Iraqi criminal inmates with contraband, weapons, and
information. Additionally, they have facilitated the escape of at least one detainee.
The various detention facilities operated by the 800th MP Brigade have
routinely held persons brought to them by Other Government Agencies (OGAs)
without accounting for them, knowing their identities, or even the reason for their
detention.
----There is an extensive list of escapes and riots in several Iraqi prisons over the months, the most commonly mentioned extenuating circumstance is lack of adequate training/personell. The section ends with the following:
As I have previously indicated, this investigation determined that there was
virtually a complete lack of detailed SOPs at any of the detention facilities.
Moreover, despite the fact that there were numerous reported escapes at detention
facilities throughout Iraq (in excess of 35), AR 15-6 Investigations following these
escapes were simply forgotten or ignored by the Brigade Commander with no
dissemination to other facilities. After-Action Reports and Lessons Learned, if done
at all, remained at individual facilities and were not shared among other commanders
or soldiers throughout the Brigade. The Command never issued standard TTPs for
handling escape incidents.
Over time, the 800th MP Brigade clearly suffered
from personnel shortages through release from active duty (REFRAD) actions,
medical evacuation, and demobilization. In addition to being severely undermanned,
the quality of life for Soldiers assigned to Abu Ghraib (BCCF) was extremely poor.
There was no DFAC, PX, barbershop, or MWR facilities. There were numerous
mortar attacks, random rifle and RPG attacks, and a serious threat to Soldiers and
detainees in the facility. The prison complex was also severely overcrowded and the
Brigade lacked adequate resources and personnel to resolve serious logistical
problems.
------This is a super important sentence as to where the motivation for the soldier's actions came from:
"This effectively made an MI Officer, rather than an MP Officer, responsible for the MP units conducting
detainee operations at that facility." The soldiers weren't listening to their own bosses, instead they were following Military Intelligence Orders.
During the course of this investigation I conducted a lengthy interview with BG
Karpinski that lasted over four hours, and is included verbatim in the investigation
Annexes. BG Karpinski was extremely emotional during much of her testimony.
What I found particularly disturbing in her testimony was her complete unwillingness
to either understand or accept that many of the problems inherent in the 800th MP
Brigade were caused or exacerbated by poor leadership and the refusal of her
command to both establish and enforce basic standards and principles among its
soldiers.
Also very important not to leave out:
Throughout the investigation, we observed many individual Soldiers and some
subordinate units under the 800th MP Brigade that overcame significant obstacles,
persevered in extremely poor conditions, and upheld the Army Values. We
discovered numerous examples of Soldiers and Sailors taking the initiative in the
absence of leadership and accomplishing their assigned tasks.
The individual Soldiers and Sailors that we observed and believe should be
favorably noted include:
a. (U) Master-at-Arms First Class William J. Kimbro, US Navy Dog Handler,
knew his duties and refused to participate in improper interrogations despite
significant pressure from the MI personnel at Abu Ghraib.
b. (U) SPC Joseph M. Darby, 372nd MP Company discovered evidence of abuse
and turned it over to military law enforcement.
c. (U) 1LT David O. Sutton, 229th MP Company, took immediate action and
stopped an abuse, then reported the incident to the chain of command.
The above listed people are heroes and should be treated as such by the military, the media, and all of us.
Notice that no where is there a single mention of the mercenaries which all parties agree are also present within the Iraqi detention system.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
The ACTUAL REPORT
For that small minority of people who like to read things first hand for themselves, here's the now infamous TAGUBA report which is the source of my consternation about the torture of Iraqi prisoners.
For that small minority of people who like to read things first hand for themselves, here's the now infamous TAGUBA report which is the source of my consternation about the torture of Iraqi prisoners.
So Many Things, So Little Time
I haven't written in a week because I've been at my Uncle's housesitting and he had no internet connection, but that doesn't mean the world stopped spinning. Far from it. Indeed, every time I think we've reached the height of our problems, something comes along that makes it worse. It's getting to the point that I'm starting to wonder if those rumors about Shrub trying to push us into "The Rapture" don't have something to them. I do know that those pictures of the torture of Iraqi prisoners, and the subsequent US reaction to them have done nothing but make the entire situation worse. I suppose we could nuke Fallujah or something, but that's the only way I can think of to make matters worse than they are.
Do me a favor, every time you hear phrases like "civilian contractors" and "private security forces," think one thing, "mercenaries." That's who they are. Hired killers from the US and more disturbingly, south america. That's right, remember all the "training" we did in the 80's (and to a lesser extent in the 90's) of "paramilitary" forces in places like Columbia and El Salvador? Training that led to some of the worst human rights violations in the southern hemisphere? Well, a lot of those folks are now in Iraq, doing what they do best, torturing and killing. IN fact, in terms of sheer troop numbers it goes, US military, UK military, Mercenaries. So much for a "coalition of the willing" yeah, willing to get paid. THe mercenaries make 100,000 a year plus, our troops, who we are supposed to be "supporting" make 30 at the outside. And ALL of the money is coming from the same place, our pockets. It's a sad state of affairs. Also, the mercenaries are in a grey zone as far as the law goes. They're not subject to US law, there is no Iraqi law, and they're not subject to military codes of conduct. According to the people they've arrested in connection with the torture, it was primarily the military Intelligence folks, and the Mercenaries that were "egging on" the despicable behavior. Oh, and since they are downplaying this as much as possible on the news, it should be stressed that the people in these prisons are NOT Iraqi soldiers. They are civilians, swept up in raids and middle of the night black bag jobs, often on little or no evidence of any wrong doing.
I heard Rush say that "this is war and war isn't pretty" in an attempt to justify or at the very least downplay the actions. Like that fat fuck knows what war is like, he's spent not a single minute in a uniform of any type. Neither has Hannity, or any of these other right wing nut jobs. The Pentagon's own report is said to describe the problem as systemic, no matter how much the Shrubsters say it was the act of a few bad apples.
Which brings us to the 25 billion dollars that's "for the troops." Let's save that money and bring them home. Besides, considering the disparity in pay scale between the troops and the mercenaries, most of the cash will make it into the coffers of the mercenary company's not the pockets of the regular military whose families are all too often on food stamps.
Oh and I wanted to repeat something I heard Jenine Garafalo (Sorry if I butchered the name) say on the Daily Show. "At this point, as much as I hate to say it, I consider a vote for Bush to be a character flaw." Amen. I mean how bad do they have to fuck up before you admit Bush is an incompetent ass who's done nothing but make us all LESS safe, not more.
I haven't written in a week because I've been at my Uncle's housesitting and he had no internet connection, but that doesn't mean the world stopped spinning. Far from it. Indeed, every time I think we've reached the height of our problems, something comes along that makes it worse. It's getting to the point that I'm starting to wonder if those rumors about Shrub trying to push us into "The Rapture" don't have something to them. I do know that those pictures of the torture of Iraqi prisoners, and the subsequent US reaction to them have done nothing but make the entire situation worse. I suppose we could nuke Fallujah or something, but that's the only way I can think of to make matters worse than they are.
