The Era

On My Mind

2008-07-15T17:32:00.000+09:00

Story Problems

2008-07-15T17:30:00.000+09:00

The Ferris Wheel Kiss

2008-07-15T17:29:00.000+09:00

Little Red Wagons

2008-07-15T17:27:00.000+09:00

Republican Erection

2008-07-15T17:25:00.000+09:00

The Republican "Party" Song

2008-07-15T17:24:00.000+09:00

Protest Song

2008-07-15T17:20:00.002+09:00

Chosen One (Smog Cover)

2008-07-15T17:18:00.001+09:00

The Wild Rose Electric Stomp

2008-07-15T16:54:00.003+09:00

Hiding in the jungles of Laos

2007-12-17T20:07:00.000+09:00

Highway chicken fat anyone?

2007-11-28T00:51:00.000+09:00

Chicken Fat Spill Causes Va. Wrecks

Consumers please read Fast Food Nation.

Trent Reznor's Warning

2007-11-20T11:43:00.000+09:00

APATHY KILLS

Remember Harry Taylor?

2007-10-31T09:08:00.000+09:00

Click on image to see video from Think Progress

Well, he's running for Congress. From my email today....

18 months ago I stood in an auditorium in Charlotte, NC, and had the opportunity to speak candidly and directly to President Bush. I could never have dreamed of the reaction it created.

Almost immediately the website thankyouharrytaylor was established where you joined thousands of people across the United States, and indeed the world, to thank me for standing up and being honest with our President. I was deeply moved that you took the time to be a part of this, but more importantly, to know that you stood with me that day.

I am not a politician, nor have I ever sought to become one. But now, I am so seriously concerned about what is happening to our beloved America, I have decided to run for the U.S. Congress.

We face a very divisive partisan incumbent who has been a rubber stamp for Bush's policies on such issues as Iraq and children's health care. Success will take enormous effort, and I cannot do it alone. Simply and honestly--I need your help!

I am asking for your contribution to help us take back America. Any amount would be greatly appreciated—$10, $25, $100 . . . whatever feels right to you. More importantly, will you circulate this appeal among your family and friends and ask them to do the same?

To join our campaign simply click on the link below, or visit:
Harry Taylor For Congress

My class will read this today....

2007-10-17T14:48:00.001+09:00

Hug O' War
by Shel Silverstein

I will not play at tug o' war.
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

'PIGS' The Movie Website

2007-10-16T12:46:00.001+09:00

Click on title or picture to go to the website

PIGS (Pt. 3)

2007-10-15T19:39:00.000+09:00

PIGS (Pt. 2)

2007-10-15T11:18:00.000+09:00

Pigs is the story of Allie, a recently widowed woman who, along with her teenage son, Dip, operates a small hog farm in the Midwest. Left with the debts incurred by her deceased husband, Allie fights the opportunistic encroachments of a land-grabbing Sheriff.

Into these bleak circumstances arrives Gray, the brother of Allie's deceased husband. Gray's offers to help out on the farm are refused. When Gray begins to sexually pursue Dip, Allie's effors to thwart the relationship fail, driving her to desperate ends.

PIGS (Pt. 1)

2007-10-14T00:52:00.000+09:00

Pigs Part 1. Pigs is the story of Allie, a recently widowed woman who, along with her son, Dip, operate a small hog farm in the Midwest. Into these circumstances arrives Allie's brother-in-law, Gray. Gray is a homeless man of suspect character. He offers to stay and help on the farm.

PIGS (The Trailer)

2007-10-14T00:15:00.000+09:00

A Monozygote Productions Trailer: A new work by Robert and Donald Kinney USA 2007, Approx 1 hour 38 minutes, B & W. PIGS is a surreal horror story about three individuals in the struggle to survive. Within the often romanticized idealism of "life on the farm" family members are pitted against each other; fighting for their own autonomy and the often competing strength of sexual desire. Set in rural America in the early 1960s, this contemporary folktale is an expressive exploration of provincial insularity, sexuality and the law.

Propagandizing the Conservative Mind

2007-10-08T05:32:00.000+09:00

The Best Ambassadors
How American troops are making some unlikely friends.
by Jeff Emanuel

I read this which was linked as recommended reading by Michael Yon. Right wingers love that guy. If this is what he and other wannabe neo-cons
really believe is important in objectively covering the war based
on lies, then somebody call the Orwellian doctor because
baby, we've got a problem.

Here are some of my favorite excerpts if you don't want to take
the time to read this propaganda.

