Where Were They During the Anti-War Protests?

10's of 1000s protesters took to the streets on March 19th to protest the Iraqi War, did any MSM source even show any of these protests? Instead we get a small number of nutcake evangelical protesters at the hospice where Terri Schiavo lay trying to die with a little dignity and we get 24/7 coverage. Where is the outrage for the 1500 + killed in Iraq, the 11,000+ horrible injuries?



Wildly overplaying the Schiavo protesters, ignoring facts and giving Bush a free ride, the press was full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

It was fitting that reporters were in danger of outnumbering pro-life supporters outside Terri Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., on Thursday morning. When one man began to play the trumpet moments after Schiavo's death was announced at 9:50 a.m., a gaggle of cameramen quickly surrounded him, two or three deep.

Has there ever been a set of protesters so small, so out of proportion, so outnumbered by the press, for a story that had supposedly set off a "furious debate" nationwide? That's how Newsweek.com described the Schiavo story this week. Although it's not clear how a country can have a "furious debate" when two-thirds of its citizens agree on the issue or, in the case of some Schiavo poll questions (i.e., Were Congress and President Bush wrong to intervene?), four out of five Americans agree.

.... Clearly, the press went overboard in its around-the-clock coverage of the right-to-die case. But at this point, that type of exploitation is almost to be expected from news organizations, particularly television, desperate for compelling narratives that can be stretched out for days or weeks at a time. And it's not fair to suggest that the Schiavo story was a manufactured one, or that it didn't spark genuine interest. It did......

full story:
A tale told by an idiot

The End of Tom DeLay? Let's Hope So!

from Howard Fineman:
A new drama of survival has begun here – political, not physical; legal, not spiritual. The central character isn’t a woman in a hospital bed but a controversial Republican leader in the House of Representatives. Rep. Tom DeLay may not want to admit it to himself, but he’s fighting for his political life.

I wouldn’t have said so two weeks ago. But I’ve seen enough of these dramas unfold to know when I’m watching a new one, and now I am. You know the story line, which dates back to the Greeks: a powerful, hubristic leader is brought low by his own flaws. Think Jim Wright, Newt Gingrich, Bill Clinton.

full story:
The disassembly of Tom DeLay

Study highlights global decline

The most comprehensive survey ever into the state of the planet concludes that human activities threaten the Earth's ability to sustain future generations.

It reports that humans have changed most ecosystems beyond recognition in a dramatically short space of time.

The way society has sourced its food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel over the past 50 years has seriously degraded the environment, the assessment....

full story:
Study highlights global decline

11th Circuit Appeals Court's Judge Birch Criticizes Congress and President

``Any further action by our court or the district court would be improper,'' Judge Stanley F. Birch wrote in agreeing with the court's rejection of the appeal. ``Despite sincere and altruistic motivation, the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people -- our Constitution.''

full story:
Schiavo's Parents Lose New Bid for Court Hearing

Military Sales Pitch Targets Parents

via Wonkette

Social Security Sold on Ebay

Funny Ebay Auction:

Billionaires for Bush advocates for the corporate elite, proudly auction off

Social Security


Ebay Page

Terri Schiavo's Blog

This is really awful stuff:

Terri Schiavo's Blog

and the comments are sick!

Boy Scout Director charged with having CHILD PORN

The national director of programs for the Boy Scouts of America has been charged with receiving and distributing child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's office here told NBC News on Tuesday.

Douglas S. Smith Jr. was charged with one felony count of having photos that show "minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct."

The images were of young boys and the investigation started in Germany, the sources added.



full story:
Boy Scout director charged with having child porn

Australian say U.S. Policy as Scary as Islamic Fundamentalism

Most Australians consider U.S. foreign policy to be as threatening as Islamic fundamentalism, according to a survey released Monday.

More than two-thirds of respondents, 68%, said Australia takes "too much notice" of the United States when setting its foreign policy agenda, and 57% judged U.S. foreign policy to be as much of a threat as Islamic fundamentalism.

full story:
Survey: Australians say U.S. policies as threatening as Islamic fundamentalism

The "TUMINATOR?"

It took Arnold Schwarzenegger years of pumping iron to build the body that won him stardom in movies such as Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator.

But it has taken just two years of good living as the governor of California for the 57-year-old's shape to go somewhat belly-up.

Meet the Tuminator

3 People Ejected from Bush Social Security Event because of Bumper Sticker

The U.S. Secret Service on Monday said it was investigating the claims of three people who said they were removed from President Bush's town hall meeting on Social Security last week after being singled out because of a bumper sticker on their car.

.....the car they drove to the event had a bumper sticker that read: "No More Blood for Oil....."

full story:
Secret Service investigating removal of 3 from Bush visit

Destruction of Babylon

'The U.S.-led destruction on the ancient city is one of the most 'reckless acts of cultural vandalism.'

".....Turning Babylon into a military site was a fatal mistake," the Iraqi culture minister told Iraq Crisis Report. "It has witnessed much destruction and many terrorist attacks since it was occupied by Coalition Forces. We cannot determine the scale of destruction now. As a first step, we have completely closed the sites, before calling in international experts to evaluate the damage done to the [ancient] city and the compensation the ministry should ask Coalition forces to pay. We will run a campaign to save the city."

That campaign is finding allies among a growing network of archeologists outraged by the unnecessary destruction of an irreplaceable site. John Curtis, author of the British Museum's report, has called for an international investigation by archeologists chosen by the Iraqis to survey and record all the damage done.....

full story:
Halliburton Destroys Babylon

End of The White House Press Core?????????????

I wonder what is really going on here?

....If the administration moves forward, the dozens of reporters who work and virtually live in the cramped quarters will be relocated to a spot outside the White House, a scenario that does not sit well with some journalists concerned about long-term access to the president and administration officials. The temporary accommodations for the White House press corps would likely be in the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

"I and a lot of other reporters would insist there be no diminution of either space or access," said Keith Koffler, a White House correspondent for Congress Daily. "Basically, they can spruce up the place, but then we want to be right back where we were."

For reporters with institutional memory, it is hard not to worry.......

full story:
US ; White House Media May Get Temporary Boot:

From Perrspectives Blog:

Easter Reflections on Tom Delay

In recent days, criticism has unfairly rained down on House majority leader Tom Delay for supposedly comparing himself to Jesus. As Delay put it in his own defense, "people hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ."