Do me a favor, every time you hear phrases like "civilian contractors" and "private security forces," think one thing, "mercenaries." That's who they are. Hired killers from the US and more disturbingly, south america. That's right, remember all the "training" we did in the 80's (and to a lesser extent in the 90's) of "paramilitary" forces in places like Columbia and El Salvador? Training that led to some of the worst human rights violations in the southern hemisphere? Well, a lot of those folks are now in Iraq, doing what they do best, torturing and killing. IN fact, in terms of sheer troop numbers it goes, US military, UK military, Mercenaries. So much for a "coalition of the willing" yeah, willing to get paid. THe mercenaries make 100,000 a year plus, our troops, who we are supposed to be "supporting" make 30 at the outside. And ALL of the money is coming from the same place, our pockets. It's a sad state of affairs. Also, the mercenaries are in a grey zone as far as the law goes. They're not subject to US law, there is no Iraqi law, and they're not subject to military codes of conduct. According to the people they've arrested in connection with the torture, it was primarily the military Intelligence folks, and the Mercenaries that were "egging on" the despicable behavior. Oh, and since they are downplaying this as much as possible on the news, it should be stressed that the people in these prisons are NOT Iraqi soldiers. They are civilians, swept up in raids and middle of the night black bag jobs, often on little or no evidence of any wrong doing.
I heard Rush say that "this is war and war isn't pretty" in an attempt to justify or at the very least downplay the actions. Like that fat fuck knows what war is like, he's spent not a single minute in a uniform of any type. Neither has Hannity, or any of these other right wing nut jobs. The Pentagon's own report is said to describe the problem as systemic, no matter how much the Shrubsters say it was the act of a few bad apples.
Which brings us to the 25 billion dollars that's "for the troops." Let's save that money and bring them home. Besides, considering the disparity in pay scale between the troops and the mercenaries, most of the cash will make it into the coffers of the mercenary company's not the pockets of the regular military whose families are all too often on food stamps.
Oh and I wanted to repeat something I heard Jenine Garafalo (Sorry if I butchered the name) say on the Daily Show. "At this point, as much as I hate to say it, I consider a vote for Bush to be a character flaw." Amen. I mean how bad do they have to fuck up before you admit Bush is an incompetent ass who's done nothing but make us all LESS safe, not more.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Bush/Cheney and the 9-11 Warren Report, er Commission
It seemed for a while that the 9-11 commission, while a little watered down, might at least share some things in common with what is usually considered an "investigation." The commission stood strong on getting Condi (Alfred E. Newman's Sister- What her worry?) to say something (even if they were lies) to the public. But the commission's overall cave-in (by not having her speak under oath and letting her set the amount of time she would publicly testify) emboldened (Bush word) Shrub and Voldemort (Cheney). They are going to testify tomorrow. But there will be no video. No audio. No transcripts. No notes. Oh yeah, they won't be under oath, and they refused to speak at all unless they got to come as a team.
So, the long and the short of it?
Bush is so stupid, he can't speak alone, not under oath, with absolutely no way for anyone to prove what he said. How is this possible? How can this guy be called "President?" How do his Secret Service guys keep from laughing?
And real quick on the Kerry Military record controversy. I'm not a big fan of the guy, I'm really not. But how is it the man can be criticized by the Shrub White House when Bush was, at the exact same time, sitting in Texas sniffing coke and not showing up for his own "richguy" version of service to his country. I only served in Americorps and what I did was more important than Bush's "protection" of Texas airspace from the Viet Cong. Yet the military supports Bush. Life's full of mysteries, I gotta tell you.
It seemed for a while that the 9-11 commission, while a little watered down, might at least share some things in common with what is usually considered an "investigation." The commission stood strong on getting Condi (Alfred E. Newman's Sister- What her worry?) to say something (even if they were lies) to the public. But the commission's overall cave-in (by not having her speak under oath and letting her set the amount of time she would publicly testify) emboldened (Bush word) Shrub and Voldemort (Cheney). They are going to testify tomorrow. But there will be no video. No audio. No transcripts. No notes. Oh yeah, they won't be under oath, and they refused to speak at all unless they got to come as a team.
So, the long and the short of it?
Bush is so stupid, he can't speak alone, not under oath, with absolutely no way for anyone to prove what he said. How is this possible? How can this guy be called "President?" How do his Secret Service guys keep from laughing?
And real quick on the Kerry Military record controversy. I'm not a big fan of the guy, I'm really not. But how is it the man can be criticized by the Shrub White House when Bush was, at the exact same time, sitting in Texas sniffing coke and not showing up for his own "richguy" version of service to his country. I only served in Americorps and what I did was more important than Bush's "protection" of Texas airspace from the Viet Cong. Yet the military supports Bush. Life's full of mysteries, I gotta tell you.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Controlling the Debate
I just want to point a brilliant Orwellian maneuver by Rove and the White House in reference to the "coffin picture" issue. They're evil bastards, but they're really good at what they do.
You notice, in the current debate over whether or not showing pictures of coffins during a war is "disrespectful," a huge question is being completely ignored.
We don't ever see actual dead people. Us or them.
Don't you think if they were showing what was really happening over there; the death, the carnage, the intestines all smeared around, don't you think people would be more than a tad less aloof about the war and about keeping out troops in Iraq?
By making the debate about whether or not we can see coffins on TV we completely go around the issue. People on both sides yell back and forth at one another and we have the appearance of a debate. It's not. It's a distraction just as much as the stupid OJ Simpson... er, Michael Jackson case.
The idea that showing an anonymous coffin on TV is disrespectful to a family is ludicrous at best- it's a coffin. The debate should be about the actual people we (in my opinion) SHOULD be seeing everyday on the news. We should see our soldiers and the Iraqi dead alike.
700+ of our soldiers dead and not a single image of what that really means. These are really dead people. They're not video game figures or extras in a movie. It really pisses me off that people who say they "support the troops" are the same people who think we should censor all of the ickiness of war and focus on the bravado and bullshit that goes along with every imperial enterprise since Rome. War is blood and nastiness and terrible atrocities by its very nature; pretending this isn't the case isn't just disingenuous. It's morally repugnant. The people that do it have a special place in Hell waiting for them. (Or I would think so if I believed in Hell.)
So every time you hear people ranting back and forth at one another about the coffins, don't fall for the mirage. Your watching a magician waving his hands around while the assistant sneaks out of the box. The dead are far too important for us to fall for the smoke and mirrors.
Wait for the battle of Fallujah. There's going to be a bunch of coffins on both sides. It's going to be terrible. And we won't see it. We should. Our taxes are paying for the blood.
I just want to point a brilliant Orwellian maneuver by Rove and the White House in reference to the "coffin picture" issue. They're evil bastards, but they're really good at what they do.
You notice, in the current debate over whether or not showing pictures of coffins during a war is "disrespectful," a huge question is being completely ignored.
We don't ever see actual dead people. Us or them.
Don't you think if they were showing what was really happening over there; the death, the carnage, the intestines all smeared around, don't you think people would be more than a tad less aloof about the war and about keeping out troops in Iraq?
By making the debate about whether or not we can see coffins on TV we completely go around the issue. People on both sides yell back and forth at one another and we have the appearance of a debate. It's not. It's a distraction just as much as the stupid OJ Simpson... er, Michael Jackson case.
The idea that showing an anonymous coffin on TV is disrespectful to a family is ludicrous at best- it's a coffin. The debate should be about the actual people we (in my opinion) SHOULD be seeing everyday on the news. We should see our soldiers and the Iraqi dead alike.
700+ of our soldiers dead and not a single image of what that really means. These are really dead people. They're not video game figures or extras in a movie. It really pisses me off that people who say they "support the troops" are the same people who think we should censor all of the ickiness of war and focus on the bravado and bullshit that goes along with every imperial enterprise since Rome. War is blood and nastiness and terrible atrocities by its very nature; pretending this isn't the case isn't just disingenuous. It's morally repugnant. The people that do it have a special place in Hell waiting for them. (Or I would think so if I believed in Hell.)
So every time you hear people ranting back and forth at one another about the coffins, don't fall for the mirage. Your watching a magician waving his hands around while the assistant sneaks out of the box. The dead are far too important for us to fall for the smoke and mirrors.
Wait for the battle of Fallujah. There's going to be a bunch of coffins on both sides. It's going to be terrible. And we won't see it. We should. Our taxes are paying for the blood.