"We were offered an irresistible opportunity: free transportation to the front line of the war, dramatic pictures, dramatic sounds, great quotes," said Tom Gjelten of NPR. "Who can pass that up?"
Exactly, who in their right mind would pass that up?

They had spent two weeks amongst the troops there, living with them and going on missions with them, including house-to-house searches and seizures.

"I love those guys," Beriain said, looking wistfully out the window of the media cloister in the Green Zone that is CPIC. "From the first time you go kick a door with them, they accept you--you're one of them. I've even got a 'family photo' with them" to remember them by. "I really hated to leave."
You see, the journalist becomes part of the occupying force.

It doesn't matter how skeptical of the war a journalist might be, according to an Army public affairs officer (PAO) who spoke with me on condition of anonymity. "So often, they come out of that experience and--even if their opinion of the war hasn't changed--they're completely won over by the troops."

"He had tears in his eyes as he talked about it," the PAO said. "He just kept saying, 'they saved my life, they saved my life these are great men; they are heroes.'"

The former claim though, that reporters will be overly sympathetic to the troops, does ring true to a degree; the debate on that count, then, is whether that is actually a bad thing.
Would these right wingers who have drank all the red kool-aid respect a journalist who embedded themselves with the insurgency? I'd have to wager, no.

Jeff Emanuel, a special operations military veteran who served in Iraq, is a leadership fellow with the Center for International Trade and Security at the University of Georgia, where he also studies Classics. In addition, he is an associate director of RedState.com and a columnist for the Athens, GA Banner-Herald newspaper.

This is my favorite part.

Again, I've mentioned this before and this is why I linked to this article. It sits in such dark contrast to what I believe is the truth. If you'd like to see an incredible eye opening documentary on the very topic, watch War Made Easy. Click on the link to watch the film on Google video.

War Made Easy

What the hell is wrong with these people?

2007-10-01T21:42:00.000+09:00

Debra Cagan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Coalition Affairs to Defence Secretary Robert Gates
I hate all Iranians, US aide tells MPs

Britsh MPs visiting the Pentagon to discuss America's stance on Iran and Iraq were shocked to be told by one of President Bush's senior women officials: "I hate all Iranians."

Rudy skips minority debate

2007-09-30T17:45:00.000+09:00

From Robert Greenwald at Real Rudy. org

My oh my, how technologically advanced we are! Don't you see what we are capable of?

2007-09-30T00:53:00.000+09:00

Death from Above? Wow! Is there a pie chart of the death , too?
Actual image from, It all goes here
Video from a Japanese News broadcast showing the murder of a Japanese journalist. I don't think this shot is from some satellite.
See also from the BBC: New protests on Rangoon streets

Unconstitutional!

2007-09-27T23:33:00.000+09:00

Oh really? That's a big freakin' surprise....
Patriot Act Provisions Voided
A federal judge in Oregon ruled yesterday that two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional, marking the second time in as many weeks that the anti-terrorism law has come under attack in the courts. In a case brought by a Portland man who was wrongly detained as a terrorism suspect in 2004, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Patriot Act violates the Constitution because it "permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment."

The Freeway Blogger

2007-09-27T00:14:00.001+09:00

Letting the masses read the truth
Why can't our media tell the truth, too?
Awe well, I'll go ahead and answer my own question. The media is in the war business, too. They are partners with the war machine over at the pentagon and the "group thinks" that froth at the mouth for more war. See: The War Made Easy, by Norman Solomon and narrated by the loathsome left wing loon Sean Penn. It's a wonderful documentary and free for viewing on Google video.

Don't talk to them without our okay

2007-09-26T23:49:00.000+09:00

State Dept. intercedes in Blackwater probe

A House panel reveals a letter telling the firm not to disclose information about its Iraq operations without the administration's OK. (This is absolutely a bunch of !#$%&'&$%$#"#"%&*!)

I Love You War

2007-09-26T10:54:00.000+09:00

Iraq told to do more for peace

We invade, bomb and destroy. You run like hell, sit back and wait. We occupy. You resist. We prop up a puppet for you. You continue to resist. Our private contractors are not too happy with you regardless if you resist. This is a disaster and we blame you. You're not an island and you have neighbors. We blame them, too. You see, in the end, nothing matters because YOU LOSE AND WE WIN!
War Inches Closer to Iran

24 die in Iraq peace meeting blast

Come and Get It!