On this Easter Sunday, it is worth noting that the similarities between Jesus and Tom Delay are striking:

HMMM -- Seems Like Michael Moore Was Right ~~ Saudi's Helped to Leave US after 9/11

HMM -- Wasn't Michael Moore vilified for saying this in Farenheit 9-11:

.....in the frenzied days after Sept. 11, 2001, when some flights were still grounded, dozens of well-connected Saudis, including relatives of Osama bin Laden, managed to leave the United States on specially chartered flights.

Now, newly released government records show previously undisclosed flights from Las Vegas and elsewhere and point to a more active role by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in aiding some of the Saudis in their departure.....

full story:
New Details on F.B.I. Aid for Saudis After 9/11

Tom DeLay "Right to Die" and Hipocrisy

GOP leader DeLay let his father die, but refuses to let Schiavo die in peace.

CANYON LAKE, Texas — A family tragedy unfolding in a Texas hospital during the fall of 1988 was a private ordeal -- without judges, emergency sessions of Congress or the raging debate outside Terri Schiavo's Florida hospice.

The patient then was a 65-year-old drilling contractor, badly injured in a freak accident at his home. Among the family standing vigil at Brooke Army Medical Center was a grieving junior congressman -- U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

full story:
DeLay Family Outcome Different From Schiavo's

Is He Traveling to Florida? I Hope Not!

From a website Hal Turner Show:
"I advocate the use of force to rescue Terri Schiavo from being starved to death."
I further advocate the killing of anyone who interferes with such rescue. - Hal Turner
"These guys deserve to have the shit kicked out of them, and that Hospice ought to be blown up by a truck bomb."

He took the website down, but it is cached here:
The Hal Turner Show

The Website now states:
"Web Site Updates Temporarily offline.
I am traveling to do something important."

Man Sells FOX NEWS BLOCKER

It's not that Sam Kimery objects to the views expressed on Fox News. The creator of the "Fox Blocker" contends the channel is not news at all. Kimery figures he's sold about 100 of the little silver bits of metal that screw into the back of most televisions, allowing people to filter Fox News from their sets, since its August debut.

The Tulsa, Okla., resident also has received thousands of e-mails, both angry and complimentary — as well as a few death threats.

"Apparently the making of terroristic threats against those who don't share your views is a high art form among a certain core audience," said Kimery, 45.

Formerly a registered Republican, even a precinct captain, Kimery became an independent in the 1990s when he said the state party stopped taking input from its everyday members.

Kimery now contends Fox News' top-level management dictates a conservative journalistic bias, that inaccuracies are never retracted, and what winds up on the air is more opinion than news. "I might as well be reading tabloids out of the grocery store," he says. "Anything to get a rise out of the viewer and to reinforce certain retrograde notions."

full story:
Man Sells Device That Blocks Fox News

Law Enforcement Showdown in Florida

Its funny I never heard about this until I read about it at eschaton

Hours after a judge ordered that Terri Schiavo was not to be removed from her hospice, a team of state agents were en route to seize her and have her feeding tube reinserted -- but they stopped short when local police told them they would enforce the judge's order, The Herald has learned.

Agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told police in Pinellas Park, the small town where Schiavo lies at Hospice Woodside, on Thursday that they were on the way to take her to a hospital to resume her feeding.

For a brief period, local police, who have officers at the hospice to keep protesters out, prepared for what sources called ``a showdown.''

full story:
Police 'showdown' averted

Wingnuts issue bounty for Judge and Michael Schiavo

Carolina Man Charged In Schiavo Case

The controversy surrounding Terri Schiavo has reached the Carolinas.

Schiavo is in a hospice facility in Pinellas Park, Florida.

On Friday, the Charlotte division of the FBI charged a man in Fairview, North Carolina with making death threats against Schiavo's husband.

Richard Meywes is being held in the Buncombe County Jail.

According to an FBI release, Meywes sent an e-mail in which a "$250,000 bounty was placed on the head of Michael Schiavo."

An additional bounty was offered for the elimination of a judge who refused to intervene in the case.

Shameful Conservative Groups use Schiavo for Donations

Videotape of Terri Schiavo blinking at her parents has inspired donations from people around the country to the foundation set up to help pay for the family's legal battle. But many other groups are soliciting donations in her name as well, some for a much broader agenda.

"Help Save Terri Schiavo's Life!" says the Web site of the Traditional Values Coalition, a Christian conservative group best known for its campaigns against gay rights. Next to a link to the Web site of her parents' foundation is a pitch to "become an active supporter of the Traditional Values Coalition by pledging a monthly gift."

"What this issue has done is it has galvanized people the way nothing could have done in an off-election year," said Rev. Lou Sheldon, the founder of the group, acknowledging that the case of Ms. Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged Florida woman, had moved many to open up their checkbooks. "That is what I see as the blessing that dear Terri's life is offering to the conservative Christian movement in America."

full story:
Conservatives Invoke Case in Fund-Raising Campaigns

Bushies Approval Rating Lowest of his Presidency

President Bush's approval rating has fallen to 45%, the lowest point of his presidency, according to a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.

The finding, in a poll of 1,001 adults Monday through Wednesday, is a dip from 52% in a poll taken last week. Bush's previous lowest rating, 46%, was recorded last May.

full story:
Bush approval slips to 45%, lowest of his presidency

Good Life Experience?

So is this a good life experience for your child? Let them get arrested for protesting?



Please explain to these poor kids that Terri Schiavo wanted to not live like a vegetable. I feel sorry for them, they don't understand at this age. Shame on you parents!

Silence from Bush on School Shooting -- Maybe they Aren't His "BASE"

You gotta be white, christian conservatives to get his attention:

Response to School Shooting Is Contrasted With President's Intervention in Schiavo Case

Native Americans across the country -- including tribal leaders, academics and rank-and-file tribe members -- voiced anger and frustration Thursday that President Bush has responded to the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with silence.

Three days after 16-year-old Jeff Weise killed nine members of his Red Lake tribe before taking his own life, grief-stricken American Indians complained that the White House has offered little in the way of sympathy for the tribe situated in the uppermost region of Minnesota.

"From all over the world we are getting letters of condolence, the Red Cross has come, but the so-called Great White Father in Washington hasn't said or done a thing," said Clyde Bellecourt, a Chippewa Indian who is the founder and national director of the American Indian Movement here. "When people's children are murdered and others are in the hospital hanging on to life, he should be the first one to offer his condolences. . . . If this was a white community, I don't think he'd have any problem doing that."

full story:
Native Americans Criticize Bush's Silence

Err on the Side of Life?

