Being Liberal and a Progressive in a RED STATE is not an easy thing these days. I started this blog to vent my frustrations on our lives being taken over by right wing conservatives with their propaganda machines. I have also learned an important lesson in the last year, it is that reading is the only way to get real information, you cannot depend on the news you see on TV.

"I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE"....Howard Beale (NETWORK)

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Tom Delay Tries to Get Attention Away from his own Corruption says Fund NASA

I really want NASA fully funded for future exploration, especially since my son works for NASA at Houston, but I believe Mr. Corruption DeLay is just trying to get the spotlight off of his obvious illegal activities:


NASA
's new administrator and Texas Republican Rep. Tom DeLay (news, bio, voting record) said Tuesday the space agency will have the necessary funding to implement
President Bush's vision to send astronauts back to the moon and to Mars.

"We have the money to do good things," said Michael Griffin, who has visited at least seven of NASA's centers since he was appointed in April. During a two-day visit at the home of human spaceflight, he spoke with astronauts, flight directors and other top administrators.

full story:
Funding for Moon, Mars Projects Promised


On Becoming a Monarchy and Theocracy

Another Vomit Bag Moment:

the president's father, would like to see another Bush in the White House someday, saying on Tuesday that he would want his son Jeb to run for president when the timing is right.

gag gag full story:
Elder Bush would like son Jeb to run for president

Did You Ever Watch PAX TV -- What a Republican Channel

I saw where PAX TV was doing a show called Lie detector Test, tonight it was supposed to have Jeff Gannon, so I thought that might be interesting, and decided to watch. What a bunch of crap. They ask him one question, "Did anyone from the White House Feed him Questions," that was it and now we are supposed to believe there was nothing else involved in why he was there!

The icing on the cake was Steve Gardner, one of the Swift Boat Liars. The question they asked him was, "Was the death of a young boy left out of a report," and then they all proclaim that shows Kerry was corrupt and a liar. Nothing about who wrote the report, but Gardner and host Rolanda Watts say that proves Kerry was unfit to be president.

Then Watts puts out a challenge to Michael Schiavo to come on the show and prove that his wife Terri really told him she wanted to die if in a vegetative state.

This was the biggest bunch of crock-crap I had ever watched and am kicking myself in the butt for staying with it for the whole hour and giving them one more person in their audience.

Groucho Bush or is Free Speech Dead in America?

Teacher Sue Freitag holds the original poster, right, and a version made after the first was pulled.

A doctored poster of President George W. Bush -- sporting Groucho Marx's dark eyebrows, mustache and stogie -- was supposed to promote a high school play.

But for award-winning drama students at El Camino Real High School, it turned out to be a stark lesson in free speech. The poster was close, but no cigar.

After one student complained last week, school officials ordered a hundred of the posters ripped from the Woodland Hills campus on grounds they promoted smoking and political preference.

"There's an issue in the first (poster) regarding the smoking and endorsing one ideology over another," said Principal Kenny Lee, who had the posters removed. "That's our take on the student speech and conduct."

full story:
Drama students learn tough lesson: Dubya's no joke

Ford Motor Company Supports its Gay Employeess

American Family Association boycotting Ford Motor Co. over gay issues

"Ford values all people, regardless of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and cultural or physical differences," Ford vice president of human resources Joe Laymon said.

So they are being boycotted by The American Family Association:

A conservative Christian group launched a boycott against Ford Motor Co. Tuesday, saying the second-largest U.S. automaker has given thousands of dollars to gay rights groups, offers benefits to same-sex couples and actively recruits gay employees.

They have sent 2.2 million emails to their supporters to tell them to boycott Ford

Thank Ford for promoting love and tolerance in this country:

Ford Motor Co. Email

The Pro-Cure Movement

Those who voted against the stem-cell research bill may look back on this as the vote that helped get them tossed out of office.

....I have a gut feeling that President Bush is headed for a serious bruising on this issue, as are at least some of the 180 Republicans and 14 Democrats who voted last week against the stem-cell-research bill that passed the House. These members may look back ruefully on this vote as one that helped get them tossed out of office.....I Hope So!

The Reason I am For Embryonic Stem Cell Research



Amanda Kay Duty

22 years old

Died February 23rd, 2004 -- Thymic Carcinoma

The Two Americas -- John Edward was so Right On

Remember when John Edwards talked about the two America's. I remember the rethugs laughing about how that old class thing just didn't cut the mustard anymore. Anyone who thinks that need only take a look at this:

CEOs at California's largest 100 public companies took home a collective $1.1 billion in 2004, up almost 20% from 2003. That compares with the 2.9% raise that the average California worker saw last year,

"The average CEO made 42 times the average worker's pay in 1980. That increased to 85 times in 1990 and is now over 300 times," said Brandon Rees, a research analyst. "That is clearly not a sustainable rate of growth."


Ralph Nader -- Impeach Bush

The 'I' word
By Ralph Nader and Kevin Zeese

THE IMPEACHMENT of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, should be part of mainstream political discourse.

....President Clinton was impeached for perjury about his sexual relationships. Comparing Clinton's misbehavior to a destructive and costly war occupation launched in March 2003 under false pretenses in violation of domestic and international law certainly merits introduction of an impeachment resolution.....

full story:
The 'I' Word

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Whoa Star Tribune Takes on Dubya -- He LIED!