2007-09-25T09:37:00.000+09:00

Soldiers Describe Baiting of Insurgents

Under a program developed by a Defense Department warfare unit, Army snipers have begun using a new method to kill Iraqis suspected of being insurgents, planting fake weapons and bomb-making material as bait and then killing anyone who picks up them up, according to testimony presented in a military court.

From the AP: U.S. Snipers Allegedly `Baited' Iraqis
Gary Myers, an attorney for Sgt. Evan Vela, said Monday his client had acted ''pursuant to orders.''

''We believe that our client has done nothing more than he was instructed to do by superiors,'' Myers said in a telephone interview.

And of course......

The Army on Monday declined to confirm such a program exists.

The Shock Doctrine

2007-09-24T23:38:00.000+09:00

by Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein

Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence

2007-01-15T19:44:00.000+09:00

"I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice." Click here to listen to this wonderful speech.

Same Old Demons

2006-11-02T13:36:00.000+09:00

Another justification from the beautifully warped mind of David Brooks

The war was an attempt to lift a unified Iraq out of its awful history

Go Away Please...

For Their Sake

2006-10-25T21:00:00.000+09:00

Demand the Truth! Click on image for video...

Live Vote: Impeach!

2006-07-29T11:40:00.000+09:00

Reign of Error

2006-07-28T16:10:00.000+09:00

I don't know if I really believe the WMD poll. How could it jump up from 36 to 50%? It's amazing! We're not that dumb are we? Anyway, something must be done about these people that continue to spread disinformation. It's pathetic and sad.....

Reign of Error
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times

Amid everything else that’s going wrong in the world, here’s one more piece of depressing news: a few days ago the Harris Poll reported that 50 percent of Americans now believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when we invaded
Continue reading here...

The Art of Hypocrisy and War

2006-07-26T10:28:00.000+09:00

Take a look at two headlines just a few days apart!

U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis
VS.
1st Shipment of U.S. Aid Arrives in Beirut

This is just sick....

Isn't it Wonderful!

2006-07-24T15:23:00.000+09:00

Over 60 Killed As Iraq Violence Escalates
Observations from the occupation of Iraq from The Wash. Post
Fighting the Insurgency One Unit's Aggressive Approach
'It Looked Weird and Felt Wrong'
EXCERPT: "I can't help but feeling like I was part of an execution," Pfc. Nathan Stewart, the other soldier who was there, later testified. The facts of the matter aren't in dispute. Werst then pulled out a handgun, fired it into a wall, and told Stewart to smear the dead man's fingerprints on it.

This is GOOD news...
Japanese 'oppose PM shrine trips'

Black and Blue

2006-07-24T13:02:00.000+09:00

By Paul Krugman from The New York Times

According to the White House transcript, here’s how it went last week, when President Bush addressed the N.A.A.C.P. for the first time:
Continue reading here...

Our achilles heel in Iraq, or Bush checkmates himself?

2006-07-24T12:47:00.000+09:00

From John R. Bomar
With the Shia dominated Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon under attack from Israel, with our tacit support and using our weaponry, their cousins in southern Iraq may indeed feel the call to begin attacking American supply lines (see below). Al Sistani, the spiritual leader of the Shia, who has been a moderating voice, has just issued a Fatwa condemning Israel's disproportionate use of military might in Lebanon and Gaza. Continue reading here...

Hadda' Be Playin' on a Jukebox

2006-07-21T21:25:00.000+09:00

Click title to listen to a recite of Allen Ginsberg's important poem by Rage Against the Machine. It is probably one of the most powerful things I've ever listened to. I'm linking to it again because if you haven't heard this, you need to now!

The Price of Fantasy

2006-07-21T21:20:00.000+09:00

By Paul Krugman
The New York Times

Ben & Jerry's Nuclear Demonstration

2006-07-21T20:59:00.000+09:00

See Ben's demonstration on America's nuclear stockpile.
It's just Ben, 10,000 BB's, and some startling facts about nuclear proliferation.

Click on Image to view video
Via The Rachel Maddow Show

My Mother and I. Again, Happy July 4th!

2006-07-04T21:32:00.000+09:00

My Mother's visit to Tokyo....

It's Okay! Happy July 4th

2006-07-04T20:38:00.000+09:00

Take a deep breath

2006-06-15T12:23:00.000+09:00

And let it out very slowly...

Fewer Abortions

2006-05-02T16:44:00.000+09:00

Kristof is trying to pull us out from the dark
ages. Will our leaders listen? I doubt it. I
think we'll have to wait until the midterm elections
when we can throw out these insane right wing
neo-cons that are destroying our country...