Bush said we should err on the side of life, in the Terri Schiavo affair. If this is the case, wouldn't we have to go back and take off death row all those persons convicted on circumstantial evidence like, Scott Peterson?

Anne Coulter says CALL OUT THE NATIONAL GUARD to Save Schiavo

Guess What MS. Coulter they are all in IRAQ!!

Wingnut Anne Coulter in her new column:

"...how about a Republican governor sending in the National Guard to stop an innocent American woman from being starved to death in Florida? Republicans like the military. Democrats get excited about the use of military force only when it's against Americans...."

Good Maureen Dowd Column Today

Excellant column from Maureen Dowd in NYT's today:

h my God, we really are in a theocracy

Are the Republicans so obsessed with maintaining control over all branches of government, and are the Democrats so emasculated about not having any power, that they are willing to turn the nation into a wholly owned subsidiary of the church?

and

"The president, who couldn't be dragged outdoors to talk about the more than a hundred thousand people who died in the horrific tsunami, was willing to be dragged out of bed to sign a bill about one woman his base had fixated on."

full column:
DeLay, Deny and Demagogue

ReThugs use Florida Hurricanes for Political Gain

White House used Florida hurricane to boost election prospects

E-mails released by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's office show the presidential election campaign was a factor in hurricane relief efforts last year.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday a consultant suggested Bush's re-election staff be brought into Florida to minimize any negative hurricane effects.

Two weeks later, a Florida official said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was handing out assistance money to everyone who needed it without asking for much information of any kind.

The e-mails were released Friday after the Sun-Sentinel threatened to file a lawsuit.

Democrats said they confirmed suspicions the federal government used the hurricanes to send money to Florida, a key state in the election campaign.



'It's not surprising to learn that (Republicans) played politics with the hurricanes that tragically affected hundreds of thousands of Floridians last year,' said Josh Earnest, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.

EPA to drop the E and P (Satire)

from The Onion (satire)

EPA To Drop 'E,' 'P' From Name
WASHINGTON, DC—Days after unveiling new power-plant pollution regulations that rely on an industry-favored market-trading approach to cutting mercury emissions, EPA Acting Administrator Stephen Johnson announced that the agency will remove the "E" and "P" from its name. "We're not really 'environmental' anymore, and we certainly aren't 'protecting' anything," Johnson said. "'The Agency' is a name that reflects our current agenda and encapsulates our new function as a government-funded body devoted to handling documents, scheduling meetings, and fielding phone calls." The change comes on the heels of the Department of Health and Human Services' January decision to shorten its name to the Department of Services.

I saw this yesterday and couldn't believe they were interviewing her on CNN, a network I always feel is the most unbiased:



Cables aired interviews with Carla Sauer Iyer -- a former Schiavo nurse who submitted an affidavit in 2003 with inflammatory allegations against Michael Schiavo -- without noting that the trial judge in the case had dismissed her allegations as "incredible," and without noting that not even Terri Schiavo's parents had sought her testimony in the case.

via Media Matters:
CNN, Fox featured nurse whose affidavit was dismissed as not credible by judge

Remove Bushies Tube?

via: Low Culture

April Fool!!

As an April fool's joke, Maxim is taking on the Bush twins.

The April issue of the men's magazine, which hit newsstands Tuesday, has a photo illustration of Jenna and Barbara Bush, plumage in the air and sporting lingerie in what is meant to be the aftermath of a pillow fight.

full story:
Men's magazine plays a photo prank on the Bush twins

As Heart Surgeon Frist Pulled Plug Frequently

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has championed the "rescue" of Terri Schiavo, is a renowned heart surgeon who has pulled the plug on a "regular basis," his office acknowledged yesterday.

But Frist (R-Tenn.) ended life support only when the patient was ruled brain-dead, and he is convinced Schiavo is not brain-dead.

"He certainly has a lot of clinical experience" in the withdrawal of life support, said Frist spokeswoman Amy Call.

full story:
Heart surgeon Frist has pulled the plug regularly

Republicans are Hypocrites --GOP Leaders Cutting Medicade as They Fight to Save One of Program's Patients

As Republican leaders in Congress move to trim billions of dollars from the Medicaid health program, they are simultaneously intervening to save the life of possibly the highest-profile Medicaid patient: Terri Schiavo.

The Schiavo case may put a human face on the problem of rising medical costs, both at the state and federal levels. In Florida, where Gov. Jeb Bush (R) is pushing a dramatic restructuring of the Medicaid program, the cost of Schiavo's care has become political fodder. In Washington, where a fight over Medicaid spending threatens to scuttle the 2006 budget plan, the role of the program in preserving Schiavo's life is beginning to receive attention.

full story:
Schiavo Case Puts Face on Rising Medical Costs

Sign Petition for ABC to Drop Walmart Sponsorship

Wal-Mart is a sponsor of Good Morning America’s “Only in America” series, a series that features the patriotic and brave stories of so many Americans who make this nation better and stronger. With this sponsorship, ABC News provides Wal-Mart both a format and visual framing to perpetuate a long-term myth—that Wal-Mart possesses a unique American patriotism manifested in practices that promote American values, respect workers, and privilege American-made products. There could be no greater distance between “Only in America” and the reality behind Wal-Mart’s image machinery.

Wal-Mart’s use of its “Only in America” sponsorship is simply another cynical attempt to deceive customers about Wal-Mart’s responsibility for sending more jobs overseas than any other American corporation and lowering U.S. wages.

go here to sign:
Call For ABC News To Drop Wal-Mart As "Only In America" Sponsor

Courts Reject Schiavo Appeal -- 2-1 By Clinton Bush Appointees

Thankfully repubs won't be able to talk about those liberals judges in this case. Of the 3 judges looking at the case 2 were Clinton and 1 Bush 41 appointees. The Bush 41 and one Clinton rejected the appeal:

Full Story:
Court Denies Reinsertion of Feeding Tube

Women in the Wars -- 33 Killed in Afghanistan and Iraq

With 240 female U.S. soldiers injured and 33 killed so far in Iraq and Afghanistan, some military analysts are calling for a review of U.S. policy on women in combat.

