Bush violated the law --broke 26 statutes

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/

Quote of the Day

The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
--B.F. Skinner

A picture from happier times

I don't know about you guys, but I am feeling pounded and battered by all of the bad news, so I decided to post a picture from our trip to Hawaii that we took in May.

Bush wearing the wire again today?

I just saw Bush on CNN in a clip of his signing the Voting Rights (Extension) Act into law. When he turned around, I saw that now-familiar snaked wire on his back, under his suit. This time, the wire traverses his back from upper left to lower right.

Am I imagining it? Y'all check it out when the clip runs again. There is no box now, but I'm sure that they've learned their lesson and moved it to a less conspicuous place (like--> on his right side).

Who can find out definitively what that is? (Not that it truly matters at this point--I'm just deeply curious.)

The Reason Not to Vote for a Dope even if the other guy's medals are probably not well earned

No conflict ever hinged more on the competence of the people in charge
of the world than does this one. This is the very reason why you don't
vote for a dope because he seems like a nice guy, and the other guy,
well, his war hero medals might just be bogus. Somebody just shoot me.

What would have happened if we had had Bush as president during the
Cuban missile crisis? We'd still be recovering from that war. Many of us
wouldn't be here right now.

We need a team of smart people to run the government: people who
understand how to negotiate with all types----and by negotiate, I don't
mean people who have refined their bullying techniques into multiple
modes.

We need people who respect other cultures, who can empathize with those
who have become so enraged at being a victim of strong-arm tactics of
our government, and our corporations.

This ruling cabal just bullies others to do what they say (in their own
cabinet, military, dissenters; and anyone outside the country), because
they're running the most powerful government on the planet (and, for how
long, before they wreck us?) We're in a precarious place--all parties must back off. It could easily turn into the world war that certain parties crave--for different
reasons. Some people believe that our government is behind the Israel
overreaction.

I'm sick about this. Do you read Newsweek? I just started a subscription
a few weeks ago. In the issue I just got in the mail a day or two ago,
there is a picture of a dead little boy -- laying there, brains spilled
onto the rubble. He was Lebanese, as if that matters. One dead little
child of any stripe is absolutely abominable. I want every war-mongering
chicken hawk up and down the ladder to have to live with that image--to
know it with deep empathy, as if it were their child--to be haunted by
it, as I am.

The Iran Strategy

From Wayne Madsen Report:

July 21/22/23, 2006 -- UPDATED -- Informed sources have told WMR that arch-neocon Michael Ledeen, who acts as an unofficial foreign policy adviser to Karl Rove, was at the White House yesterday with a group of Iranian opposition figures. Among the topics discussed was a promised $25 million grant by the Bush administration to the Iranian insurgents. The deal is said to involve the Iran interlocutor from the Iran-Contra scandal, Manucher Ghorbanifar. The money is to be used to plant Desert Storm-vintage biological and chemical weapons shells, confiscated by U.S. forces in Iraq, on the Iranian side of the Iraqi border. The weapons will be used as "proof" of Iran's plan to "attack" U.S. troops in Iraq. That will be used to justify, ex post facto, the coming U.S. attack on Iran. Our sources report that George W. Bush dropped by the White House meeting to offer his support to the Iranian opposition operatives.

Meanwhile, the Shah's son, Reza Pahlavi II, is being given special protection and support by the CIA in the event of an expected U.S. invasion of Iran and the establishment of a U.S.-supported puppet government.

Pretext for war with Iran: White House plans to move chem-bio weapons from Iraq into Iranian side of this desolate border.

For more inside information, a goldmine of secrets, go to Wayne Madsen's website:

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

The Movement We Need

An unbelievable amount of people do not know the essential facts about
Iraq and the Bush administration.

I want to start a movement to educate those who are getting the wrong
information. Call it "Get the Facts." Starting with the basics:

*       Saddam Hussein was in no way related to the 9/11 attacks.

*       No weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.

I want to take out billboards, put flyers on cars during mega-church
services, NASCAR gatherings. Stuff like that.

On the flyers, I would provide a link to articles (or to YouTube
videos--preferably of the president himself) that would back up our
facts. The sources must be ones that conservatives would be able to
trust. (No NYT links, in other words.)
 

Any interest out there?
 