Friday, April 23, 2004
OVERWHELMED
There are so many things that are so crazy in the world of politics I almost feel stupid trying to nail down one thing to write about. The list keeps getting longer and longer and I honestly don't understand why even the Repub controlled everything is managing to not react. The fact that Kerry isn't beating Bush by 90 percentage points shows just how terrible a candidate he really is. Is it too late to switch to some guy with a pulse who's not in the back pocket of the special interests? That'd be nice.
Let's just have a partial quick run through.
The Iraq war.
Not for democracy. No WMD. Lying about lead up to war. 700 Million in misappropriated funds a'la Iran Contra. We're threatening to destroy Fallujah completely. Bush hasn't made any mistakes that he can think of, including his claim that Rumsfeld is the Secretary of State. Increased destabilization of US respect all over middle east because of our uncritical support of the only guy crazier than Shrub, Ariel Sharon. They're gonna roll Bin Laden out in October or if not we're going to be "attacked" and we'll never know if it's us or them whose doing it. They're firing people for having the nerve to show pictures that demonstrate people actually die in wars, like this is some kind of surprise. They've still not told us who narced out Valerie Plame. We told Prince Bandar about the war before Shrub told the spegghetti spined Powell. And that's just off the top of my head.
At home.
the environments fucked. the economy is fucked. There are no jobs that pay living wages, no benefits either. In Florida Bush's idiot brother is "fast tracking" graduates who can leave high school without any US history or government classes. That's what we need, LESS educated citizens. Great idea. Every child is being left behind. No bill of rights anymore, except to carry an assault rifle of course. And on and on...
But of course the news media is focusing on Michael Jackson. I mean, it's not like there's anything else to talk about right?
There are so many things that are so crazy in the world of politics I almost feel stupid trying to nail down one thing to write about. The list keeps getting longer and longer and I honestly don't understand why even the Repub controlled everything is managing to not react. The fact that Kerry isn't beating Bush by 90 percentage points shows just how terrible a candidate he really is. Is it too late to switch to some guy with a pulse who's not in the back pocket of the special interests? That'd be nice.
Let's just have a partial quick run through.
The Iraq war.
Not for democracy. No WMD. Lying about lead up to war. 700 Million in misappropriated funds a'la Iran Contra. We're threatening to destroy Fallujah completely. Bush hasn't made any mistakes that he can think of, including his claim that Rumsfeld is the Secretary of State. Increased destabilization of US respect all over middle east because of our uncritical support of the only guy crazier than Shrub, Ariel Sharon. They're gonna roll Bin Laden out in October or if not we're going to be "attacked" and we'll never know if it's us or them whose doing it. They're firing people for having the nerve to show pictures that demonstrate people actually die in wars, like this is some kind of surprise. They've still not told us who narced out Valerie Plame. We told Prince Bandar about the war before Shrub told the spegghetti spined Powell. And that's just off the top of my head.
At home.
the environments fucked. the economy is fucked. There are no jobs that pay living wages, no benefits either. In Florida Bush's idiot brother is "fast tracking" graduates who can leave high school without any US history or government classes. That's what we need, LESS educated citizens. Great idea. Every child is being left behind. No bill of rights anymore, except to carry an assault rifle of course. And on and on...
But of course the news media is focusing on Michael Jackson. I mean, it's not like there's anything else to talk about right?
Monday, April 19, 2004
Phish Show Review
4/15/2004 Thursday Night Vegas
My first Vegas show after 10 years of seeing the band and I gotta say I wasn’t impressed. The lot was pretty cool even though there weren’t nearly as many people as I thought there would be in Vegas. For the first time I wasn’t just there to see the show but I also had my first novel Portal, self-published, to sell and found quite happily that I was correct that socially conscious sci-fi could sell on a Phish lot.
I got three tix for 20 bucks each which was really nice, this 42.50 a show thing is ridiculous, they need to play more and charge less- these are rough financial times and the high ticket prices are unnecessarily painful.
The whole show was general admission, a nice touch, but I agree that it was immediately obvious that Chris Kuroda is crucial as the lighting would be just that much off the entire show.
They started with Buried Alive and it was immediately obvious the sound sucked. And I was straight in front of the stage albeit in the balcony. Still, the sound was as bad as in the World Music Theatre here in Chicago and that’s reaaaally bad. I don’t know if the sound was screwy down on stage too but something was definitely going on down there. Even though it sounded like a bad old analog tape the ACDC Bag that followed was great until the end when the sound deteriorated even further. Trey said something about an annoying sound, but I couldn’t be sure what he was saying. He played a crazy distorted note that made me think they were going to bust into BBFCFM but it turned into Limb. The rest of the set list featured the band playing pretty, but very slow jams that sucked the life out of what was initially a very loving crowd. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t really interesting either. The Stash>Timber was cool, but very mellow and again the sound was ick.
Second set was a huge improvement. The sound was 100% better and it must have been apparent down on the stage too because the whole show had a lot more energy. Lights were off badly on several occasions. 46 Days was nice. But the highlight was the 2001>DWD>Free>Scent run which was more than worth the price of admission. Jenn came out and jammed with Trey with a sloppy but fairly humorous rendition of Jay Z’s Girls Girls Girls before returning to finish the Russian influenced portion of Scent. Then they played Secret Smile and Crowd Control the first time I’d seen either live and gotta say, I think Trey’s using his best material with the solo band cause yuck. I actually thought Crowd Control was a bad Cheap Trick cover. They ended with a pretty but standard Traffic Light and encored with a nice Sneakin Sally with a vocal jam that featured the cococut song “They put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up” I’m pretty sure I heard Trey saying “The sound was screwed up” during the end of the vocal jam but half way through traffic light the sound dropped out again and I couldn’t be sure.
After Miami, Vegas was a let down. Oh well, everybody has rough days, they’re still the greatest band in the world and I’ll be there with bells on all summer.
4/15/2004 Thursday Night Vegas
My first Vegas show after 10 years of seeing the band and I gotta say I wasn’t impressed. The lot was pretty cool even though there weren’t nearly as many people as I thought there would be in Vegas. For the first time I wasn’t just there to see the show but I also had my first novel Portal, self-published, to sell and found quite happily that I was correct that socially conscious sci-fi could sell on a Phish lot.
I got three tix for 20 bucks each which was really nice, this 42.50 a show thing is ridiculous, they need to play more and charge less- these are rough financial times and the high ticket prices are unnecessarily painful.
The whole show was general admission, a nice touch, but I agree that it was immediately obvious that Chris Kuroda is crucial as the lighting would be just that much off the entire show.
They started with Buried Alive and it was immediately obvious the sound sucked. And I was straight in front of the stage albeit in the balcony. Still, the sound was as bad as in the World Music Theatre here in Chicago and that’s reaaaally bad. I don’t know if the sound was screwy down on stage too but something was definitely going on down there. Even though it sounded like a bad old analog tape the ACDC Bag that followed was great until the end when the sound deteriorated even further. Trey said something about an annoying sound, but I couldn’t be sure what he was saying. He played a crazy distorted note that made me think they were going to bust into BBFCFM but it turned into Limb. The rest of the set list featured the band playing pretty, but very slow jams that sucked the life out of what was initially a very loving crowd. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t really interesting either. The Stash>Timber was cool, but very mellow and again the sound was ick.