Death has claimed a record number of female soldiers serving in the U.S. military in the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Despite rules that have prohibited women from fighting on the front lines, female soldiers in these conflicts are facing virtually the same risks as men because of the nature of these missions and because of overall troop shortages in Iraq, some military analysts say. In light of this – and in response to charges that the military has failed to adequately protect its female soldiers – the House Armed Services Committee is preparing a report on the feasibility of assigning women to combat-related positions.

full story:
Women on the Front Lines

The REAL Reason for ReTHUG involvement in Schiavo CASE -- ABORTION

Christian evangelicals, a key component in President Bush Republican Party, believe the case of brain-damaged Florida woman Terri Schiavo may help inject new life into their long campaign against abortion.

"The right-to-life issue has been with us for over 30 years but never has it dominated the news headlines day after day as it is doing now," said Louis Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition.

"This case has generated a kind of inspirational activism. It is giving revival and renewal to millions of people who feel strongly about the culture of life and the protection of life," he said.

full story:
Republicans Respond to Evangelicals on Schiavo

Going - Going -- Gone ~~ Ukraine withdrawing Troops

President Viktor Yushchenko has signed the order to withdraw Ukraine's troops from Iraq , cementing a pledge by the new leadership to bring back its 1,650-strong force, the head of the country's security council said Tuesday.

The end date for the pullout will be "fixed after consultations with the other coalition members," and the entire Ukrainian contingent is likely to leave Iraq in November or December, Petro Poroshenko said.

full story:
Ukraine to Withdraw Troops From Iraq

OPT OUT -- Tell Your Child's School Not to Hand OUT INFO to Recuiters

Go Here to print out forms to give to your child's administration
OPT OUT -- Military Free Zone

Matterhorn Light Show for Global Warming

A picture taken from a helicopter shows another helicopter, bottom left, flying near Switzerland's most famous mountain, the Matterhorn near Zermatt, as it is illuminated by Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstetter on Wednesday, March 16, 2005. Hofstetter used two helicopters to project images and words on the precipices of the Matterhorn. With his action Hofstetter tries to draw attention to global warming and the regression of the glaciers. The spectacle lasted for about 30 minutes.

ABC Poll -- Most Americans Think Congress WRONG in Schiavo case

Americans broadly and strongly disapprove of federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, with sizable majorities saying Congress is overstepping its bounds for political gain.

The public, by 63 percent-28 percent, supports the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube, and by a 25-point margin opposes a law mandating federal review of her case. Congress passed such legislation and President Bush signed it early today.

That legislative action is distinctly unpopular: Not only do 60 percent oppose it, more — 70 percent — call it inappropriate for Congress to get involved in this way. And by a lopsided 67 percent-19 percent, most think the elected officials trying to keep Schiavo alive are doing so more for political advantage than out of concern for her or for the principles involved.

full story:
No Role for Government in Schiavo Case

Today I am Ashamed of my Government!

I watched a spectacle of mass proportion Sunday night, as our Congress assembled to involve itself into our private lives. Passing an amendment to reinsert the feeding tube of a brain dead woman whose husband knew that her wishes were to not be sustained this way. Every American should be outraged at such abuse of power. I take this very personally as life support judgments were either made or close to being made twice in two years within my own family. To have our federal government insert itself into such personal and painful private decisions is unimaginable.

This act by our Congress is nothing more than Politics 101. When a memo by Republicans is circulated throughout the Senate that says "This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue," and goes on: "This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats," this poor woman becomes nothing more than a political pawn.

And what a display of hypocrisy by our President to sign the amendment for Terri Schiavo when as governor of Texas he signed a law called The Texas Futile Care Law which gave hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival, regardless of the patient's family's wishes. In what medical ethicists say is a first in the United States, a hospital acting under this law, with the concurrence of a judge, disconnected a critically ill baby from life support last week over his mother's objections.

In a perfect world loved ones who can agree together on the right thing to do would make these horrible decisions. In an imperfect world we have courts to help make those decisions. It should not be up to our federal government to invade itself into our lives and into the judiciary. Today I am ashamed of my government and very afraid of what comes next if they can do this.

Terri Shiavo -- For ReThugs Its all Politics

An unsigned one-page memo, distributed to Republican senators, said the debate over Schiavo would appeal to the party's base, or core, supporters. The memo singled out Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who is up for reelection next year and is potentially vulnerable in a state President Bush won last year.

"This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue," said the memo, which was reported by ABC News and later given to The Washington Post. "This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats."

Bush, Republicans and Hypocrisy

What hipocrites Republican are. Are you aware that George W. Bush signed a law in Texas that expressly gave hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival, regardless of the patient's family's wishes. It is called Texas Futile Care Law.

Just this week a baby boy was unplugged against its mother's wishes by the hospital:

In what medical ethicists say is a first in the United States, a hospital acting under state law, with the concurrence of a judge, disconnected a critically ill baby from life support Tuesday over his mother's objections.

The baby, Sun Hudson, who'd been on a mechanical ventilator since his birth Sept. 25, died quickly afterward, his mother said.

"I held him ... I talked to him. I told him I love him," said the child's mother, Wanda Hudson. Then doctors took the mechanical breathing tube out, the child took a couple of breaths, struggled briefly in her arms and it was over, Ms. Hudson said.

full story:
Hospital ends life support of baby

And this also in Texas about a man who the hopital wants to disconnect without family's consent:

A Texas appellate court stopped St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital from removing life support Saturday for a 68-year-old man in a chronic vegetative state.

A three-justice panel of the 1st District Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to grant a temporary injunction to the family of Spiro Nikolouzos three hours before St. Luke's planned to turn off his ventilator and feeding tube.

full story:
Life support removal blocked

Congress involving itself in Terri Schiavo debate

This is a little strange, now Congress is getting involved with the Terri Schiavo case. I don't think I would want Congress to get into my personal business:

The story in the fight to keep a severely-disabled Florida woman alive took another turn Friday, as the U.S. Congress worked to keep doctors from removing her feeding tube.

Under a court order, Terri Schiavo is due to have her feeding tube removed at 1 p.m. ET today.

Bur hours before the deadline on Friday, a Senate committee issued an official invitation to the brain-damaged woman and her husband, Michael, to appear at a hearing in Washington in 10 days.

That follows an announcement earlier by the House committee that it would issue subpoenas requiring doctors to keep Schiavo alive.

full story:
U.S. Congress fights to keep Schiavo alive

Military Families to Protest War

Military families and veterans are helping organize a major anti-war rally outside Fort Bragg in North Carolina that could draw several thousand people Saturday, the second anniversary of the Iraq war.