Please newsmen out there we need more of this:

In exchange for our uniformed young people's willingness to offer the gift of their lives, civilian Americans owe them something important: It is our duty to ensure that they never are called to make that sacrifice unless it is truly necessary for the security of the country. In the case of Iraq, the American public has failed them; we did not prevent the Bush administration from spending their blood in an unnecessary war based on contrived concerns about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. President Bush and those around him lied, and the rest of us let them. Harsh? Yes. True? Also yes. Perhaps it happened because Americans, understandably, don't expect untruths from those in power. But that works better as an explanation than as an excuse.

full op-ed:
Editorial: Memorial Day/Praise bravery, seek forgiveness

If This Was Clinton They Would Have Impeached by Now

First the Downing Street Memo and now we learn this:

THE RAF and US aircraft doubled the rate at which they were dropping bombs on Iraq in 2002 in an attempt to provoke Saddam Hussein into giving the allies an excuse for war, new evidence has shown.

The attacks were intensified from May, six months before the United Nations resolution that Tony Blair and Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, argued gave the coalition the legal basis for war. By the end of August the raids had become a full air offensive.

The details follow the leak to The Sunday Times of minutes of a key meeting in July 2002 at which Blair and his war cabinet discussed how to make “regime change” in Iraq legal.

The new information, obtained by the Liberal Democrats, shows that the allies dropped twice as many bombs on Iraq in the second half of 2002 as they did during the whole of 2001, and that the RAF increased their attacks even more quickly than the Americans did.

full story:
RAF bombing raids tried to goad Saddam into war

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Calling All Neocons ~~ Join the Paul Douglas Brigade

Did you know that most Neocons never were in the military. Mark Shields has a really good idea for them:

The Paul Douglas Brigade <---Read the whole thing

......What makes Douglas my hero is that when he enlisted in the Marines, he was 50 years old, which means that when he was wounded in combat on Okinawa, he was 52......

Listening to the recent Washington debate on going to war against Iraq, I thought of the heroic example of Douglas. Immediately, President Bush ought to create by executive order the Paul Douglas Brigade, which would seek and welcome the enlistment into today's active military of middle-aged leaders of Congress, middle-aged leaders of his administration and middle-aged leaders of the vaunted private sector, whose own youthful commitments to their careers, graduate school or personal safety had kept them from answering the draft call that the U.S. government sent individually to everyone in their generation.

That means you Paul Wolfowitz, Tom DeLay, Richard Perle, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John Bolton, Russ Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, John Ashcroft, Bill O'Reilly,

9 Inch Nails Drop MTV Show over Bush Backdrop

<---- This is what it should look like ~~ TEE HEE

The rock band Nine Inch Nails said on Friday it canceled plans to appear on next week's MTV Movie Awards after the network questioned the band's plans to perform in front of an image of President Bush.

"We were set to perform 'The Hand That Feeds' with an unmolested, straightforward image of George W. Bush as the backdrop. Apparently, the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me," Nine Inch Nails' leader Trent Reznor said in a statement posted on the band's Web site.

full story:
Nine Inch Nails drops MTV show over Bush backdrop

Bush "NEWSPEAK" or How Karl Rove Taught Me to Talk

Reporter:
"Are the Iraqi insurgency getting more difficult to defeat militarily"

Bush:
"No, I don't think so, I think they're being defeated. And that's why they continue to fight."

A Prophesy come True

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

- H.L. Mencken

“That we are to stand by the president, right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

To All Military Recruiters: Go To Churches

A great idea from an op-ed piece in our local newspaper, instead of recruiting in our high schools why not go to all the Christian Churches. They seem to be the ones who are such great supporters of Bush's war:

Instead of focusing on high schools, why not pull a Carl Rove and start going after people at churches. The religious right doesn’t respect the separation of church and state anyway and think about it, the church is the perfect recruiting place. Because this is where you’ll find the most people in favor of the Iraq war, and since they have so much confidence in Bush’s brilliant leadership and world vision there’s no reason for them not to want to send their sons, daughters and grandchildren off to fight in Iraq. In fact, it’s their duty. Surely they don’t expect others to send their loved ones off to die unless they’re willing to do the same. That would be hypocrisy. So come on all you patriotic Republicans and religious-righters, now’s your chance to just do more than slap a “Support our troops” magnet on your gas-guzzling vehicle. Show some real support by marching down to your nearest recruiting station and sacrificing your sons and daughters.

Friday, May 27, 2005

Sign Rep. Conyers Letter

Rep Conyers needs 100,000 signatures for a letter to Bush about the Downing Street Memo you can go here and read what it says and sign:

John Conyers

"Girlie Man" Destroys Street so He Can Fix it in Front of Cameras

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger traveled to a quiet San Jose neighborhood Thursday, and -- dogged by protesters -- filled a pothole dug by city crews just a few hours before, as part of an attempt to dramatize his efforts to increase money for transportation projects.

.....
But their street, he noted, didn't even have a hole to pave over until Thursday morning.

"They just dug it out,'' Porrovecchio said, shrugging. "There was a crack. But they dug out the whole road this morning.''