Beyond Chastity Belts
By Nicholas D. Kristof from The New York Times

Abortion may be the single most polarizing issue in America today, but there's one thing Democrats and Republicans mostly agree on: it would be better if Americans had fewer abortions. Continue reading here...

The Shadow Government

2006-05-02T13:20:00.000+09:00

By Cenk Uygur from The Huffington Post

Media Silence?

2006-05-02T07:58:00.000+09:00

Stephen Colbert's Take at the White House Correspondents Dinner
From Daily Kos

Send a "Thank You" to Stephen here!
Also, check this out from The San Fancisco Chronicle
Stephen Colbert Has Brass Cojones

Warfare as It Really Is

2006-05-01T20:13:00.000+09:00

By Bob Herbert from The New York Times

In the first few moments of the documentary film "Baghdad ER," we see a man dressed in hospital scrubs carrying a bloodied arm that has been amputated above the elbow. He deposits it in a large red plastic bag. Continue reading here...

Killing, Death, Dead Bodies and America

2006-05-01T00:41:00.000+09:00

Bombs, Drive - By Shootings Kill 9 in Iraq
100,000 Families Are Fleeing Violence, Iraq Official Says

US journalist freed from Afghan jail
Edward Caraballo, 44, from New York, was one of three Americans jailed in 2004 after they were convicted of running a jail and torturing some men.

Audio Clip: Honest Frustration from The Mike Malloy Show

Lunch Period Poli Sci

2006-04-30T16:18:00.000+09:00

*Note: I normally do not post Brooks's articles, but this time, he has truly exposed himself. This is nonsense crap, it might as well be Bush standing up and saying "I'm the Decider", oh, he already did that, and David Brooks wrote this or maybe his psychiatrist was writing it all down. Anyway, get on the couch and read this sideways...

Lunch Period Poli Sci
By David Brooks from The New York Times

College is still probably a good idea, but everything you need to know about America you can learn in high school. For example, if you want to understand American class structure you'd be misled if you read Marx, but you'd understand it perfectly if you look around a high school cafeteria. Continue reading here...

Amazing

2006-04-30T15:47:00.000+09:00

In the Middle of the Neo-Conservative Death Cult Machine, Colbert Works His Magic!
Crooks and Liars has the goods! Colbert Does the White House Correspondence dinner

Bush of a Thousand Days

2006-04-30T14:52:00.000+09:00

Here's the funniest thing I've seen in a few days. Robin Williams from The Daily Show. It's hard to laugh or even hold your head up with this disgraceful, how TGW puts it, pResident in the White House. Also, when you have time listen to the new Neil Young album. It's beautiful, anyway onto Frank Rich...The Era

Bush of a Thousand Days
By Frank Rich from The New York Times

LIKE the hand that suddenly pops out of the grave at the end of "Carrie," the past keeps coming back to haunt the Bush White House. Last week was no exception. No sooner did the Great Decider introduce the Fox News showman anointed to repackage the same old bad decisions than the spotlight shifted back to Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury room, where Karl Rove testified for a fifth time. Nightfall brought the release of an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll with its record-low numbers for a lame-duck president with a thousand days to go and no way out. Continue on here...

Say Uncle, Rummy

2006-04-29T15:11:00.000+09:00

By Maureen Dowd from The New York Times

Even some State Department officials thought it was like watching a cranky, eccentric uncle with an efficient, energetic niece. Continue reading here...

Congressmen Arrested at Darfur Protest

2006-04-29T11:10:00.000+09:00

Five Congress members were willingly arrested and led away from the Sudanese Embassy in plastic handcuffs Friday in protest of the Sudanese government's role in atrocities in the Darfur region.

Stuck With Bush

2006-04-27T12:29:00.001+09:00

By Bob Herbert from The New York Times

If George W. Bush could have been removed from office for being a bad president, he would have been sent back to his ranch a long time ago.

If incompetence were a criminal offense, he'd be behind bars.

But that's just daydreaming. The reality is that there are more than two and a half years left in the long dark night of the Bush presidency — nearly as long as the entire time John Kennedy was in office. Continue reading here...

Reining in Justice Scalia

2006-04-27T10:16:00.000+09:00

Talking Points By ADAM COHEN

"You know what I say to those people? That's Sicilian."
—Justice Antonin Scalia

Justice Antonin Scalia has gone too far — and he keeps on doing it.