Second set was a huge improvement. The sound was 100% better and it must have been apparent down on the stage too because the whole show had a lot more energy. Lights were off badly on several occasions. 46 Days was nice. But the highlight was the 2001>DWD>Free>Scent run which was more than worth the price of admission. Jenn came out and jammed with Trey with a sloppy but fairly humorous rendition of Jay Z’s Girls Girls Girls before returning to finish the Russian influenced portion of Scent. Then they played Secret Smile and Crowd Control the first time I’d seen either live and gotta say, I think Trey’s using his best material with the solo band cause yuck. I actually thought Crowd Control was a bad Cheap Trick cover. They ended with a pretty but standard Traffic Light and encored with a nice Sneakin Sally with a vocal jam that featured the cococut song “They put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up” I’m pretty sure I heard Trey saying “The sound was screwed up” during the end of the vocal jam but half way through traffic light the sound dropped out again and I couldn’t be sure.
After Miami, Vegas was a let down. Oh well, everybody has rough days, they’re still the greatest band in the world and I’ll be there with bells on all summer.
From the same article- Family Values Anyone?
Did Mr. Bush ask his father for any advice? (about iraq) “I asked the president about this. And President Bush said, ‘Well, no,’ and then he got defensive about it,” says Woodward. “Then he said something that really struck me. He said of his father, ‘He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength.’ And then he said, ‘There's a higher Father that I appeal to.’"
Did Mr. Bush ask his father for any advice? (about iraq) “I asked the president about this. And President Bush said, ‘Well, no,’ and then he got defensive about it,” says Woodward. “Then he said something that really struck me. He said of his father, ‘He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength.’ And then he said, ‘There's a higher Father that I appeal to.’"
BUSH MUST BE IMPEACHED
THIS MUST BE READ TO BE BELIEVED!!!
Bob Woodward's got a new book out. And I'll be damned if he didn't get a second "Watergate" level story. El Shrubo apparently misappropriated funds that Congress was told was going toward the Afghanistan war and funneled it to make war preparations in and around Iraq. This quiet funding initially started 72 days after 9-11.
It's Iran/Contra with the same damn people all over again.
Oh yeah, watch the video clip too. In it Woodward says he asked the shrubster what he thought history would think of him. His response, "History; we won't know, we'll all be dead."
If you're not afraid, you're nuts.
THIS MUST BE READ TO BE BELIEVED!!!
Bob Woodward's got a new book out. And I'll be damned if he didn't get a second "Watergate" level story. El Shrubo apparently misappropriated funds that Congress was told was going toward the Afghanistan war and funneled it to make war preparations in and around Iraq. This quiet funding initially started 72 days after 9-11.
It's Iran/Contra with the same damn people all over again.
Oh yeah, watch the video clip too. In it Woodward says he asked the shrubster what he thought history would think of him. His response, "History; we won't know, we'll all be dead."
If you're not afraid, you're nuts.
President? What President?
Most Americans get 2 weeks vacation a year. Maximimum. And it's usually not paid, unless you're one of the lucky few who belong to the quickly dissapearing unions.
Yet, according to the Washington Post:
"This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency."
40%. Hey! All you people that still support this jackass. 40% that means four out of every 10 days he was supposed to be at work he was sitting on his ass instead of running the country. How about you? Do you get that many days off? Or are you working your fingers to the bone to keep the damn cable on so you can numb your mind from your shit ass job?
What's the guy gotta do to lose your support? Rape your Mothers? He's killing our soldiers for his oil buddies (cheney), giving our air and water to polluting corporations, and turned our Bill of Rights over to a self righteous prig who can't beat a dead guy in an election (ashcroft). You're not safer. Period. If you think we're safer watch and/or read some news from other countries. Even our allies are pissed at us.
Oh yeah, and for the first time Bremer in Iraq said we might not be able to turn over power to the Iraqis on June 30th even though Shrub was adamant we were turning it over no mattter what just last week in his hilarious press conference of bumbling stupidity.
Most Americans get 2 weeks vacation a year. Maximimum. And it's usually not paid, unless you're one of the lucky few who belong to the quickly dissapearing unions.
Yet, according to the Washington Post:
"This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency."
40%. Hey! All you people that still support this jackass. 40% that means four out of every 10 days he was supposed to be at work he was sitting on his ass instead of running the country. How about you? Do you get that many days off? Or are you working your fingers to the bone to keep the damn cable on so you can numb your mind from your shit ass job?
What's the guy gotta do to lose your support? Rape your Mothers? He's killing our soldiers for his oil buddies (cheney), giving our air and water to polluting corporations, and turned our Bill of Rights over to a self righteous prig who can't beat a dead guy in an election (ashcroft). You're not safer. Period. If you think we're safer watch and/or read some news from other countries. Even our allies are pissed at us.
Oh yeah, and for the first time Bremer in Iraq said we might not be able to turn over power to the Iraqis on June 30th even though Shrub was adamant we were turning it over no mattter what just last week in his hilarious press conference of bumbling stupidity.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Bush's Hilariously Inept Press Conference and a Unique Take on The No Child Left Behind Act
OK, Bush’s “press conference yesterday was quite possibly one of the funniest things on TV in the last 10 years. The only problem, it was the leader of the free world talking.
I took notes while he spoke so let’s see what we learned by listening to the densest shrub in history:
The violence in Iraq is casued by 3 groups.
1) Hussein sympathizers. Yeah sure. 2)Islamic militants in Fallujah and Terrorists from other countries. 3) The riots in the south are being incited by al-sadr and his “illegal militia.” He wants to “destroy democratic hopes” and is trying for a “power grab.” The other major cleric “supports us” yet no one from his organization will talk to any American representative.
What it isn’t is a civil war or popular uprising which means that’s exactly what it is.
Most iraqis “oppose dictatorship.” Controversial statement there.
“they want freedom and independence” No shit
“Iraq will be peaceful or it will be a place of violence”
Transfer of sovereignty June 30 and we’re going to hold that date because “We’re not an imperial power” we’re a “liberating power.”
Shrub called the mercenaries “Contract workers”
We’re going to “prevent harm to innocent civilians” even though we will use “decisive force” to maintain order.
He keeps saying coalition forces even though it’s pretty much just US and Britain and mercenaries. He mentions the American embassy that will be opened but he doesn’t mention of how big it is. (It will be the largest embassy in the world.)
He also laid out a timetable for Iraq democracy. Elections for national assembly next january. By dec 15, 2005 iraq will be a democracy. It’s just that simple.
Then he said that Rumsfeld the secretary of state. Nope sorry dumbass.
He looks up for maybe one word per sentence, he’s reading off of a paper with little understanding of what he’s saying. He can barely read the goddamn paper.
Now is the time and Iraq is the place where the Islamic terrorists are fighting “the civilized world” Like in Beirut???? Beirut didn’t have Islamic terrorists.
911 911 911
The terrorists lost an ally in Iraq. LIE LIE LIE LIE The terrorists hated Hussein and he hated them.
So while we’re definitely leaving, we’re not leaving until we’ve won, which will be by June 30th no matter what.
That was just the speech part. Then he started to answer the reporter’s questions and things got really funny.
Vietnam question> He says the Vietnam comparison is false. That’s it. It sends the “wrong message” to the troops.
Freedom is hard to achieve we have “a hard time in our own country achieving freedom” what does that mean? Freedom is easy, it’s opressing people while saying they’re free that’s hard.
He doesn’t make decisions based on polls i.e. the will of the people.
The theme of the entire question and answer period was “we’re changing the world”
He informs us that the generals talk “all the time” Well that’s a relief.
We’re not going anywhere. “They need us there.”
Once we transfer sovereignty we’ll enter a “security agreement.” This is, of course, non-negotiable.
Criticizing iraqi security run by iraqis
Saddam was a threat. Why? He coddled terrorists????
He was threat to region and us
To UN: Either you take care of him we will
We needed to work with people by alienating them
Talking about Iraq and the UN he said Saddam had to “Disarm or face consequences” except he didn’t have anything to disarm so what exactly the hell was he supposed to do?