ABA to Release Report on Presidential Signing Statements

You can see it on C-SPAN at 10am on MONDAY.

 

 

AlterNet: Bush gropes German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Does no one handle this guy anymore? Where are the manners police?

-------------------------------------
Bush gropes German Chancellor Angela Merkel

http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/mcewan/39135

And she's not happy about it
-------------------------------------

How to know if the NSA is monitoring you

This is a link to instructions on running a command to see if your communications are being monitored by the NSA.

http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/

Makes you wish the founders would come back and kick some right-wing bottoms

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-07-05-foia-research_x.htm

Report: Bush ordered Cheney to use classified info to discredit Wilson

http://nationaljournal.com/

Al-Zarqawi's wife: Al-Qaida sold him out

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060703/ap_on_re_eu/iraq_al_zarqawi

ROME - Al-Qaida leaders sold out Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to the United States in exchange for a promise to let up in the search for Osama bin Laden, the slain militant's wife claimed in an interview with an Italian newspaper.

CIA closes down unit that was hunting Bin Laden

http://www.rawstory.com/

Recruiter beats protesters with baseball bat

From Iraq Veterans for Peace:

"The following is a statement that is being circulated regarding an incident at the military recruiting station on Orange Street in New Haven on Wednesday, June 28.

A baseball bat-wielding Marine recruiter engaged in an unprovoked assault on two demonstrators outside the recruiting center and then seized the cell phone belonging to another demonstrator who had witnessed and photographed the assault. There are plans for a rally and press conference outside the recruiting center for July 5 at 5PM. The National Lawyers Guild was contacted immediately after the incident by organizers who were looking for legal assistance because, among other things, the New Haven police were trying to discourage the victims from making a complaint against the recruiter —apparently at least one officer expressed the opinion that having an anti-war demonstration outside a military recruiting center was a “provocation.” The question that this incident must raise is this: if a US Marine recruiter, while safely ensconced behind a desk in an air-conditioned office in New Haven, working in a position that plainly keeps him in the public eye, feels free to use a baseball bat to beat a protester . . . then how much restraint do we imagine that his compatriots use against Iraqis? I would strongly urge people to participate in the rally on July 5. The movement needs to respond in a strong and clear voice to violence against demonstrators, and all the more so when it comes from government personnel and is calculated to discourage political opposition.

-- Peter Goselin, NLG-CT.

9/11 professor to be fired by Illinois? VOTE NO!!!

From http://www.channel3 000.com/news/ 9457154/detail. html

Dr. Kevin Barrett gave a very informative talk in Peoria, ILon March 4, 2006.You might want to write a letter to University of Wisconsin authorities defending Barretts free speech rights:

Patrick V. Farrell
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of Wisconsin-Madison
150 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Tel: 608/262-1304
Fax: 608/265-3324
E-mail: pfarrell@...

Chancellor John Wiley
E-mail:chancellor@ ...
Phone:608-262-9946
161 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI53706

Most disturbing paragraph I've read in years

Wayne Madsen (WMR) reports fascinating stuff. Check out his site:

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

One of his sources told him this:

July 1, 2006 -- A former top Defense Department official has told WMR that he fears the Bush administration will pull off another "911" before the November election. The official stated that the next 911 will be used as a pretext for shipping U.S. citizens of Middle East descent to mass detention camps, establish martial law, impose strict censorship, and finally eliminate the power of the Congress and the Supreme Court over the president. "The next 911 will be much more like the Reichstag fire in terms of creating a dictatorship," said the official.

Okay, say you don't believe that would ever happen.

Say you don't think the Bush people are THAT bad. . . (still wearing those rose-colored glasses, are you?)

Let's just engage in a little intellectual exploration of possible strategies. In the face of a second 9/11, what does the opposition say and do to prevent the scenario from playing out the way Bush et al wants it to?

What are our options?

Bush linked to WMDs in Iraq

Wayne Madsen has some explosive information about the Bush I connection to Saddam's WMDs. It turns out that Bush II was so sure that Hussein had WMD's because Bush I has holdings in a company that sold the chemicals to make them to him.

Some of Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons were provided in 1988 by The Carlyle Group, through Spanish and French intermediaries. WMR has learned that pre-cursor and recombinant chemicals used in Iraqi WMDs were provided by a Texas petrochemical company and a chemical/biological toxin firm in which George H. W. Bush held and continues to hold a financial stake.