He made national headlines recently for making a gesture that may or may not be obscene. If it wasn't obscene, it was certainly coarse and undignified.
Read it here...

Drudge Attacking Daily Kos and Air America, Can't Spell?

2006-04-27T01:19:00.000+09:00

"Listerners?"
Click on image to enlarge. Drudge must be part of the 'No Child Left Behind Act', ahhhh Poor Drudge...he can't read....

Fox News's Snow to Become New White House Press Secretary

2006-04-26T23:41:00.000+09:00

Fox News commentator Tony Snow agreed last night to become White House press secretary after top officials assured him that he would be not just a spokesman but an active participant in administration policy debates, people familiar with the discussions said.

Sure why not? I'll be a shill for this administration. What's the difference? I make a living working for a whole network that is a mouth piece for the White House.

U.S. to Free 141 Terror Suspects

2006-04-26T20:05:00.000+09:00

The Guantanamo prison detainees pose no threat, an official says. Most of those still in custody have no charges pending against them.

A Prius in Every Pot

2006-04-26T20:02:00.000+09:00

By Maureen Dowd from The New York Times

It's taken over five years, but George W. Bush finally made a concession speech to Al Gore. He conceded that America needs to conserve, by buying hybrid vehicles and developing new energy sources.
Continue reading here...

Fear Mongering Right Gets it Wrong, Surprised?

2006-04-26T11:01:00.000+09:00

A Polish-born youth, 16, has been taken into custody but police believe a second youth has fled to Poland.

See what happens when you assume things without the facts...You look like a gigantic ****UP!

The Lies Spread Over Oceans

2006-04-25T09:38:00.000+09:00

I read this yesterday on the train, it's concerning the Japanese History textbooks which have always caused quite a rift between Japan and most of Asia. Now, America's history is being rewritten as well...shameful...
A textbook contradiction
By KIROKU HANAI
Concerning the Iraq war, the examiners changed the phrase "preemptive attack" -- describing the U.S. initiation of hostilities -- to a "military attack." The edited version failed to clarify the U.S. responsibility for starting the war without a cause.

Oh, I get it, Don't you?

2006-04-25T08:59:00.000+09:00

Car Bombs Kill 10, Wound Nearly 80 in Iraq

He (al-Maliki) also promised to "cleanse our society" of terrorism, combat corruption and disband militias controlled by political parties and integrate them into the armed forces and the police.

"I'm confident that the militias, and there are more than 11 militias, must be disarmed," al-Maliki said. "There's no difference between one militia and others."

So disband, disarm and bring together and re-arm, it's so utterly Brilliant!

Abuse of prisoners in Iraqi jails continues -report

Bodies of 32 Iraqi police found

Dear Friends,

2006-04-24T22:15:00.001+09:00

I was in the intelligence agency of the Army, a branch of the NSA. What the White House did with Iraqi intelligence was sell Americans a shiny used car with a blown engine, bad transmission and leaky rear-end.It was a clear lie, first of omission then of comission. Paul Pillar, this fellow's superior at the CIA, has said the same thing, adding the intimidation of Cheney and others at headquarters as a factor. In weaving this deceit, with no weapons found in Iraq, Mr. Bush and company have had to continue to spin more lies to cover the first.

"Scratch a liar and bleeds a theif." Old southern saying.

John R. Bomar

A Spy Speaks Out , Crooks and Liars has the video here

Bush's Thousand Days : A Third Bush War By Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

35 Years Later

2006-04-24T15:34:00.000+09:00

By Bob Herbert from The New York Times

Presidents and politicians may worry about losing face, or losing votes, or losing their legacy; it is time to think about young Americans and innocent civilians who are losing their lives. — John Kerry on Iraq Continue reading here...

CSI: Trade Deficit

2006-04-24T15:32:00.000+09:00

By Paul Krugman from The New York Times

Forensics are in. If you turn on the TV during prime time, you're likely to find yourself watching people sorting through clues from a crime scene, trying to figure out what really happened. Continue reading here...

Brilliant Find: Democracy and Despotism

2006-04-23T21:33:00.000+09:00

From egalia at Tennessee Guerilla Women: Redneck Mother has a 1946 video clip explaining the difference between democracy and despotism, and like how you can tell if your country is at risk.

Better see it now before Bushie decides to classify it.