Then came my second favorite thing Shrub said in the whole speech.
Talking about Iraq he said, “they’re hiding things. If you hide things you are afraid of getting caught because you did something wrong.” This is coming from the most secretive white house in history. According to the man’s own logic Cheney is hiding the Energy policy meeting minutes because he did something wrong.
The Iraqis are pleased we got rid of Saddam BUT they have a fear of making decisions towards liberty.
Then he said the best thing of the whole press conference.
“I wouldn’t be happy if I were occupied either.”
He refused to answer the question if he felt in any way personally responsible about 911.
Our foreign policy was described thusly, “Go on offense and stay on offense to secure the country.”
He CANNOT say he fucked up, on anything. Rove and Condi are looking at Bush like he’s a stupid dumb puppy. On several occasions he’s just babbling for literally minutes on end.
Reporter asks about whether we deserve an apology and will you give them one?
NOPE. He’s sick when he thinks about the death. But he’s not sorry. The person responsible was Osama. He’s not. He keeps calling on John, 3 questions so far.
Then I found out something I didn’t know. In terms of troop numbers we have the most, Britain is second and third? Mercenaries. That’s right, the third largest contributor to troop strength are hired guns who are being paid @ $100,000 a year.
“They (terrorists)want us to leave. We’re not going to leave.”
He calls everyone who criticizes his policies racists by saying that some people don’t think “brown people” are capable of maintaining a democracy. Yes, he actually said “brown people.”
He won’t say why he needs Cheney with him for 9-11 commission. He gets really flustered and pissed off at the reporter who has the nerve to ask.
There’s an eruption and he asks some guy that gives him a meatball question that he then stutters through. You can tell he’s thrown by the Cheney question and he descends into mumbling and babbling again.
Probably going to be his last question
Will it be worth it if you lose your job?
“I don’t plan on losing my job.” I bet you don’t you cheating fuck. But he never says if it’d be worth it or not. He’s looking forward to the campaign. Yeah I bet.
He’s mad that he didn’t have time to plan for the question about what the biggest mistake of his life was. He doesn’t know. He liked Afghanistan. He still would invade iraq even if there’s not weapons. But then he backs up and says that we’re still going to find the weapons. He admits not a single mistake. NOTHING. What a total dick.
Then he’s confident he’s made mistakes-- but he can’t think of a single one. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. He can’t think of one. The worst administration in US history and he can’t even think of a single mistake he’s made. That’s how self-aware this guy is, he can’t think of a single mistake.
But whatever mistakes he made he says he learned from them.
Can you win the war on terror?
Of course. Number of times a large wountry has won a guerilla war in the modern era: ZERO.
Freedom is the Almighty’s gift to the world.
The almighty the Muslim’s believe in? That almighty? Or what about the Buddhist almighty. Which one?
“I need to learn to communicate better. I will say it as best as I possibly can.”
If he says something, he means it. That’s the end.
What a joke. Anyone who votes for this guy must’ve undergone some kind of lobotomy. But funny, man is he funny.
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND- The Football Version
1 All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.
2 All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically or genetic abilities or disabilities…
3 Talented players will be asked to work out on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don’t like football.
4 Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in fourth, eighth, and 11th grades.
5 This will create a New Age of sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent, and all teams will reach the same minimal goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind.
OK, Bush’s “press conference yesterday was quite possibly one of the funniest things on TV in the last 10 years. The only problem, it was the leader of the free world talking.
I took notes while he spoke so let’s see what we learned by listening to the densest shrub in history:
The violence in Iraq is casued by 3 groups.
1) Hussein sympathizers. Yeah sure. 2)Islamic militants in Fallujah and Terrorists from other countries. 3) The riots in the south are being incited by al-sadr and his “illegal militia.” He wants to “destroy democratic hopes” and is trying for a “power grab.” The other major cleric “supports us” yet no one from his organization will talk to any American representative.
What it isn’t is a civil war or popular uprising which means that’s exactly what it is.
Most iraqis “oppose dictatorship.” Controversial statement there.
“they want freedom and independence” No shit
“Iraq will be peaceful or it will be a place of violence”
Transfer of sovereignty June 30 and we’re going to hold that date because “We’re not an imperial power” we’re a “liberating power.”
Shrub called the mercenaries “Contract workers”
We’re going to “prevent harm to innocent civilians” even though we will use “decisive force” to maintain order.
He keeps saying coalition forces even though it’s pretty much just US and Britain and mercenaries. He mentions the American embassy that will be opened but he doesn’t mention of how big it is. (It will be the largest embassy in the world.)
He also laid out a timetable for Iraq democracy. Elections for national assembly next january. By dec 15, 2005 iraq will be a democracy. It’s just that simple.
Then he said that Rumsfeld the secretary of state. Nope sorry dumbass.
He looks up for maybe one word per sentence, he’s reading off of a paper with little understanding of what he’s saying. He can barely read the goddamn paper.
Now is the time and Iraq is the place where the Islamic terrorists are fighting “the civilized world” Like in Beirut???? Beirut didn’t have Islamic terrorists.
911 911 911
The terrorists lost an ally in Iraq. LIE LIE LIE LIE The terrorists hated Hussein and he hated them.
So while we’re definitely leaving, we’re not leaving until we’ve won, which will be by June 30th no matter what.
That was just the speech part. Then he started to answer the reporter’s questions and things got really funny.
Vietnam question> He says the Vietnam comparison is false. That’s it. It sends the “wrong message” to the troops.
Freedom is hard to achieve we have “a hard time in our own country achieving freedom” what does that mean? Freedom is easy, it’s opressing people while saying they’re free that’s hard.
He doesn’t make decisions based on polls i.e. the will of the people.
The theme of the entire question and answer period was “we’re changing the world”
He informs us that the generals talk “all the time” Well that’s a relief.
We’re not going anywhere. “They need us there.”
Once we transfer sovereignty we’ll enter a “security agreement.” This is, of course, non-negotiable.
Criticizing iraqi security run by iraqis
Saddam was a threat. Why? He coddled terrorists????
He was threat to region and us
To UN: Either you take care of him we will
We needed to work with people by alienating them
Talking about Iraq and the UN he said Saddam had to “Disarm or face consequences” except he didn’t have anything to disarm so what exactly the hell was he supposed to do?
Then came my second favorite thing Shrub said in the whole speech.
Talking about Iraq he said, “they’re hiding things. If you hide things you are afraid of getting caught because you did something wrong.” This is coming from the most secretive white house in history. According to the man’s own logic Cheney is hiding the Energy policy meeting minutes because he did something wrong.
The Iraqis are pleased we got rid of Saddam BUT they have a fear of making decisions towards liberty.
Then he said the best thing of the whole press conference.
“I wouldn’t be happy if I were occupied either.”
He refused to answer the question if he felt in any way personally responsible about 911.
Our foreign policy was described thusly, “Go on offense and stay on offense to secure the country.”
He CANNOT say he fucked up, on anything. Rove and Condi are looking at Bush like he’s a stupid dumb puppy. On several occasions he’s just babbling for literally minutes on end.
Reporter asks about whether we deserve an apology and will you give them one?
NOPE. He’s sick when he thinks about the death. But he’s not sorry. The person responsible was Osama. He’s not. He keeps calling on John, 3 questions so far.
Then I found out something I didn’t know. In terms of troop numbers we have the most, Britain is second and third? Mercenaries. That’s right, the third largest contributor to troop strength are hired guns who are being paid @ $100,000 a year.
“They (terrorists)want us to leave. We’re not going to leave.”
He calls everyone who criticizes his policies racists by saying that some people don’t think “brown people” are capable of maintaining a democracy. Yes, he actually said “brown people.”