"It's a lot of money spent on a staged event,'' said Matt Vujevich, 74, a retiree whose home faced the crew-made trench that straddled nearly the whole street.......

full story:
Governor digs fixing pothole San Jose crews destroy part of road for staged event

Asian Mom of Slain Soldier Not allowed in Gold Star

Everyone agrees that Ligaya Lagman is a Gold Star mother, part of the long line of mournful women whose sons or daughters gave their lives for their country. Her 27-year-old son, Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lagman, was killed last year in Afghanistan, but American Gold Star Mothers Inc., has rejected Lagman, a Filipino, for membership because _ though a permanent resident and a taxpayer _ she is not a U.S. citizen.

full story:
Slain Soldier's Mom Rejected by Gold Star

Shut It Down!

I totally agree:

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN:

Shut it down. Just shut it down.

I am talking about the war-on-terrorism P.O.W. camp at Guantánamo Bay. Just shut it down and then plow it under. It has become worse than an embarrassment. I am convinced that more Americans are dying and will die if we keep the Gitmo prison open than if we shut it down. So, please, Mr. President, just shut it down.

If you want to appreciate how corrosive Guantánamo has become for America's standing abroad, don't read the Arab press. Don't read the Pakistani press. Don't read the Afghan press. Hop over here to London or go online and just read the British press! See what our closest allies are saying about Gitmo. And when you get done with that, read the Australian press and the Canadian press and the German press.

full op-ed:
Just Shut It Down


Thursday, May 26, 2005

Pastor of Church Fired for "Tolerance" Editorial

The congregation of Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church in Elkins, W.Va., has voted to fire its minister after he wrote a column for the local daily, the Inter-Mountain, supporting gay rights.

"Gay and lesbian Christians are no different than the rest of us," the Rev. Jeff Falter wrote in a Feb. 26 article. "They deserve full equality in the church and in society, for they are my brothers and sisters, people for whom Christ died."

full story:
Pro-Gay Newspaper Column Costs W.Va. Minister His Pulpit

Here is the Pastor's Email please send a thank you for standing up to homophobia and hatred
minister@dmpc.org

I Would Love To Do This Someday!

Well actually I'd be happy with a 10 pounder:



Man Hooks Record 124 lb Catfish

How Embarrassing for us ~~ Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our time

In its annual report on "The State of the World's Human Rights," Amnesty International said the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "has become the gulag of our times" and accused U.S. officials of flaunting international law in their treatment of detainees.

full story:

Amnesty International wants U.S. investigated

Say What????

George W. Bush:
".....to promote science which destroys life in order to save life, I'm against that"

So This is very Bad:


150 cells of goo, there are around 250,000 cells in the brain of a fly.

And This is OK:




Sorry, but it makes no sense to
me.

Iraqi Christians Tell U.S. Evangelicals to Mind Their Own Business

A dubious Iraqi girl being helped to hold a Bible

Enough is enough for the Christian community in Iraq. The head of Iraq’s largest Christian community, Patriarch Emmanuel Delly, recently scathingly attacked the evangelical Christians who have taken their crusade to Iraq since the illegal U.S. invasion of March 2003.

Delly told Al-Jazeera News on May 19 that Iraq did not need Christian missionaries because its churches dated back long before Protestantism. He objected to the aspect of trying to convert Muslims and said, "You can’t even talk about that here."

full story:
Just What Every Iraqi Needs: A Bible

Quote of the Day

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." — Bush

Well I guess he at least admits it.

The Judge James Dobson "LOVES" -- or Why We Should Worry

This is why we need to worry about the kind of judges James Dobson, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell want Bush to put into office:

An Indianapolis father is appealing a Marion County judge's unusual order that prohibits him and his ex-wife from exposing their child to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals."

The parents practice Wicca, a contemporary pagan religion that emphasizes a balance in nature and reverence for the earth.

full story:
Judge: Parents can't teach pagan beliefs

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Freedom Fries Founder Now Protests War

Walter Jones, the Republican congressman for North Carolina who was also the brains behind french toast becoming freedom toast in Capitol Hill restaurants, told a local newspaper the US went to war "with no justification".

Mr Jones, who in March 2003 circulated a letter demanding that the three cafeterias in the House of Representatives' office buildings ban the word french from menus, said it was meant as a "light-hearted gesture".

Although he voted for the war, he has since become one of its most vociferous opponents on Capitol Hill, where the hallway outside his office is lined with photographs of the "faces of the fallen".

full story:
French fries protester regrets war jibe

"Don't Shake Your Booty" Bill Passes House In Texas

From Molly Ivins:

Here in Texas, the Can't-Shake-Your-Booty bill passed the House, saving us all from the scourge of sexy cheerleaders. But nothing else is getting done.

Senfronia Thompson, a black representative from Houston says:
"Let's look at what this amendment does not do: It does not give one Texas citizen meaningful tax relief. It does not reform or fully fund our education system. It does not restore one child to CHIP [Children's Health Insurance Program] who was cut from health insurance last session. It does not put one dime into raising Texas' Third World access to health care. It does not do one thing to care for or protect one elderly person or one child in this state. In fact, it does not even do anything to protect one marriage.

Read the whole thing it is really good:
Duck and Cover Time

This is For Cody

I thought you would get a kick out of this ~~ From Weird Sex Laws

Maryville, MISSOURI~~ The privilege of admiring the curvaceous, unencumbered body of a young woman should not be denied to the normal, red-blooded American male.