Shameful Reminder: Meridian: A Town of Honor

This is an audio slide show from the "liberal" Washington Post. Watch closely for the intermingling of Church and State. When the woman talks of the town being very patriotic, the image is of a group of young people in a circle praying. Thank you Washington Post for advancing this administration's agenda in promoting an illegal war. Thank you very much. Click on title to view the propaganda.....
Another terrible reminder: The 14 Points of Fascism from BushFlash and Mike Malloy

President Bush Visits Stanford

2006-04-23T19:06:00.000+09:00

Scotty the Joke Was on You

2006-04-23T16:36:00.000+09:00

By Ana Marie Cox from The Washington Post

I 've always had a soft spot for departing White House press secretary Scott McClellan. Watching him give his choked-up goodbye on the White House lawn last week, I realized why. Continue reading here...

The Great Chinese Fake-Out

2006-04-22T19:55:00.000+09:00

By Maureen Dowd

Dick and Rummy are in Karl's old office, eating Chinese leftovers. "Serves Karl right, by golly," Rummy says. "He's so arrogant. Won't listen to anybody about anything.
Continue reading here

Keep Quiet

2006-04-22T11:09:00.000+09:00

Charged for Free Speech!
A heckler from the Falun Gong spiritual movement who disrupted a White House appearance by Chinese President Hu Jintao was charged on Friday with harassing, intimidating and threatening a foreign official.
Don't You Know This is Bush's America

MASS MEDIA BLACKOUT

"It's hugely embarrassing," said Derek Mitchell, a former Asia adviser at the Pentagon and now an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

China "must know that this Bush administration is good at controlling crowds for themselves, and the fact that they couldn't control this is going to play to their worst fears and suspicions about the United States, into mistrust about American intentions toward China."

The Boss of the World

2006-04-21T22:41:00.000+09:00

By John R. Bomar

They say life in the Green Zone is pretty cushy for the leaders and troops of the occupation army and their Iraqi minions: manicured lawns, air conditioning, good chow, and a “businesslike” atmosphere of bureaucratic and administrative duties. Inside the stockade, behind the multiple layers of blast wall protection and three-deep guard posts, aside from the isolation, it’s good duty. Continue reading here...

Science Doesn't Exist in Bush's America

2006-04-21T21:21:00.000+09:00

F.D.A. Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that "no sound scientific studies" supported the medical use of marijuana. The Food and Drug Administration statement directly contradicts a 1999 review by the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious scientific advisory agency. That review found marijuana to be "moderately well suited for particular conditions, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting."

The Great Revulsion

2006-04-21T15:45:00.000+09:00

By Paul Krugman

"I have a vision — maybe just a hope — of a great revulsion: a moment in which the American people look at what is happening, realize how their good will and patriotism have been abused, and put a stop to this drive to destroy much of what is best in our country." Continue reading here...

West Point Grads Against the War

2006-04-21T10:53:00.000+09:00

WHY DIE FOR A LIE?

WHY KILL FOR A LIE?

WHY TOLERATE LIARS?

Proud to be a Dissenter

2006-04-21T09:56:00.000+09:00

I shall not conform to anything on Faux News
In response to my post on Howard Kurtz's fluff piece about Brit Hume, CJR Daily calls The Era a dissenter.

Click on image to enlarge
Hume's "first thought" on hearing of London attacks: It's "time to buy" futures
From Media Matters

Our Dirty War

2006-04-20T22:37:00.000+09:00

By Bob Herbert

I said, "Some of these folks have never been heard from again, right?"

"Yup," said Curt Goering. "That's right."
Continue reading here...

Fools

2006-04-20T09:26:00.000+09:00

Click on photo to enlarge

To this day it's still on the White House website. Hat tip to The Democratic Underground....

Moving to the Right

2006-04-20T08:01:00.000+09:00

Hey, I have a great idea! Let's write a fluff piece on Brit Hume. You know the guy over at the Fascist network Faux News. Let's give it real appeal, some zing, and some Christian pandering. Brit Hume, you know, the guy who covered a phony story Carl Cameron made up about John Kerry getting a manicure.

Let's do it! Brit Hume, Americorp's #1 TV anchor. We really need a fluff piece to support Faux News. Let's see, who can we get? The Washington Times? No, no, no, how about The Drudge Report? No, ...I've got it! The Washington Post and Howard Kurtz, thank you sooo much, you really are providing a wonderful service to ~~America~~,
oops I mean Americorp. Let the fluff blow.....

Brit Hume's Path Took Him From Liberal Outsider to The Low-Key Voice of Conservatism on Fox News
It was a different era, a different administration and a very different Brit Hume. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah....