He won’t say why he needs Cheney with him for 9-11 commission. He gets really flustered and pissed off at the reporter who has the nerve to ask.
There’s an eruption and he asks some guy that gives him a meatball question that he then stutters through. You can tell he’s thrown by the Cheney question and he descends into mumbling and babbling again.
Probably going to be his last question
Will it be worth it if you lose your job?
“I don’t plan on losing my job.” I bet you don’t you cheating fuck. But he never says if it’d be worth it or not. He’s looking forward to the campaign. Yeah I bet.
He’s mad that he didn’t have time to plan for the question about what the biggest mistake of his life was. He doesn’t know. He liked Afghanistan. He still would invade iraq even if there’s not weapons. But then he backs up and says that we’re still going to find the weapons. He admits not a single mistake. NOTHING. What a total dick.
Then he’s confident he’s made mistakes-- but he can’t think of a single one. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. He can’t think of one. The worst administration in US history and he can’t even think of a single mistake he’s made. That’s how self-aware this guy is, he can’t think of a single mistake.
But whatever mistakes he made he says he learned from them.
Can you win the war on terror?
Of course. Number of times a large wountry has won a guerilla war in the modern era: ZERO.
Freedom is the Almighty’s gift to the world.
The almighty the Muslim’s believe in? That almighty? Or what about the Buddhist almighty. Which one?
“I need to learn to communicate better. I will say it as best as I possibly can.”
If he says something, he means it. That’s the end.
What a joke. Anyone who votes for this guy must’ve undergone some kind of lobotomy. But funny, man is he funny.
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND- The Football Version
1 All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.
2 All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically or genetic abilities or disabilities…
3 Talented players will be asked to work out on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don’t like football.
4 Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in fourth, eighth, and 11th grades.
5 This will create a New Age of sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent, and all teams will reach the same minimal goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind.
Friday, April 09, 2004
John Kerry
If you're one of those overzealous Democrats that think John Kerry is the savior of the Democratic party you should read this article by William greedier. Kerry's heading towards corporate whoreship in it's most corrosive form. So the only thing we're going to gain by overthrowing the Fascist-Fundamentalist Christian (as opposed to the regular Christians who are on the whole very nice folks) Shrub Administration is to replace it with a Fascist Corporate Kerry Administration that makes us happy on the less-important social issues but screws us in our ability to make more than $8.00/hour with no benefits. And it's not like the profits are being fairly distributed in the countries the jobs are going to. Those people are being paid even less and 5,000 rich guys are taking all the cash. No matter what you think about whether Nader is right or wrong, the info in this article is why Nader is running.
If you're one of those overzealous Democrats that think John Kerry is the savior of the Democratic party you should read this article by William greedier. Kerry's heading towards corporate whoreship in it's most corrosive form. So the only thing we're going to gain by overthrowing the Fascist-Fundamentalist Christian (as opposed to the regular Christians who are on the whole very nice folks) Shrub Administration is to replace it with a Fascist Corporate Kerry Administration that makes us happy on the less-important social issues but screws us in our ability to make more than $8.00/hour with no benefits. And it's not like the profits are being fairly distributed in the countries the jobs are going to. Those people are being paid even less and 5,000 rich guys are taking all the cash. No matter what you think about whether Nader is right or wrong, the info in this article is why Nader is running.
Book News and a Smidgen about Condi
My novel, PORTAL came in yesterday. The books look great. I'm going to see how they sell and if I can increase my site traffic. If so, I plan to sell the book online through PayPal.
I'll be out of town this week so no new postings. Get to go see Phish in Vegas as well as Vickei's Master's defense. If you're one of the people who're here because they bought a book in Vegas, Welcome, I hope you had a good show.
Real quick,
Condi's a liar.
BEN-VENISTE: Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6th PDB warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?
RICE: I believe the title was, Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.
Now, the ...
BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.
RICE: No, Mr. Ben-Veniste ...
BEN-VENISTE: I will get into the ...
RICE: I would like to finish my point here.
BEN-VENISTE: I didn't know there was a point.
RICE: Given that _ you asked me whether or not it warned of attacks.
BEN-VENISTE: I asked you what the title was.
RICE: You said, did it not warn of attacks. It did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information. And it did not, in fact, warn of any coming attacks inside the United States.
See! She's a liar. Not only that, she seems to think the entire US population is dumber than a box of hammers. What's really scary, she might be right.
Oh yeah,
Check this out too! It's a picture of ashcroft made of porno pictures. Now that's a good use of free time!
My novel, PORTAL came in yesterday. The books look great. I'm going to see how they sell and if I can increase my site traffic. If so, I plan to sell the book online through PayPal.
I'll be out of town this week so no new postings. Get to go see Phish in Vegas as well as Vickei's Master's defense. If you're one of the people who're here because they bought a book in Vegas, Welcome, I hope you had a good show.
Real quick,
Condi's a liar.
BEN-VENISTE: Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6th PDB warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?
RICE: I believe the title was, Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.
Now, the ...
BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.
RICE: No, Mr. Ben-Veniste ...
BEN-VENISTE: I will get into the ...
RICE: I would like to finish my point here.
BEN-VENISTE: I didn't know there was a point.
RICE: Given that _ you asked me whether or not it warned of attacks.
BEN-VENISTE: I asked you what the title was.
RICE: You said, did it not warn of attacks. It did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information. And it did not, in fact, warn of any coming attacks inside the United States.
See! She's a liar. Not only that, she seems to think the entire US population is dumber than a box of hammers. What's really scary, she might be right.
Oh yeah,
Check this out too! It's a picture of ashcroft made of porno pictures. Now that's a good use of free time!
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Kerry and Nader
I am one of the minority of people that doesn't think that John Kerry has the right to my vote simply because the Corporate Arm of the Dems get him nominated. I have, up to this point, been a supporter of Nader. But then, at some point during the day yesterday, I heard a much better idea on the increasingly wonderful Air America radio.
John Kerry should call up Nader and offer him the job of Head of the SEC; (Securities and Exchange Commision) the agency in charge of keeping an eye on corporations. Then, if Nader accepts it, the Progressives in the party know there's someone hardcore going after the Corporados.
If Kerry offers the job publicly, and Nader rejects it, Nader's support evaporates like a glass of water on the sun becuase it shows he's not really concerned with anything other than being president, which isn't a good thing. I think he'd accept the job though, I really do. I know I'd feel better if I knew Kerry was insightful and clever enough to think of this on his own and the fact that neither Ralph's nor Kerry's people haven't yet isn't a good sign for either candidate.
Also, too many people are dying in Iraq. This is getting really scary. Please BRING THE SOLDIERS HOME! NO WAR FOR HALLIBURTON!
I am one of the minority of people that doesn't think that John Kerry has the right to my vote simply because the Corporate Arm of the Dems get him nominated. I have, up to this point, been a supporter of Nader. But then, at some point during the day yesterday, I heard a much better idea on the increasingly wonderful Air America radio.
John Kerry should call up Nader and offer him the job of Head of the SEC; (Securities and Exchange Commision) the agency in charge of keeping an eye on corporations. Then, if Nader accepts it, the Progressives in the party know there's someone hardcore going after the Corporados.
If Kerry offers the job publicly, and Nader rejects it, Nader's support evaporates like a glass of water on the sun becuase it shows he's not really concerned with anything other than being president, which isn't a good thing. I think he'd accept the job though, I really do. I know I'd feel better if I knew Kerry was insightful and clever enough to think of this on his own and the fact that neither Ralph's nor Kerry's people haven't yet isn't a good sign for either candidate.