Groups such as Iraq Veterans Against The War and Gold Star Families for Peace, whose members have lost relatives in Iraq, will play a prominent role.

full story:
Soldiers' families to hold anti-war rally at Ft. Bragg

Condi 's Pakistan Visit Protested

Labour Party workers and peace activists staged a peaceful demonstration in front of the American Consulate on Friday to protest US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Pakistan.

The rally demanded that Rice should go back immediately. They displayed banners and placards with messages such as ‘No US bases allowed in Pakistan’, ‘Rice your are not welcome’, ‘Rice: War Monger’, ‘Rice: War fanatic’ and ‘Rice get out of Pakistan’.

full story:
Rally protests Rice’s visit to Pakistan

Freedom on the March in Middle East? Think Again!

While the Bush administration and much of the US media paint a rosy picture of US success in producing “Freedom on the March,” from Afghanistan to Egypt, a more thoughtful assessment of the real problems facing the US-Arab relationship came last week from a distinguished group of former US government officials.

Instead of the “spin” used by the administration to describe current US-Middle East relations, the CSIS “Advisory Committee on US Policy in the Arab World” begins their report with a sober assessment of the challenges faced by the US in the region.

“US-Arab relations are at their lowest point in generations. We are facing unprecedented opposition in the region. The number of Arabs coming to the United States to study, do business, visit, or seek medical care is plummeting. Fear, anger, and frustration between Arabs and Americans are creating a dangerous trust gap that is growing wider every day.

full story:
Rebuilding US-Arab Ties
Dr. James Zogby

The "RAPE" of Alaska

The wildlife refuge in Alaska ... 'one of our last great wild places,' according to a US senator who opposes the oil exploration scheme.


Senate backs exploitation of Alaskan wildlife refuge

full story:
The oil under this wilderness will last the US six months. But soon the drilling will begin

Daddy Bush -- "Privatization Dumb Idea"

From The New Republic:

GEORGE H.W. BUSH DISAVOWS PRIVATIZATION:
... back in 1987.

Crack TNR editorial assistant Ben Adler recently fished this H.W. Bush quote out of the TNR archives (from the November 23, 1987 issue):

I think it's a nutty idea to fool around with the Social Security system and run the risk of [hurting] the people who've been saving all their lives.... It may be a new idea, but it's a dumb one.

For those keeping score, the comment came in response to a question from fellow presidential candidate Pete du Pont during a presidential debate. Du Pont was an advocate of partially privatizing the program.

GOP to "Board Up" Social Security Town Hall Meetings

Foes of Republican proposals on Social Security target Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., at a protest last week in Philadelphia.

Republicans in Congress have a game plan to avoid "March madness" when they go home this weekend to talk to constituents about Social Security during a two-week holiday recess.

Shaken by raucous protests at open "town hall"-style meetings last month, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce of Ohio and other GOP leaders are urging lawmakers to hold lower-profile events this time.

full story:
GOP boards up the 'town hall'

Bush Had SECRET Plans for Iraq before 9/11 Attack

The Bush administration made plans for war and for Iraq's oil before the 9/11 attacks, sparking a policy battle between neo-cons and Big Oil, BBC's Newsnight has revealed.

..... Insiders told Newsnight that planning began "within weeks" of Bush's first taking office in 2001, long before the September 11th attack on the US..... An Iraqi-born oil industry consultant, Falah Aljibury, says he took part in the secret meetings in California, Washington and the Middle East. He described a State Department plan for a forced coup d'etat.

full story:
Secret US plans for Iraq's oil

Sign the Petition for Tom Delay to RESIGN

We the undersigned demand that Tom DeLay resign from Congress immediately because he...

Violates ethics rules at will;

Embodies the worst of pay-to-play politics putting big donors ahead of the rest of us;

Abuses his position as House Majority Leader; and

Believes he is above the law.

It's time for Tom DeLay to go

sign petition:
Without DeLay: Clean Up Congress

Tom Delay and his Republicans

via Daily Kos:

26 Prisoners Have Died in American custody

At least 26 prisoners have died in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 in what Army and Navy investigators have concluded or suspect were acts of criminal homicide, according to military officials.

The number of confirmed or suspected cases is much higher than any accounting the military has previously reported. A Pentagon report sent to Congress last week cited only six prisoner deaths caused by abuse, but that partial tally was limited to what the author, Vice Adm. Albert T. Church III of the Navy, called "closed, substantiated abuse cases" as of last September.

full story:
U.S. Military Says 26 Inmate Deaths May Be Homicide

So There is NO GLOBAL WARMING HUH!

For the first time in 11,000 years Mt. Kilimanjaro has no snowcap:

A photo of Mount Kilimanjaro stripped of its snowcap for the first time in 11,000 years will be used as dramatic testimony for action against global warming as ministers from the world's biggest polluters meet Tuesday.

Gathering in London for a two-day brainstorming session on the environment agenda of Britain's presidency of the Group of Eight rich nations, the environment and energy ministers from 20 countries will be handed a book containing the stark image of Africa's tallest mountain, among others.

full story:
Photos Show Climate Change; Ministers Meet in UK

Iraqi general shot at US Checkpoint

The deputy commander of the Iraqi army in western Al-Anbar province was shot dead by US troops at a checkpoint Tuesday night, a police officer said.

"The US forces opened fire at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) on Brigadier General Ismail Swayed al-Obeid, who had left his base in Baghdadi to head home," police Captain Amin al-Hitti said.

full story:
Iraqi general shot dead by US troops at checkpoint west of Ramadi: police

Reid Threatens Senate Shut Down

Surrounded by 37 Democratic senators on the steps of the Capitol, Democratic Leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada threatened Tuesday to shut down the Senate over the issue of filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominations. Reid would exempt from his shut-down only national defense matters and spending needed to ensure ongoing federal operations.

full story:
Reid threatens partial Senate shutdown

Italy to Withdraw Troops

Italy will start to withdraw its troops from Iraq this September, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday.

"We will begin to reduce our contingent even before the end of the year, starting in September, in agreement with our allies," he said in an interview on state television RAI.

Italy has 3,000 troops in Iraq, the fourth largest foreign contingent after the United States, Britain and South Korea. (Reuters)

STOP FAKE NEWS

On Sunday, March 13th, The New York Times broke a major story outlining how the Bush administration has used millions of dollars of taxpayer money to produce and disseminate fake news programs that support a partisan political agenda.