The Republican "Party" Song

2006-04-19T21:09:00.000+09:00

Song by The Era

War Profiteers

2006-04-19T20:09:00.000+09:00

U.S. Contractor Admits Bribery For Jobs in Iraq

Philip H. Bloom admitted his part in a scheme to give more than $2 million in cash and gifts to U.S. officials in exchange for their help in getting reconstruction contracts for his companies. The court papers unsealed yesterday paint a picture of how Bloom, a businessman with operations in the United States and Romania, used gifts of cash, cars, plane tickets and jewelry to secure lucrative reconstruction contracts from December 2003 to December 2005.
The corruption just goes on and on and on...A Bright Career Unravels in Iraq

The Decider Sticks With the Derider

2006-04-19T14:04:00.000+09:00

While Thomas Friedman asks for Bush and Company to go stand in the corner, Maureen lets loose another mutiny on Rummy and friends.

The Decider Sticks With the Derider
By Maureen Dowd
At first Rummy was reluctant to talk about the agonizing generals' belated objections to the irrational and bullying decisions that led to carnage in Iraq. The rebellious retired brass complain that the defense chief was contemptuous of advice from his military officers and sabotaged the Iraq mission with willful misjudgments before and after the invasion. Continue reading here...

Bush is F'n Crazy

2006-04-19T07:05:00.000+09:00

Bush keeps Iran military option

US President George W Bush says all options, including the use of force, are "on the table" to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful, a claim the US rejects. Uh oh, where have I read that line "a claim the US rejects" before? See Ted Rall's article below. A guest editorial on Informed comment is completely logical.
A Canadian Fix for the Iran Crisis? Can do, or CANDU?
Click on picture for video: Bush: "I'm The Decider and I Decide What Is Best"
Tip of the hat to Crooks and Liars

No Bravery

2006-04-19T06:35:00.000+09:00

A nation blind to their disgrace

A 4 Minute Video
Click on title or flag for the video
Hat tip to NotASheep and Freeway Blogger

The Streets are Full of Blood

2006-04-19T06:30:00.000+09:00

"Choices (The streets are full of blood) or How I learned to love the Iraq war" Song by The Era aka Pitchfork about the Bush/Cheney/Rice/Rumsfeld/Neo-Con Death Cult machine who created this horrible war. Click the blue/title if you wanna listen...
Bonus song #1 "I have a Republican erection"

2006-04-18T19:32:00.000+09:00

I read this article in the Japan Times today while riding the train to work. Ted Rall really hits the nail on the head in this article about the media's complicity in support of the Bush administration viewpoint of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez.

The Danger of Hugo Chávez's Successful Socialism
By Ted Rall

When the hated despots of nations like Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan loot their countries' treasuries, transfer their oil wealth to personal Swiss bank accounts and use the rest to finance (in the House of Saud's case) terrorist extremists, American politicians praise them as trusted friends and allies. But when a democratically elected populist president uses Venezuela's oil profits to lift poor people out of poverty, they accuse him of pandering. Continue reading here...

Global Americana Institute

2006-04-18T10:57:00.000+09:00

Good Idea From Juan Cole

The classics of American thought and history have been little translated into Arabic. Worse, even when they have been translated, they have appeared in small editions and fairly quickly go out of print.. Worse still, the distribution system for Arabic books is poor, and there are few public libraries, so that many books that have been published in the past are no longer available to most readers. We have therefore begun a project to translate important books by great Americans and about America into Arabic, and to subsidize their publication so that they can be bought inexpensively. We are also subventing their distribution.

The Fear Factor

2006-04-17T21:05:00.000+09:00

By Bob Herbert

However one feels about Zacarias Moussaoui — that he's a madman with a martyr complex who had very little to do with the Sept. 11 plot, or that he's a terrorist with the blood of thousands on his hands — his sentencing trial and contemptible public behavior have reacquainted us with the awful physical suffering and profound emotional agony unleashed by the Sept. 11 attacks. Continue reading here...

Enemy of the Planet

2006-04-17T21:00:00.000+09:00

By Paul Krugman

Lee Raymond, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, was paid $686 million over 13 years. But that's not a reason to single him out for special excoriation. Executive compensation is out of control in corporate America as a whole, and unlike other grossly overpaid business leaders, Mr. Raymond can at least claim to have made money for his stockholders. Continue reading here...