Also, too many people are dying in Iraq. This is getting really scary. Please BRING THE SOLDIERS HOME! NO WAR FOR HALLIBURTON!
Monday, April 05, 2004
How many people have to say it before the Republicans get it through their thick-ass heads?
Yet another report is coming out about Shrub's obsession with Iraq. Sir Christopher Meyer, the ex-British ambassador to Washington has gone public that Bush brought up attacking Iraq in a private dinner with Tony Blair a WEEK after 9-11. Balir reportedly said that Afghanistan was the priority and while Bush agreed, he used the opportunity to say that Iraq should come right after Afghanistan. I personally read a number of reports in July/August of 2002 that made it clear we'd be attacking Iraq in Febuary or March- there were about 50 nurses at the University of Chicago Hospital ICU's that can vouch for me, I drove them nuts talking about it all the time. The repeated statements that Shrub and Company didn't plan on attacking Iraq the minute they walked into office is crap. They're liars and should be put in jail.
First O'Neil. Then Clarke. Now Meyer. Wake up people. Iraq is a scam. Look at gas prices. If you don't think there's a connection between this and that, you're crazy.
Bottom line. I cannot fucking believe the people against this war are being told they're "not supporting the troops." That's a monumentally stupid statement. I want them to come home where it's safe. Where nobody wants to drag them through the streets. The people who Fox news say support the troops want them to stay in a forign country where they're not wanted and don't belong so they can get killed so we can pay 2.50 a gallon for gas and give Halliburton, Cheney, and the Christian Right a new set of silver spoons. Yeah. You support the troops alright.
Sorry about the abnormal degree of name calling, but I'm fed up with the people in this country who just refuse to see that the Shrub has no leaves.
Yet another report is coming out about Shrub's obsession with Iraq. Sir Christopher Meyer, the ex-British ambassador to Washington has gone public that Bush brought up attacking Iraq in a private dinner with Tony Blair a WEEK after 9-11. Balir reportedly said that Afghanistan was the priority and while Bush agreed, he used the opportunity to say that Iraq should come right after Afghanistan. I personally read a number of reports in July/August of 2002 that made it clear we'd be attacking Iraq in Febuary or March- there were about 50 nurses at the University of Chicago Hospital ICU's that can vouch for me, I drove them nuts talking about it all the time. The repeated statements that Shrub and Company didn't plan on attacking Iraq the minute they walked into office is crap. They're liars and should be put in jail.
First O'Neil. Then Clarke. Now Meyer. Wake up people. Iraq is a scam. Look at gas prices. If you don't think there's a connection between this and that, you're crazy.
Bottom line. I cannot fucking believe the people against this war are being told they're "not supporting the troops." That's a monumentally stupid statement. I want them to come home where it's safe. Where nobody wants to drag them through the streets. The people who Fox news say support the troops want them to stay in a forign country where they're not wanted and don't belong so they can get killed so we can pay 2.50 a gallon for gas and give Halliburton, Cheney, and the Christian Right a new set of silver spoons. Yeah. You support the troops alright.
Sorry about the abnormal degree of name calling, but I'm fed up with the people in this country who just refuse to see that the Shrub has no leaves.
Saturday, April 03, 2004
April Fools Day
I only listen to a few radio stations. On April Fools Day I listened to three, WXRT, a rock station, Howard Stern on my way home from dropping off Vickei at work, and NPR. Of these three stations, XRT and Howie were doing jokes based on the idea that the FCC was going to start massively censoring their shows. Howard Stern didn't even go on the air for the first hour and a half. Two purposefully lame DJ's took his place. XRT's normal tag line is the "Chicago's Best Rock." They changed it to "Decent Rock." Everyone was saying it all of a sudden. You gotta be decent, they kept playing songs with swear words. They either bleeped the words out or a guy would say some random word that didn't fit with the rest of the lyrics. I don't know if other radio stations also made April Fools jokes along these lines but I'd be willing to bet there were quite a few.
Both of the jokes were funny. But they were scary too. I guess a whole bunch of people went apeshit, flooding both shows with angry and/or frightened calls. This is very telling.
How a society reacts to sarcasm is a good measuring stick of how bad things are. In this case I think it's obvious people are REALLY nervous about what lengths these Bush folks are willing to go to enforce their minority beliefs on the population as a whole. It didn't seem impossible at all that they would pull Howard Stern without so much as a warning. It's happened before. We're all so inundated with news we'd be pissed for a week and then something else insane would come up and we'd all forget. I think we were right to be worried, Powell's kid is a nutball. The President is so stupid he won't come in front of the 9-11 commission, even in closed session, without his puppetmaster Cheney. This is not the kind of man who's going to go to the mat for free speech, indeed, if the senate passed a bill turning over total control of all TV to Karl Rove, I have no doubt Bush would sign it.
I really have one thing to say about all of this.
"Four legs good. Two legs better."
I only listen to a few radio stations. On April Fools Day I listened to three, WXRT, a rock station, Howard Stern on my way home from dropping off Vickei at work, and NPR. Of these three stations, XRT and Howie were doing jokes based on the idea that the FCC was going to start massively censoring their shows. Howard Stern didn't even go on the air for the first hour and a half. Two purposefully lame DJ's took his place. XRT's normal tag line is the "Chicago's Best Rock." They changed it to "Decent Rock." Everyone was saying it all of a sudden. You gotta be decent, they kept playing songs with swear words. They either bleeped the words out or a guy would say some random word that didn't fit with the rest of the lyrics. I don't know if other radio stations also made April Fools jokes along these lines but I'd be willing to bet there were quite a few.
Both of the jokes were funny. But they were scary too. I guess a whole bunch of people went apeshit, flooding both shows with angry and/or frightened calls. This is very telling.
How a society reacts to sarcasm is a good measuring stick of how bad things are. In this case I think it's obvious people are REALLY nervous about what lengths these Bush folks are willing to go to enforce their minority beliefs on the population as a whole. It didn't seem impossible at all that they would pull Howard Stern without so much as a warning. It's happened before. We're all so inundated with news we'd be pissed for a week and then something else insane would come up and we'd all forget. I think we were right to be worried, Powell's kid is a nutball. The President is so stupid he won't come in front of the 9-11 commission, even in closed session, without his puppetmaster Cheney. This is not the kind of man who's going to go to the mat for free speech, indeed, if the senate passed a bill turning over total control of all TV to Karl Rove, I have no doubt Bush would sign it.
I really have one thing to say about all of this.
"Four legs good. Two legs better."
Thursday, April 01, 2004
AIR AMERICA RADIO
So it's finally here. The long touted Democratic answer to the Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys of the world. Democrat radio. Notice I'm not saying progressive radio, I'm saying Democrat radio.
Al Franken's a funny guy. But he's a Democrat in the Clinton tradition. He refuses to see the corporate takeover that's tainted his buddies. He's not progressive, even if he is a lot of times. He's someone touting a company line. Not to mention the fact one of his first guests was G. GOrdon Liddy. Already they're making gross errors in characterization. Al had Michael Moore on Wednesday and on Thursday he characterized the guy as a Gore supporter because he pointed out that GOre won the 2000 election.
Michael Moore in no way supported GOre against Bush. He called them Gush and Bore. He talked about the way they agreed about everything in the debates. I personally listened to Moore speak at a Nader rally at UIC in Chicago. Progressive voices are trying to get the "Democrats" to realize they've become the same thing as "Republicans" both of which should be called, "Corporate whores." I'm afraid the way the Air America Radio is going now it's just going to be a classic example yet again of the Chomskian Propaganda model. Two sides, the appearance of debate, while the true issues are patently ignored. We'll see.