These government-produced segments have frequently aired on broadcast TV stations across the country without proper disclosure.

Not only is this unacceptable, it is also illegal.

Please send an email to the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department and ask them to Stop Fake News.

GO HERE TO EMAIL:
STOP FAKE NEWS

More on the Franklin Cover UP -- Jeff Gannon Johnny Gosch

The Franklin Cover Up Scandal the Child Sex Ring that reached the Reagan Bush White House



I had never heard about this story until the Jeff Gannon story broke and I did some googling and started finding information on the Franklin Cover up. It is a strange story about child abuse, kidnapping and conspiracy. A documentary was made called the Conspiracy of Silence
which was supposed to air on the Discovery Channel on May 3, 1994. It was advertised in the TV Guide and in newspapers for that day. But no one ever saw that program. At the last minute, and without explanation, it was pulled from the air. It was not shown then, and has never been broadcast anywhere since. The Documentary was supposedly destroyed by the government and there are parts of it now to be found on the internet. At the time I had to wonder if there was any connection to Jeff Gannon. Now there are theories coming out about it, (Is Jeff Gannon Johnny Gosch).

Today another article has come out about it:

Photographer Russell E. "Rusty" Nelson was recently arrested two days after journalist Hunter Thompson reportedly committed suicide four weeks ago on February 10, according to two phone interviews with attorney John DeCamp last week.

Nelson was allegedly employed by a former Republican Party activist to take pictures of current or retired U.S. House-Senate members and other prominent government officials engaging in sexual criminality by receiving or committing sodomy and other sex acts on children during the Reagan-Bush 41 administrations.

Hunter Thompson’s death and the news blackout of Rusty Nelson’s simultaneous arrest raise questions that someone may be attempting to limit Nelson’s freedom or threaten him, since according to testimony, both men had allegedly witnessed homosexual prostitution and pedophile criminal acts in a suppressed but far-reaching child sex-ring probe closely linked to Senate and House members--but also former President George H. W. Bush. [In U.S. District Court testimony, Rusty Nelson told Judge Warren Urbom he took 20,000 to 30,000 pictures, 2-5-1999, p.52]

full story:
Photographer for White House child sex ring arrested after Thompson suicide

Study Finds Fox Biased -- Imagine That!!!!!!!!!!!

The Project for Excellence in Journalism’s “State of the American News Media 2005,” released late Sunday, disputes charges of antiwar media bias, but found that President Bush received more “negative” coverage in the 2004 campaign than did Senator John F. Kerry.

And it determined that Fox News was the most one-sided of all major outlets. In fact, the idea that Americans are engaged in "partisan" news consumption isn't supported by the research. With the exception of Republicans who prefer Fox, most media use mirrors the general population, the study found.

full story:
Study Finds No Media Bias on War, Hits Fox As Most One-Sided

Religious Left on Bush Budget -- WWJD? NOT THAT!

This past week, leaders of five mainstream Protestant denominations came together to speak in one voice. Standing shoulder to shoulder, leaders of the Episcopal Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Church together condemned the 2006 Federal budget proposed by President Bush as unjust by biblical standards. They couldn't be more correct.


"The 2006 Federal Budget that President Bush has sent to Capitol Hill is unjust," they said. "It has much for the rich man and little for Lazarus," harkening to Jesus' parable of the beggar Lazarus at the gate of an anonymous rich man. Lazarus, you'll recall, finds his reward at the side of Abraham in heaven when he dies, while the rich man burns in hell.

full story:
Bush's budget lacks compassion and care

Shame On Dems who Voted for Bankruptcy Bill

via Blogtopus

Army Recruiting More Drop Outs: (When You Start Illegal War No One Wants to Fight it)

Take your people into a war that is unnecessary and illegal, and you get what you deserve I guess:

from Suburban Guerilla

Struggling to boost its ranks, the U.S. Army is recruiting a higher number of high school dropouts and recruits who score in the lowest category on military aptitude tests, raising concerns among senior officers and defense analysts that the quality of the force will suffer.

Five months into the recruiting year, the percentage of recruits in the active-duty Army without high school diplomas is more than double the percentage of last year.

The number of recruits who scored the lowest on the aptitude test has more than doubled from last year and is the highest since 2001.

full story:
Dropout recruits raise Army quality concerns

This Is What You Get When You Polarize America

Everytime I watch someone like Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity I think to myself, why do these people want to spread hate and lies and why does anyone watch them. This is the kind of thing they cause:

A man apparently enraged by a Bush-Cheney sticker on a woman's sport utility vehicle chased her for several miles and tried to run her off the road while holding up an anti-Bush sign, police said.

....Police said that as Winkler chased the woman's vehicle, he held up a small sign that read: "Never Forget Bush's Illegal War Murdered Thousands in Iraq......"

full story:
Man Blames His Road Rage on Bush Bumper Sticker

Pre Packaged TV = PROGANDA from Bush Administration

When I read about something like this from the Bush Administration, it makes me a little more afraid. More people get their news from TV then from reading a newspaper or using the internet. It is scary to think how they are being propagandized by our government:

...Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show.....

Full story from NY Times:
Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged Television News

Bushies Fantasy World

In state after state along President Bush's Social Security road campaign, hand-picked audiences cheer him, leaving the impression that the nation wholeheartedly backs his ideas for reform.

The reality is different.

While a majority of Americans approve of Bush's handling of terrorism and foreign policy, just 37 percent like his approach to Social Security, an Associated Press poll found.

full story:

Events Belie US Feelings

Obama Speaks Out on Bush SS Plan For Blacks

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said Thursday that President Bush's argument for African Americans to support his Social Security plan is "offensive."

Bush is courting African Americans with the pitch that the Social Security system is unfair to black men because of their shorter life expectancy.

full story:
Obama finds Bush's pitch 'offensive'

Dean Slams Bush on Town Hall Meetings

Howard Dean Says Bush allowing only supporters into Social Security Town Hall Meetings:

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said yesterday that President Bush’s policy of excluding non-Republicans from town-hall meetings on Social Security reform was “not an American thing to do.”
full story:
Dean slams Bush on town-hall meetings

see also:
Bush woos supporters to get behind Social Security reform

....Trying to rally public opinion, Bush is mounting town-hall meetings across the country on a tour that began last week with a two-day, five-state swing.