On This Day in History ~~ May 25th, 1925


Scopes Is Indicted in Tennessee for Teaching Evolution

The specific charge of the indictment is that on April 24, 1925, John T. Scopes, "did unlawfully and willfully teach in public schools of Rhea County, Tenn., which said schools are supported in part and in whole by the public school funds of the State, certain theory and theories that deny the story of Divine creation of man as taught in the Bible and did teach thereof that man descended from a lower order of animals."

"Snowflake" Babies?

from Dependable Renegade:

"'Course, I'm only talkin' 'bout saving the white embryos. All the ones labelled 'black girl' you can have."


Grand Jury Indicts Runaway Bride

Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks was indicted Wednesday on charges that she lied to police about being kidnapped, two counts that could mean up to six years in prison.

A grand jury indicted the 32-year-old woman on one count of making a false police report, a misdemeanor, and one count of false statement, a felony, said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter.

The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, he said. The other count carries a penalty of up to a year.

full story:
Wilbanks Indicted on False Crime Charge

And Bill Maher Responds...........

First, I had never heard of Congressman Bachus before this. Now lots of people have heard of him. You're welcome, Congressman, glad I could help get your Q rating up.

By the way, are we sure he's really a Congressman? Maybe he's just a guy with a fax machine. You know how fact checking goes these days.

....GET BACK TO WORK! DO SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO SOLDIERS IN IRAQ!....

MORE

A REAL American Votes his Consious.. -- Voinovich says Vote against Bolten

Senator George Voinovich calls Bolton a "controversial and ineffective ambassador."

Voinovich wrote to all 99 of his Senate colleagues urging them to vote down Bolton's nomination. Voinovich previously brokered an unusual compromise that sent nomination to the full Senate without the customary recommendation from a Senate committee.Thank you Senator, finally some legislators are showing they are not a rubber stamp for Bush. This is really a brave move for a republican to go up against the Bush Machine, everyone should be impressed by this guy's courage.


full story:
Voinovich Asks Senate to Reject Bolton

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Bill O'Reilly "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire"

from Wonkette:

Howard Dean
"Nor do I think Bill O'Reilly is in a position to abuse families of survivors of 9/11, given his own ethical shortcomings."

O'Reilly"

"Dean's assertion yesterday that I had done damage to the families of 9/11 victims is simply bizarre."

"Get out of my studio before I tear you to f-ing pieces!"
Bill O'Reilly to Jeremy Glick whose
father died in the WTC attack

The Self-Destruction of Howard Dean [Fox News]
Transcript for May 22 [NBC]
Bill O'Reilly: Menace to Propriety [Soundbitten.com]

Clear Skies?

Dale Bengston and his family from Madison, Wisconsin were so incensed over the high levels of mercury in tuna, they sent their uneaten cans to the White House as a protest.

Sorry Charley

Baptist Church Says Koran Should Be Flushed

Why can't we all just get along and respect each other no matter what religion, color, sexual orientation?

sign in front of a Baptist church on one of the most traveled highways in the county stirred controversy over religious tolerance and first-amendment rights this weekend.

A sign in front of Danieltown Baptist Church, located at 2361 U.S. 221 south reads "The Koran needs to be flushed," and the Rev. Creighton Lovelace, pastor of the church, is not apologizing for the display.

full story:
Church sign sparks debate

Monday, May 23, 2005

Filibuster Compromise

Well I wasn't sure if we won or lost on this compromise but in checking in with the wingnuts and they are yelling their heads off apparently they think we won. HAHAHAHAHA

From SpongeBob's Best Friend Dobson:


"This Senate agreement represents a complete bailout and betrayal by a cabal of Republicans and a great victory for united Democrats."

"........We share the disappointment, outrage and sense of abandonment felt by millions of conservative Americans who helped put Republicans in power last November. I am certain that these voters will remember both Democrats and Republicans who betrayed their trust......"

Congressman Wants Bill Maher Show Cancelled for Remarks on Military

Good Grief people he's a comedian!!!!!!!!!

Alabama congressman: HBO comedian's remark "borders on treason"
An Alabama congressman says comedian Bill Maher's comment that the U.S. military has already recruited all the "low-lying fruit" is possibly treasonous and at least grounds to cancel the HBO show.

Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus takes issue with remarks on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," first aired May 13, in which Maher points out the Army missed its recruiting goal by 42 percent in April.

"More people joined the Michael Jackson fan club," Maher said in giving a comic twist to his commentary. "We've done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies."

American Psychiatric Association to Push for Gay Marriage

Representatives of the nation's top psychiatric group approved a statement Sunday urging legal recognition of gay marriage. If approved by the association's directors in July, the measure would make the American Psychiatric Association the first major medical group to take such a stance.

The statement supports same-sex marriage "in the interest of maintaining and promoting mental health."

full story:
Psychiatrists May Push for Gay Marriage OK

Youth in Threatening Tee Barred From Dubya Event

A University of Arizona student says he was told he was a potential threat and was barred from President Bush's forum yesterday at the TCC because of the T-shirt he was wearing.