Still, Chuck D rules and even though some moron put him on the morning show he's going to be the kind of person the station is going to have to build around if they want to be really successful. Smart, articulate, and LOUD. They should give Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins a show too. Michael Moore should have a show; and Warren Beatty with Tim Robbins. John Cusak can do sports. If they get the right people the station could potentially be hugely important.
So it's finally here. The long touted Democratic answer to the Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys of the world. Democrat radio. Notice I'm not saying progressive radio, I'm saying Democrat radio.
Al Franken's a funny guy. But he's a Democrat in the Clinton tradition. He refuses to see the corporate takeover that's tainted his buddies. He's not progressive, even if he is a lot of times. He's someone touting a company line. Not to mention the fact one of his first guests was G. GOrdon Liddy. Already they're making gross errors in characterization. Al had Michael Moore on Wednesday and on Thursday he characterized the guy as a Gore supporter because he pointed out that GOre won the 2000 election.
Michael Moore in no way supported GOre against Bush. He called them Gush and Bore. He talked about the way they agreed about everything in the debates. I personally listened to Moore speak at a Nader rally at UIC in Chicago. Progressive voices are trying to get the "Democrats" to realize they've become the same thing as "Republicans" both of which should be called, "Corporate whores." I'm afraid the way the Air America Radio is going now it's just going to be a classic example yet again of the Chomskian Propaganda model. Two sides, the appearance of debate, while the true issues are patently ignored. We'll see.
Still, Chuck D rules and even though some moron put him on the morning show he's going to be the kind of person the station is going to have to build around if they want to be really successful. Smart, articulate, and LOUD. They should give Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins a show too. Michael Moore should have a show; and Warren Beatty with Tim Robbins. John Cusak can do sports. If they get the right people the station could potentially be hugely important.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Shrub Steals Cash to Fund the Destruction of Church/State Separation.
From NOW on PBS.
Shrub wants voucher programs for private religious schools.
Public Money for private corporations. Congress has shot bush down on this issue because it takes badly needed public money and siphons it to private corporations, which is clearly a bad idea. (Kids aren't "products" or "consumers" they're kids.)
SO not caring one whit about the way the government is supposed to work Shrub's people got him to use the Dept of Education. He took 77 million from their budget and put it into religious school vouchers. He did this for "Choice."
The amount he gave was 77 million because it was the only non-congressional discretionary money in the dept of education. He took every cent.
Public money to private religious corporations to promote the end of public education. And you know the only groups getting the money are Christian. Not a cent of the 77 million went towards Buddhist Private Schools.
But wait, you say, just because you have vouchers doesn't mean you want to destroy public education. That would be true, but look who's getting the money.
Bill Bennett.
Bill Hates public education. He's been railing publicly against it for 20 some years. Bennett's company got 14 million in public funds.
Another big company is called "Creo" which is Spanish for "I believe." Based in, you guessed it, Texas. "I believe..." So much for the separation of church and state.
From NOW on PBS.
Shrub wants voucher programs for private religious schools.
Public Money for private corporations. Congress has shot bush down on this issue because it takes badly needed public money and siphons it to private corporations, which is clearly a bad idea. (Kids aren't "products" or "consumers" they're kids.)
SO not caring one whit about the way the government is supposed to work Shrub's people got him to use the Dept of Education. He took 77 million from their budget and put it into religious school vouchers. He did this for "Choice."
The amount he gave was 77 million because it was the only non-congressional discretionary money in the dept of education. He took every cent.
Public money to private religious corporations to promote the end of public education. And you know the only groups getting the money are Christian. Not a cent of the 77 million went towards Buddhist Private Schools.
But wait, you say, just because you have vouchers doesn't mean you want to destroy public education. That would be true, but look who's getting the money.
Bill Bennett.
Bill Hates public education. He's been railing publicly against it for 20 some years. Bennett's company got 14 million in public funds.
Another big company is called "Creo" which is Spanish for "I believe." Based in, you guessed it, Texas. "I believe..." So much for the separation of church and state.
Friday, March 26, 2004
Richard Clarke
Regarding the ongoing fiasco with the unfortunately named Richard (Dick) Clarke and the 9-11 commission. First of all the entire thing is crap. Clarke isn't a democrat. He's not trying to get a job in Kerry's administration, he's not weak on terrorism. He was hired by Reagan, worked for Bush I, and worked for Clinton. Shrub thought enough of the guy to make him his go-to fella on Counter-terrorism until CLARKE RESIGNED. He wasn't fired, he quit because Bush wanted to bomb Iraq since he came into office. The disagreement wasn't whether or not to bomb someone, it was WHO to bomb. Clarke wanted to bomb the Taliban, not Iraq. He was pissed about it, so he quit. Also, concerning the timing. Clarke's book was delayed not by him or his publishers, but by the Shrub White House who dragged their feet on clearing the book for publication.
But in the end, all of this is pretty much crap. I'll be the very first to admit, if Bush or Clinton would've unilaterally attacked Afghanistan pre-9-11they would've been crucified politically so all this talk about how Shrub "wasn't doing enough" to fight pre 911 terrorism is so much smoke up the butt. Post 9-11, that's a completely different story. And as Clarke pointed out, in 15 hours of testimony he was asked exactly ZERO questions about Iraq. That's the real story, not what happened before 911 but what happened afterward. The fact that Shrub and his gaggle of bitches USED 911 to attack Iraq is ridiculous and disgusting and is why no person who claims to be "in favor of the war on terrorism" should vote for him. All this stuff about how we could prevent something no one in their right mind expected is nothing more than 20 20 hindsight. Still, the Iraq question looms, and the Shrub factory just keeps lying, which is entertaining, but sad. It's no surprise Condi didn't testify, that chick opens her mouth and bullshit comes out like blood in a George Romero movie. They're not going to let her say shit on the record becuase statements like that are impeachable... same thing with Cheney and Shrub himself.
If you want to follow a truly terrific political blog stop by Atrios.
Regarding the ongoing fiasco with the unfortunately named Richard (Dick) Clarke and the 9-11 commission. First of all the entire thing is crap. Clarke isn't a democrat. He's not trying to get a job in Kerry's administration, he's not weak on terrorism. He was hired by Reagan, worked for Bush I, and worked for Clinton. Shrub thought enough of the guy to make him his go-to fella on Counter-terrorism until CLARKE RESIGNED. He wasn't fired, he quit because Bush wanted to bomb Iraq since he came into office. The disagreement wasn't whether or not to bomb someone, it was WHO to bomb. Clarke wanted to bomb the Taliban, not Iraq. He was pissed about it, so he quit. Also, concerning the timing. Clarke's book was delayed not by him or his publishers, but by the Shrub White House who dragged their feet on clearing the book for publication.
But in the end, all of this is pretty much crap. I'll be the very first to admit, if Bush or Clinton would've unilaterally attacked Afghanistan pre-9-11they would've been crucified politically so all this talk about how Shrub "wasn't doing enough" to fight pre 911 terrorism is so much smoke up the butt. Post 9-11, that's a completely different story. And as Clarke pointed out, in 15 hours of testimony he was asked exactly ZERO questions about Iraq. That's the real story, not what happened before 911 but what happened afterward. The fact that Shrub and his gaggle of bitches USED 911 to attack Iraq is ridiculous and disgusting and is why no person who claims to be "in favor of the war on terrorism" should vote for him. All this stuff about how we could prevent something no one in their right mind expected is nothing more than 20 20 hindsight. Still, the Iraq question looms, and the Shrub factory just keeps lying, which is entertaining, but sad. It's no surprise Condi didn't testify, that chick opens her mouth and bullshit comes out like blood in a George Romero movie. They're not going to let her say shit on the record becuase statements like that are impeachable... same thing with Cheney and Shrub himself.
If you want to follow a truly terrific political blog stop by Atrios.
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