Crowds at the events are handpicked and friendly. In Raleigh, tickets were given out through the offices of North Carolina's two Republican senators, Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr.....

Teresa Heinz Kerry Thinks Voting Machines Could Have Been "HACKED"

Heinz Kerry is openly skeptical about results from November's election, particularly in sections of the country where optical scanners were used to record votes.

"Two brothers own 80 percent of the machines used in the United States," Heinz Kerry said. She identified both as "hard-right" Republicans. She argued that it is "very easy to hack into the mother machines."

"We in the United States are not a banana republic," added Heinz Kerry. She argued that Democrats should insist on "accountability and transparency" in how votes are tabulated.

"I fear for '06," she said. "I don't trust it the way it is right now."

full story:
In The Northwest: Teresa Heinz Kerry hasn't lost her outspoken way

ABC's Boston Legal focusing on censorship was itself censored

the next episode of Boston Legal, to be broadcast Sunday March 13 on the Disney-owned ABC network. AlterNet has acquired both the original and the revised script for this episode from a source who prefers to remain anonymous. The original penned by Kelley focused in large measure on Fox News and its loofah-loving star Bill O'Reilly. The script also featured substantial excerpts from the independent film Outfoxed, which documents how the allegedly "fair and balanced" cable channel acts as a propaganda arm for the Republican Party and other conservative interest groups.

But the final script – the one that was actually shot for the show that will appear on Sunday – has been thoroughly scrubbed on orders from top ABC network executives, and all mention of Fox News and O’Reilly has been sent down the Memory Hole.

full story:
Free Speech Impediment

Texans Take on Cupcakes -- "Bring 'Em On"

Texas Lawmakers Allow Cupcakes in Schools

Amid tense debate over education funding, Texas House members paused to take up a matter dear to school kids everywhere: cupcakes.

Legislators in an unanimous vote Wednesday cleared the way for public school students to once again nibble on the sweet treats -- complete with candy sprinkles -- to celebrate their birthdays.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs, whose agency oversees the state's school lunch program, imposed new healthy food rules beginning this academic year aimed at limiting or eliminating junk food and food that competes with cafeteria fare.

Isn't this just what you want your government interferring into, what your child eats for lunch??

Missourians "FIRED UP"

If you live in Missouri, you might want to joined this Fired Up group, I just got an email about today.

Jean Carnahan Launches FiredUpMissouri.com

Ex Marine says Saddam Capture scenario a Ruse

This is a strange story by a former marine that the Saddam in a hole scenario was fabricated for the public.



A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated.

Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.

"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said.

full story:
Ex-Marine Says Public Version of Saddam Capture Fiction

2nd Note to "Poor" People who voted Republican!!

The House and Senate Budget committees will unveil fiscal blueprints today that pave the way for additional tax reductions while seeking billions in spending cuts that target Medicaid, farm assistance, major weapons systems and just about every other domestic program.

Offsetting tax breaks mostly for the affluent with spending cuts that could hurt the poor could be politically risky, particularly in the Senate, where moderate Republicans have already warned that the juxtaposition may be untenable.

full story:
Tax, Spending Cuts Packaged

Note to "Poor" People who voted Republican

The Senate defeated dueling proposals Monday to raise the $5.15-an-hour minimum wage.



....."I believe that anyone who works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year should not live in poverty in the richest country in the world," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., arguing for the Democratic proposal to increase the minimum wage by $2.10 over the next 26 months......

full story:
Senate Defeats Minimum Wage Increase

HEY HEY HO HO Schwarzenegger Has Got to Go!!

The Los Angeles Times' Peter Nicholas writes that Gov. Schwarzenegger, as he hits fundraisers across the country, is being dogged by protests by nurses and firefighters that he's previously been shielded from, prompting him to change his itinerary and acknowledge them in stump speeches.



..... Demonstrators heckled him en route, crowding around the stairwell and shouting, "Hey, hey, ho, ho. Schwarzenegger's got to go."......

full story:
A New Kind of Crowd for Governor

World to Bush: "Leave us Alone"

Looks like maybe Lebanon doesn't want Bushies nose stuck in their business.



Nearly 500,000 pro-Syrian protesters waved flags and chanted anti-American slogans in a central Beirut square Tuesday, answering a nationwide call by the militant Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group for a demonstration to counter weeks of massive rallies demanding Syrian forces leave Lebanon.

full story:
Thousands Answer Hezbollah Call in Beirut

Bubba Back to Hospital for Surgery

Every time I see him lately he worries me because he just doesn't look that well. Stay home Bill and rest this time, get back on your feet before you start jetting around the world.

Former President Clinton will undergo a medical procedure this week to remove fluid and scar tissue from his left chest, six months after he underwent quadruple bypass surgery, his office said Tuesday.

The low-risk procedure will take place Thursday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. Clinton will remain hospitalized for three to 10 days and is expected to make a "full functional recovery," doctors said.

full story:
Bill Clinton to have Scar Tissue Removed

Death in Baghdad -- on the Giuliana Sgrena affair

Riverbend from her Baghdad Burning Blog:

I don’t understand why Americans are so shocked with this incident. Where is the shock? That Sgrena’s car was under fire? That Americans killed an Italian security agent? After everything that occurred in Iraq — Abu Ghraib, beatings, torture, people detained for months and months, the stealing, the rape...is this latest so very shocking? Or is it shocking because the victims weren’t Iraqi?

I’m really glad she’s home safe but at the same time, the whole situation is somewhat painful. It hurts because thousands of Iraqis have died at American checkpoints or face to face with a tank or Apache and beyond the occasional subtitle on some obscure news channel, no one knows about it and no one cares. It just hurts a little bit.

She also writes about an incident in a hospital in Baghdad where Iraqi National Guard beat up doctors so they can get treatment over civilian patients. Pretty sad stuff:

blog:
You want a rabbit?

Death Valley Blooms after California Rains

This is a nice story about how Death Valley is literally abloom this year after all the rain in California.

full story:
Brief, Beautiful Rebirth

Desert Is Teeming With Wildflowers After Record Rainfall

SpongeBob takes on Dobson

A group dressed up as SpongeBobs upstaged the Focus on the Family's Day at the State Capitol this morning. SpongeBobs' point: the state is in a budget crisis - why is Focus on the Family misusing donors' money attacking a cartoon character?