UA student Steven Gerner, 19, says he was not allowed into the forum because of this T-shirt, which promotes the Democratic Party.

full story:
‘Threatening’ T-shirt barred from TCC

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Homophobia =Taking away Health Care for Kids with Gay Parents

Opponents of marriage rights for same-sex couples in California began a petition drive Thursday to put a broad constitutional ban against gay marriage on next year's ballot.

......If passed, this constitutional amendment would result in children losing health insurance they currently have, hospital visitation being revoked and families being hurt," said Geoffrey Kors, executive director of Equality California.......

full story:
Calif. groups launch broad anti-gay drive

What Are the Crusades?

The Real Reason we are in Iraq:

I saw this at AmericaBlog





Caption:

Haditha Dam, Al Anbar, Iraq - The 'New Testament' a tank with 4th Tank Co., 1st Tank battalion attached to 3/25 prepares to lead the way during a recent mission.

from The Official Photo Archive -- U.S. Marine Corp

Starting Young

via: Politics in the Zeros

More From the Sun

from The Sun

Laura Bush Mobbed by Protestors

Protesters besieged Laura Bush during her visit Sunday to two of Jerusalem's most sacred sites, with Israeli police locking arms to restrain the crowd and Secret Service agents packed tightly around America's first lady.

.....The first lady was mobbed by protesters and local reporters, and Secret Service agents and Israeli police had to physically hold back the crowd as she approached the wall......

full story:
Protesters Mob Laura Bush in Jerusalem

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Afghan Leader wants Control over US Troops

Afghan leader Hamid Karzai demanded greater control Saturday over American military operations in his country and called for vigorous punishment of any U.S. troops who mistreat prisoners.

He also said he wants the United States to hand over all Afghan prisoners still in U.S. custody.

full story:
Karzai Wants More Control of U.S. Forces

A Democrat with a Spine

After saying that Tom Delay should go back to Texas and be in jail Howard Dean was criticized this week by republicans, it appears he will not be backing down from his comments anytime soon. Thank goodness, I am so sick of spineless dems, I think that is a lot of the problem we have. Someone needs to stand up to these people:

Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean who famously refused to prejudge Osama bin Laden is standing by his judgment that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay may deserve jail time for allegations of corruption.

....Asked whether he was rushing to judgment, the former Vermont governor said with a laugh, "I got in trouble because I wouldn't convict Osama bin Laden. Maybe I've learned something....."

full story:
Dean Still Says DeLay May Deserve Jail

Friday, May 20, 2005

Rupert Murdock and Saddam in Underwear

Is it just me or does anyone else out there wonder why it would be that papers owned by Fox News and lover of "W," Rupert Murdock would be the one who would leak pictures of Saddam in his underwear. Is this a diversion from the "News Week" story of desecration of the Islam Holy Book the Koran (Quran). Did he conspire with the Bushites to run this story just as the News Week story of the Koran being misused by military at Guantanamo was being dissected and protested by the press and the Islamic people? Did they think this would shore up support in the anti-Saddam Iraqi movement and move the rhetoric away from the Koran story and toward support for the American occupation? One has to wonder in the wake of an American Administration that is secretive, prone to propaganda and corrupt.

Pentagon Condemn Saddam Underwear Photos

The U.S. military condemned the publication Friday of photographs showing an imprisoned Saddam Hussein naked except for his white underwear, and ordered an investigation of how the pictures leaked. Some Iraqis expressed anger, but President Bush said he did not think the images would incite further anti-American sentiment. More revealing pictures were published Saturday in the British tabloid,

full story:
Pentagon Condemns Saddam Photos

Want to Be a Scientist? Better Go Somewhere Besides America

Maybe if Laura got Parkinson's Disease he would feel differently:

President Bush on Friday threatened to veto a bill expanding public funding for embryonic stem cell research that could make it to his desk by early next week.

"I made [it] very clear to the Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayers' money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life, I'm against that," Bush told reporters. "Therefore if the bill does that, I will veto it."

full story:
Bush threatens veto on stem cell research bill


Thursday, May 19, 2005

Pregnant Senior Banned From Graduation (GUESS WHICH STATE) ~~ of course ALABAMA

Leave it to Alabama:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A pregnant student who was banned from graduation at her Roman Catholic high school announced her own name and walked across the stage anyway at the close of the program.

Alysha Cosby's decision prompted cheers and applause Tuesday from many of her fellow seniors at St. Jude Educational Institute.

But her mother and aunt were escorted out of the church by police after Cosby headed back to her seat.

"I can't believe something like this is happening in 2005," said her mother, Sheila Cosby.

The real kicker is that the father of the child was also a senior and they allowed him to participate.

full story:
Pregnant student, banned from graduation, walks anyway

George W to Dine with Porn Star

via AmericaBlog: " Bush to dine with porn star (so not kidding), and she'll be meeting with Karl Rove too! "

LOS ANGELES - Porn star and former gubernatorial candidate Mary Carey will be joining her boss, Kick Ass Pictures president Mark Kulkis, in attending a dinner with President Bush in Washington, D.C. on June 14.

Want to Get Cured with Embryonic Stem Cells -- Move to South Korea

How sad that we are getting beaten in research and science by other countries because we are being held back by a group of Americans that don't believe in science:

In what scientists say is a stunning leap forward, a team of South Korean researchers has developed a highly efficient recipe for producing human embryos by cloning and then extracting their stem cells.