"The bombs had been purchased in the United States in 1988 from what appeared to be a government contractor called The Carlyle Group."

For more, see the June 28 postings on Wayne Madsen's website:


http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

McKinnney's Goals Are Noble

Rep. Cynthia McKinney has been one of the very few persistent voices opposing the Bush-Cheney regime in the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a result has become a target for them. I am posting her appeal for donations in order to highlight the paragraph because this kind of attitude is so rare in our elected officials. She speaks for me, for us.

Please support Rep. Cynthia McKinney--we need a couple hundred more just like her.

Dear Friend:

Since my last missive to you, we've done a 1970s "Get Down" fun(d)raiser and a DC event. Many of you have been responsive to our request for assistance, and I thank those of you who have made a donation to my campaign; for those of you who have not yet done so, I ask for your additional consideration of my request. Here's why:

I have no desire to be in Congress for the sake of being here. My only goal is to do something, to achieve something, to make a difference and serve as a voice--if even in the wilderness--for those of us who feel left out, left behind, and underrepresented by the powers that be in Washington, DC. I can only make that difference and be that voice if I have a strong financial base, independent from those very Washington, DC powers that be.

Your contribution will go toward my election day operation. You know what it's like with the electronic voting machines. But I have to take precious resources and train poll watchers what to look out for on these machines. Like getting a zero count at the beginning of the day. We have already had to send a letter of protest to the Georgia Secretary of State whose regulations will
prevent our poll watchers from securing this vital piece of information at the beginning of the voting day.

Last election I had 1,000 people on the streets of the 4th Congressional District of Georgia. They need transportation, food, material to pass out, t-shirts, and lots of water, water, water because it's hot and humid in Georgia! Those of you who came to Georgia two years ago know that!

I don't need a lot of money, but I do need enough to accomplish our goals. And I don't regularly ask. But I'm asking now because I need your assistance now. The good thing is that if each of us does a little, then no one of us has to do a lot. I'm asking you to do a little now to help us fund our election day activities.

I've been true to the values and the ideals that sent me to Congress and you can count on me to stay that way. There are a few of us who will never compromise on the values that are important to you. Our country is at stake and your help is needed now, more than ever. You can snail mail a contribution to:

Cynthia McKinney for Congress
PO Box 371125
Decatur, GA 30037

or you can just click here to make a donation:

http://www.cynthiaforcongress.com/donate.php

Please support Rep. Cynthia McKinney today!

Jeb's Foundation for Florida's Future paid pollster, former campaign finance chief

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/

Help Americans get the truth -- our media 'protects' us from the truth

Americans who pay attention (33%, tops) know that Bush is a failed businessman who shouldn't be put in charge of anything, much less a nuclear-armed country. Many of the people who propped him up probably chose him because he has a famous family name. These people are Nixon-era Republicans (do you remember America's previous "dark age"?) The people who surround Bush in his cabinet are ideologues and/or cronies. The ideologues don't even represent mainstream Republicans, much less all of America.

As seen during the last big corruption scandal, our system works , but it is SOOOOO slow, painfully slow.

I believe that we in America can reverse some of the damage done to our country as long as there is a free press and fair and transparent elections. Both are endangered under this administration.

(We call Fox News "Faux News" )

If you want citizens of the US to vote better, vote smarter, do what you can to help the US media get the real stories--the truth!--not just what the Bush administration wants us to know. It should disturb every American to know that the US media chooses not to report some stories, not because there is doubt about the facts, but rather, that they believe Americans can't handle the truth. (I suspect they know that we would not agree with the choices they are making if we had all of the information.) Who is it that asked how much the American people know about what is going on--was it Al Gore? The answer was 1%.

Ignorance is not bliss. People who are not paying attention (presumably they know 0% of what is going on) may be fat, dumb, and happy, but the rest of us are profoundly disturbed by what we observe. Our foreign policy seems to be driven by big oil--we still don't know about the discussions that took place in the energy task force with Cheney and Ken Lay early in the Bush administration.

And to the paternal media I say: You underestimate us. We can handle it. We are adults, not children who need to be protected.

Bush admin sought call records prior to 9/11

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=abIV0cO64zJE