"With Colorado's colleges and universities going bankrupt we need Focus on the Family to focus on better schools," stated Tom Mestnik, a Metro State College student dressed as a SpongeBob at the Capitol. "That James Dobson misuses his donors' money on attacking a cartoon character shows how hateful Dobson is," Mestnick added.

SpongeBobs Upstage
Focus on the Family Day at the Capitol

DEM TV -- Starts Tomorrow

DemsTV.com

Starts tomorrow and will air every Tuesday for about 20 minutes or so.
"The primary focus is on politics, and, frankly, a heavy focus is on pointing out the foibles and scandals and dirty little secrets of Republicans that we think don't receive as much coverage in the mainstream media as they might," said Dan Manatt, one of the producers.

Voting is for Old People

I Just Bet The Big Corporations Would Love This -- Get Young People to think Voting is Unhip


Wouldn't Rethugs love it if they could get the young voters to think it was unhip to vote, because the young vote overwhelmingly democrat.



Sometimes irony can be more trouble than it's worth. That's the lesson clothing retailer Urban Outfitters seems to be learning after yanking a controversial T-shirt off its shelves.

Under pressure from voting organizations, a group of HarvardSo we're banned in the USA, just like 2 Live Crew! We think it's hilarious." — T-shirt designer John Foster-Keddie professors and others, including hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, the chain pulled a retro-style tee sporting the slogan "Voting Is for Old People" from its 57 stores in North America:

from MTV news:
Urban Outfitters Votes Against 'Old People' Tee

The True "Bush Agenda" on Social Securtiy GET RID of it!!

What the Rethugs don't want you to know is that their true agenda is to totally do away with Social Securtiy in the years to come. They have been angry with this program since FDR and his New Deal. In their narrow minds they view it as the biggest intitlement program in the history of the world.

From The York Daily Record:
America, be warned: The president and his party would like to get rid of Social Security. That’s what Rick Santorum’s supporters were chanting recently as CNN filmed him entering a town hall meeting in Philadelphia. “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Social Security’s got to go,” went their joyous little rhyme.

full story:
Don’t let the GOP kill Social Security

More On Homophobic Topeka Church

How could you have so much hate?



A Topeka, Kansas anti-gay and lesbian group picketed near Truett-McConnell College Saturday in Cleveland, protesting against the Gay-Straight Alliance Club.

........ Shirley Phelps-Roper held a bright neon painted sign that read "Thank God for 9-11".........

full story:
Topeka Protesters show up in Cleveland

Santorum's Bill to Raise Minimum Wage Actually a SNEAKY way to Cut pay

Could someone explain this to me: "Why do poor people vote for republicans?"

Sweatshops Expanded, Overtime Attacked, and State Minimum Wage Laws Undermined

This is as low as it goes, as the GOP fights to expand sub-minimum wage sweatshops across the country. Pennsylvania's Rick Santorum is leading the charge for a GOP bill that would ostensibly raise the minimum wage by $1.10 per hour, but in reality would cut wages for millions of American workers and expand unregulated sweatshops across the country.

As this Economic Policy Institute analysis details, the bill is a trojan horse for assaulting workers rights.

full story:
Santorum's Sweatshop Expansion Bill

Rural Area "MORAL Values"

This was on our local news channel last night. In a small rural town about 15 minutes from where I live, a 14 year bi-racial girl is being victimized by other students. She has been called the "N" word several times and has been hit. When the principle of the school was asked about the incident, his reply was that he knew the "N" word had been used but not how it was used or who it was used on. OH PLEASE, if it was used then it shouldn't have been, no matter how or why! I see those good rural America Conservative Moral values just shining through here:

full story:
Savannah Student Claims to be the Victim of Racially Motivated Assaults

1500


U.S. Death Toll In Iraq Hits 1,500

HMM -- US Mint does PORN

Quick call the FCC this is a $500,000 Fine thingy!!

John Ashcroft must be swooning right now!

What a GREAT Idea

But I wonder if is legal:



The Freeway Blogger

Insane Church in Topeka

Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas. I first noticed them when I read an article about one of their members trying to defeat a gay city council member, they travel the country to picket against gays. From this article at ADL: About The Westboro Baptist Church:

At the funeral of gay murder victim Matthew Shepard, they held up signs reading "No Fags in Heaven" and "God Hates Fags." According to their Web site, they have staged "20,000" protests across the nation and around the world in the last decade.

Virulently homophobic, the Westboro Baptist Church has picketed the gay community at hundreds of events nationwide. Many of its fliers emphasize the race or religion of these individuals.

Here is a flyer they have released on picketing John Edwards who is scheduled to speak in Topeka:



What a bunch of sick people.

Online Publication Rejected for White House Day Pass

So according to Gannon/Guckert day passes are a breeze huh!!:

As we reported earlier this morning, today marked Day One in Fishbowl D.C.'s quest to cover a White House morning "gaggle." The short version? The day passes aren't exactly easy to get. We were smoothly and professionally rejected access by the White House Press Office in under an hour this morning.

full story:
WH Gaggle Watch: Day One -- REJECTED

WH Gaggle Watch: Day Two -- Strike Two

Socialite ups Jeff Gannon Reward to $20,000

Now the reward for this man $20,000:



The reward for information on Jeff Gannon's sex life has increased to $20,000.

We are looking for evidence (photos, phone pictures, locks of hair, DNA on a suit) that Jeff Gannon had any type of sexual -- or romantic -- relationships with any top-ranking Washington officials.

full story:
Reward: $20,000 for Jeff Gannon Sex Evidence

Coulter Insults Arabs

From the Arab press:



Arab bashing reached a new low in Washington last week when Ann Coulter, a loudmouthed, mean-spirited, pro-Bush columnist, decided to defend the White House press pass controversy over faux-reporter James Guckert (a.k.a. Jeff Gannon) by writing in her syndicated column: “Press passes can’t be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president.”

full story:
Arab Bashing Reaches Low With Thomas Slur

Howard Stern's gonna love this: Repubs want to censor "Cable and Satellite" tv and radio

Enough is enough, its bad enough that regular tv has gotten so bad because of the tight censorship of the republican FCC now they want controls put on cable and satellite tv and radio. People when will you learn all you have to do is change the channel!! Not tell us all what we can watch

Two top U.S. Republican lawmakers on Tuesday said they want to apply broadcast decency standards to cable television and satellite television and radio to protect children from explicit content......

full story
Lawmakers Press for Decency Limits on Pay TV,Radio