Writing today in the journal Science, they report that they used their method to produce 11 human stem cells lines that are genetic matches of patients aged 2 to 56.

full story:
South Koreans Streamline Cloning of Human Embryos


Who's Really Pulling the Strings

Fox News Losing Audience

From TVNEWSER:

April '05 marks "the sixth consecutive month where FNC declined versus prior month in M-F, primetime P25-54 (every month since Nov '04)," CNN's press release says. The 25-54 demo is coveted by advertisers. One insider called it a "downward spiral." FNC still has more demo viewers than CNN, though (443k vs. 304k in April). Here are FNC's month-by-month weekday primetime averages in the 25-54 demographic:

Oct. 04: 1,074,000 / Nov. 04: 891,000 / Dec. 04: 568,000 / Jan. 05: 564,000 / Feb. 05: 520,000 / March 05: 498,000 / April 05: 445,000

Also: In April 2005, FNC's weekday primetime demo average decreased 25% compared to the year-ago, while CNN increased 27%.

Killing Michael Moore

Listen for yourself:
Audio Clip from the Glenn Beck show

We Love Him, We Love Him, We Love Him ~~ NOT

From The American Research Group:

George W. Bush
Approve -- 43%
Disapprove -- 51%

Handling of the Economy:
Approve -- 37%
Disapprove -- 57%

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

So True!

How Republicans Think:

More "Wingnuttery"

From Media Matters:

From the May 17 broadcast of The Glenn Beck Program:

Clear Channel radio host Glenn Beck said he was "thinking about killing [filmmaker] Michael Moore" and pondered whether "I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it," before concluding: "No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out -- is this wrong?"

full story:
Radio host Glenn Beck "thinking about killing Michael Moore"

Galloway


Galloway at the Senate hearings yesterday:

"I met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him," the difference is that Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns, and to give him maps the better to target those guns."

Fighting the War with Toys

From Military Diaries

.....We came upon a possible IED in the middle of the road, and stopped all traffic to check it out......

.......A young private in that platoon has one of those radio-controlled toy cars. When they find unidentifiable debris in the road, E.S. sends out his little RC car and rams it. If it's light enough to be moved or knocked over, it's too light to be a bomb, so we can approach it and get rid of it. If it's heavy, we call EOD. At night, they duct tape a flashlight to the car.......

.....The military actually has robots that it uses for such things, but they are larger, slower, higher-tech, and frightfully expensive.....

full story:
Military Diaries: Going Outside the Wire with RC Cars

Just What We Need ~~ "RODS from GOD"

I bet God would really like this, a weapon that can kill thousands named after him:

The Air Force, saying it must secure space to protect the nation from attack, is seeking President Bush's approval of a national-security directive that could move the United States closer to fielding offensive and defensive space weapons, according to White House and Air Force officials.

......Another Air Force space program, nicknamed Rods From God, aims to hurl cylinders of tungsten, titanium or uranium from the edge of space to destroy targets on the ground, striking at speeds of about 7,200 miles an hour with the force of a small nuclear weapon......

full story:
Air Force Seeks Bush's Approval for Space Weapons Programs

The "Face of Evil" -- From an Iraqi View

…She stood in the crowded room as her drove of minions stood around her...…A huddling mass trying to draw closer to her aura of evil. The lights flashed against her fangs as her cruel lips curled into a grimace. It was meant to be a smile but it wouldn't reach her cold, lifeless eyes… It was a leer- the leer of the undead before a feeding...

The above was not a scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer- it was just Condi Rice in Iraq a day ago. At home, we fondly refer to her as The Vampire. She's such a contrast to Bush- he simply looks stupid. She, on the other hand, looks utterly evil.

from Baghdad Burning:
The Dead and the Undead...

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Caption This



Designer:
After a long night at Hooters, W. returns home trying to get the Wing sauce off his face, with his official presidential Wet-nap.

NeoConCrusher:
"Why, its a fine Burka, all decent Christian Women should wear them....."

Lei:
"Mr. President, I thought we agreed you wouldn't play peek-a-boo in public anymore."

Michael J. W. Stickings:
"Mmm-mmm. Peppermint-flavoured dental dam. Laura's gonna be one lucky lady toooo-nite!"

Resign Scott McClellan


Whenever I hear Scott McClellan talking about ‘media credibility,’ I strain to remember who it was who admitted Jeff Gannon to the White House press room and called on him all those times.

Whenever I hear this White House talking about ‘doing to damage to our image abroad’ and how ‘people have lost lives,’ I strain to remember who it was who went traipsing into Iraq looking for WMD that will apparently turn up just after the Holy Grail will - and at what human cost.

read the whole thing it is really good"
The resignation of Scott McClellan (Keith Olbermann)

Myers Says Afghan Riots not Tied to Koran Story

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says a report from Afghanistan suggests that rioting in Jalalabad on May 11 was not necessarily connected to press reports that the Quran might have been desecrated in the presence of Muslim prisoners held in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Air Force General Richard Myers told reporters at the Pentagon May 12 that he has been told that the Jalalabad, Afghanistan, rioting was related more to the ongoing political reconciliation process in Afghanistan than anything else.

full story:
Afghan Riots Not Tied to Report on Quran Handling, General Says


MEMOGATE

Nobody wants to go to war. We trust our leaders to shed blood in our name only when absolutely necessary. Two years after the start of the Iraq War, on March 20, 2003, Americans are just learning that our government was dead set on taking our nation to war, even while it claimed to be pursuing diplomacy.