The Slaughter Spreads

2006-04-16T18:18:00.000+09:00

By Nicholas D. Kristof

Last month villagers along Chad's border with Sudan told me how brutal militias were attacking their towns, murdering their babies, raping their daughters and burning their huts, while shouting racial slurs against blacks. Now those impoverished Chadians may find themselves not only attacked by genocidal marauders but also ruled by them. Continue reading here...

Coming home — disillusioned

2006-04-16T18:01:00.000+09:00

By Christopher H. Sheppard

Three years ago, I was a Marine Corps captain on the Iraqi/Kuwaiti border, participating in the invasion of Iraq. Awestruck, I heard our howitzers thunder and watched artillery rockets rise into the night sky and streak toward Iraq — their light bathing the desert moonscape like giant arc welders. Continue reading here...
Hat tip to Crooks and Liars for the heads up

The Rummy Mutiny

2006-04-15T20:39:00.000+09:00

By Maureen Dowd

When Donald Rumsfeld was 10, his operating principle, as described by his dad, was: "If it doesn't go easy, force it." Not much has changed in the last 63 years. Goodness, gracious! Will that dadburn Rummy ever follow any of his own rules? Continue reading here...

The Generals Are Talking About You Rummy

2006-04-14T22:01:00.000+09:00

The widening circle of retired generals who have stepped forward to call for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation is shaping up as an unusual outcry that could pose a significant challenge to Mr. Rumsfeld's leadership, current and former generals said on Thursday. Meanwhile the idiotic White House Defends Rumsfeld's Tenure

Now that's Justice

2006-04-14T21:43:00.000+09:00

Jailed for refusing to serve in an illegal and immoral war

Flt Lt Malcolm Kendall-Smith, 37, was found guilty of five charges of disobeying orders after he refused to go to Basra last June. Flt Lt Dr Malcolm Kendall-Smith was based at RAF Kinloss in Scotland. He claimed his actions were justified as the UK involvement was illegal

Weapons of Math Destruction

2006-04-14T16:12:00.000+09:00

By Paul Krugman
Now it can be told: President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney based their re-election campaign on lies, damned lies and statistics. Continue reading here...

Where is the Good News?

2006-04-13T10:40:00.000+09:00

Blast kills 25 near Iraqi mosque
A car bomb has killed 25 people and injured about 60 at a Shia mosque in a town close to the Iraq city of Baquba.
In other violence in Iraq on Wednesday:
* Gunmen killed three members of the Iraqi security forces in the Mosul area

* Two Iraqi army soldiers are shot dead near the northern oil refinery town of Baiji

* Gunmen killed two lorry drivers are kcarrying goods for the US military on a road between Ramadi and Rutba

* A car bomb killed at least two people at a market in Tal Afar

* Two policemen and a civilian were killed when a roadside bomb hit a police patrol in central Baghdad

* Two US soldiers were killed by a bomb just south of the city and a third died in a separate attack in Baghdad

* A bomb at a market in the town of Khalis killed two civilians and wounded at least 20

Steak Night at the Deer Camp

2006-04-12T13:58:00.000+09:00

A South Arkansas message to George
By John Bomar
Hey George, I hate to have to tell you this son, but they’re talking bad about you out at the deer camp. That’s real bad. When you’ve lost the deer-camp-boys you’re in big trouble around here. Continue reading here...

Wag the Camel

2006-04-12T13:55:00.000+09:00

By Maureen Dowd
Talk about a fearful symmetry. Iran was whipping up real uranium while America was whipped up by fake uranium. Obsessed with going to war against a Middle East country that had no nuclear weapon... Continue reading here...

A Town of Honor? Or a Symptom of Fascism?

2006-04-11T23:51:00.002+09:00

Meridian: A Town of Honor

This is an audio slide show from the "liberal" Washington Post. Watch closely for the intermingling of Church and State. When the woman talks of the town being very patriotic, the image is of a group of young people in a circle praying. Thank you Washington Post for advancing this administration's agenda in promoting an illegal war. Thank you very much. Click on title to view the propaganda.....
A reminder: The 14 Points of Fascism from BushFlash and Mike Malloy

Who Writes this Crap?

2006-04-03T10:11:00.000+09:00

A writer from the AP reporting on the Georgia Peace rally said this: The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, whose remarks against the Iraq war and the Bush administration at the funeral of Coretta Scott King in February drew criticism, spoke to a friendlier crowd Saturday.
What in the hell is this writer talking about? A friendlier crowd? Friendlier than the right wing hacks that criticized the whole event? If I remember right, Lowery received a lot of applause.
The AP article found here...