The Downing Street Memo, recently leaked, reveals that President George W. Bush decided to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in summer 2002 and—determined to ensure that U.S. intelligence data supported his policies—"fixed" the intelligence and facts relevent to WMD.

from:
Downingstreetmemo.com

Monday, May 16, 2005

How the Iraqi's Felt about the "Condi" Visit

As if to add insult to injury, with over 400 Iraqis killed in violence during the first two weeks of the newly sworn in Iraqi "government," US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice made a surprise one day visit to the newest US colony.

After visiting northern Iraq which has been spared the brunt of the ongoing violence, Rice traveled to the heavily entrenched "green zone" in central Baghdad where the U.S. "embassy" is located. She addressed a crowd in the former Republican Palace, the perfect setting for her symbolic visit to Iraq where more and more Iraqis are referring to the devastating occupation which has beset their country as their new "bloodocracy."

full story:
A "Welcome Parade" of Blood and Seething Anger

Another MY PET GOAT or Who is Really In Charge of America

After the air scare in Washington DC, I had to wonder about Bush not being told about the incident until after it was over. To me it was like Deja Vu all over again. It makes you wonder when you compare this to the "My Pet Goat" incident who really is in charge, it appears not to be Bush.

Little Billie Frist Liked to Change the Rules



When Billie Frist was just a lad
he like to get his way
and if a game he'd start to lose
he'd change the rules of play:

Watch the video:
Changing the Rules

Mr. Cuckoobananas

From The Simpsons:

Homer, on bart getting expelled:

"and if you get expelled from that school, then you're going to military school, where you'll be sent to the next war quagmire. What will it be next, North Korea, Iran, Who knows? Anything's possible with mr. Cuckoobananas in charge!"

NOAA Warns of Extreme Event on Sun

Forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo., observed a geomagnetic storm on Sunday, May 15, which they classified as an extreme event, measuring G-5—the highest level—on the NOAA Space Weather Scales.

"This event registered a 9 on the K-Index, which measures the maximum deviation of the Earth's magnetic field in a given three-hour period," said Gayle Nelson, lead operations specialist at NOAA Space Environment Center. "The scale ranges from 0 to 9, with 9 being the highest. This was a significant event."

full story:
NOAA ISSUES SPACE WEATHER WARNING

Wrong Guy for the Job



Watch why: John Bolton US Ambassador to the U.N.

Like a Rock

Bushies Approval Rating even further
D
O
W
N
46%
Disapprove -- 47 %
according to Polling Report

AWOL Crisis ~~ Who Can Blame Them!

Can anyone blame these guys, when A President lies, send his military into an illegal war:

As the death toll of troops mounts in Iraq and Afghanistan, America's military recruiting figures have plummeted to an all-time low. Thousands of US servicemen and women are now refusing to serve their country. Andrew Buncombe reports

full story:
The deserters: Awol crisis hits the US forces

Bill Moyers Fighting back

From a Speech Bill Moyers Gave at the National Conference on Media Reform in St. Louis on Sunday:

"The more compelling our journalism, the angrier the radical right of the Republican Party gets," he explained. "That's because the one thing they loathe more than liberals is the truth. And the quickest way to be damned by them as liberal is to tell the truth."

full story:

Bill Moyers Fights Back

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Secret Government Eugenics Program Sterilized 65,000 "undesirables" Code Word for POOR

Boy this is really unbelievable:

From the early 1900s to the 1970s, some 65,000 men and women were sterilized in this country, many without their knowledge, as part of a government eugenics program to keep so-called undesirables from reproducing.

"The procedures that were done here were done to poor folks," said Steven Selden, a professor at the University of Maryland. "They were thought to be poor because they had bad genes or bad inheritance, if you will. And so they would be the focus of the sterilization."

full story:
State Secret: Thousands Secretly Sterilized


Saturday, May 14, 2005

Calling All Evangelicals Your Messiah King George Needs You

From Counterbias:

After reading a CounterBias.com piece by Dr. Mel Seesholtz, I got to thinking about the Christian Right and their blind devotion to George W. Bush as their moronic messiah. Then I read another piece by Joshua Frank of CounterPunch.com about the shrinking number of new recruits for our overextended military.

Since evangelicals are so jolly for King George and his policies, they should put their enlistment where their mouth is.

Recruitment is down. How does one expect the United States to continue the Christian Crude-oil Crusades without fresh bodies… er, soldiers?

full story:
Dim-Witted, Half-Hearted Blowhards
An angry look at the hypocritical Christian Right

Proud MaMa

Sorry just had to put this in, they ran an article on my son in our local paper today:


Some people reach adulthood and drift into careers. Cooper Snapp remembers the childhood event that cemented his future.

As an elementary student in St. Joseph, he saw the space shuttle. The Enterprise, a test shuttle never equipped for space flight, was being ferried aboard a jetliner to California and stopped over at Kansas City in November 1984.

“I was probably 6 or 7 at the time,” he remembers. “I’ve always been interested in space.”

A couple of decades after that experience, the Benton High School graduate finds himself in the thick of America’s effort to return to space. He works for NASA on the shuttle’s thermal protection system, the part of the craft whose failure caused the destruction of the Columbia in February 2003.

full story:
Benton" grad reaches for the stars at NASA

Friday, May 13, 2005

Listen to Alan Colmes ~ Neal Horsley "MULE SEX" Tape

From the Alan Colmes interview with Anti-Gay, Anti Abortion Neal Horsley If you can stomach it:

"If its warm and it damp and it vibrates you might in fact have sex with it"


Fox Radio Interview

Our GREAT Booming Economy ~~ HUH for Who Rich People?

I listened to the head of Miltary Recruiters talking to Chris Matthews the other night telling Chris that the reason for the fall in recruitment was the "booming economy." I had to roll on the floor laughing. According to Financial Times:

US Real Wages Fall At Fastest Rate Since Last Republican Administration:

Real wages in the US are falling at their fastest rate in 14 years, according to data surveyed by the Financial Times.

Inflation rose 3.1 per cent in the year to March but salaries climbed just 2.4 per cent, according to the Employment Cost Index. In the final three months of 2004, real wages fell by 0.9 per cent.

Some Tolerance in "GASP" ~~ The MIDWEST

From the Sioux City Journal:

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A federal judge Thursday struck down Nebraska's ban on gay marriage, saying the measure interferes not only with the rights of gay couples but also with foster parents, adopted children and people in a host of other living arrangements.

The constitutional amendment, known as Initiative 416, was put on the ballot by petition in 2000. It passed with 70 percent of the vote.

full story:
Judge strikes down Nebraska's same-sex marriage ban

Remember back in February when it was revealed that Dubya's Favorite book was I am Charlotte Simmons, well on Wednesday after his infamous bike ride during the DC evacuation, Bush was spotted carrying the Charlotte book. From the Washington Post, Names and Faces:

In a photo taken just after the ride, Bush is holding what appears to be a copy of "I Am Charlotte Simmons," the Tom Wolfe novel about debauchery on a college campus. In early February, Bush told reporters he was reading that same book -- which, if he is almost done, averages to about seven pages a day.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Protect Your Family From Cheese Whiz


Via Electablog:

The American Family Association, one of the more pathetic so-called pro-family organizations, is now targeting Kraft Foods.

Why?

Because Kraft is one the sponsors of the Gay Games in Chicago in 2006.

And no, I'm not kidding. And no, you didn't accidentally stumble upon one my archival postings from a century or two ago.

Here's the scoop from the AFA press release:

Kraft Foods, makers of popular products like Macaroni and Cheese, Kraft Singles, Oreo cookies, Maxwell House coffee, and Ritz Crackers is a sponsor of the 2006 Gay Olympic Games in Chicago.

The gay games are supported and endorsed by dozens of homosexual activist groups and organizations, including homosexual magazines and television outlets.

Update from Mellissa in Comments:

If anyone wants to show their support for Kraft Foods, and to thank them for standing up to the hate filled groups emerging in our (supposedly) free country, please take a moment to send a thank you email to Kraft foods. You can go to this site to do it:http://www.kraftfoods.com/
main.aspx?m=contact_us/cu_form2&age=5
&coppa=False∏=True⊂=28


I have a feeling that many right wing groups will start bombing Kraft with threatening hate filled messages, so lets all try to show some thanks for their support of the Gay Games.

More Republican "Family Values"

From All Spin Zone:

And now, Dr. W. David Hager, Pro-Life activist and Bush Administration appointee to the Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs in the Food and Drug Administration. What did he do???? You should talk to his wife.
Two years ago when Bush appointed the Pro-Life advocate Hager to the committee that regulates drugs involving pregnancy, including RU-486, for instance, NOW was livid, pointing out his history of recommending prayers as a solution for PMS, for instance. But, of course, Bush didn't listen, and the Christian Right just loved having one of their own on the Advisory Panel. Will they be quite as thrilled after this month's issue of The Nation, where Hager's wife comes out and discusses her ex-husband's penchant for sodomy, even forced sodomy?

My guess is that they won't complain one bit. Indeed, they may find something in the bible to defend him with.

Out of the Sea of Insanity -- One Sane Voice

Sen. George Voinovich, a key Republican on the Senate committee considering John Bolton's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters Thursday he will vote against Bolton when the issue comes before the full Senate.

full story:

Key Republican: Bolton wrong man for U.N.

Dems Fight Back

Grassrootsdems:

The big news; our billboards are up in Sioux Falls. The feedback and response has been AMAZING! We mainly received responses of sincere thanks, we heard some reserved concerns and we even got couple of pieces of hate mail – we appreciate all of it!

Democrats make America stronger.

Is Iraq in Civil War?

An unchastened insurgency sowed devastation across Iraq Wednesday as experts here said the country is either on the verge of civil war or already in the middle of it.

....With security experts reporting that no major road in the country was safe to travel, some Iraq specialists speculated that the Sunni insurgency was effectively encircling the capital and trying to cut it off from the north, south and west, where there are entrenched Sunni communities. East of Baghdad is a mostly unpopulated desert bordering on Iran....

full story:
Experts: Iraq verges on civil war