Farmers and your local meteorologist are Terror Suspects

Just when you think it really couldn't get any more absurd...an FBI warning to keep the proles on their tippy toes:

The FBI (news - web sites) is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning.

In a bulletin sent Christmas Eve to about 18,000 police organizations, the FBI said terrorists may use almanacs "to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning."

Does that include employees of The Weather Channel, and Weather Underground? What about viewers of The Weather Channel? That's gotta be several million almanac-type people right there. Doh! But wait...what if...what if the FBI themselves used almanacs?

At some point, hopefully, Bill O'Leilly himself will start to feel like a tool being used by 'the man' and will begin to denounce the Bush gubment's scare tactics.

Truely comical...

Sept. 11 Detainees Abused by Officers, Report Says

Just another report that proves, once again, the benevolence of the POH-LEESE and the rest of the violent criminals shielded with a badge. Bastards. Cowards.

Foreigners held at a federal prison in Brooklyn after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks suffered verbal and physical abuse, with officers slamming them against the wall and twisting their arms and hands, the U.S. Justice Department (news - web sites)'s inspector general said on Thursday.

WTF?! KBR Files for Bankruptcy?!

Somebody's has got to by lying. What kind of Ken Lay/Jeff Skilling/Enron/Worldcom shi*t is this?!

Halliburton said in Tuesday several of its subsidiaries, including Kellogg Brown & Root, which holds the controversial US government contract in Iraq, had filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors to provide for a permanent resolution to the company's asbestos liabilities.

9/11 Chair: Attack Was Preventable

Wonder if this is gonna show up in the headlines tomorrow? Thomas Kean, former Republican Governor of New Jersey, says:

"As you read the report, you're going to have a pretty clear idea what wasn't done and what should have been done," he said. "This was not something that had to happen."

Someone forgot to tell Bush that Kean is not a wimp. Oh well.

More trouble for Bush in the article:

Asked whether we should at least know if people sitting in the decision-making spots on that critical day are still in those positions, Kean said, "Yes, the answer is yes. And we will."

Well, glad to know we are now safe.

Unreal.....

I did the Committee for a National Discussion of Nuclear History and Current Policy meeting the other day. Wow. I got to see Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers) - he had some really interesting things to say. I was definitely not prepared to hear a bunch of people droning on about the obvious dangers of Nuclear Weapons or the evil of the Bush Administration, and Ellsberg delivered some crazy-cool imagery. More to come...

Sony has a flick coming out soon which seems like it'll be as shocking as it is compelling. Hawk-turned-liberal Robert McNamara, former Defense Secretary during the Vietnam was under JFK and LBJ, is the main character in this real-life bio-docudrama. It's called Fog of War and I'm sure it's going to cause a stir.

Committee for a National Discussion of Nuclear History and Current Policy

Wow. That's a name for ya. I'm tellin ya - DC is teaching me stuff all the time. Did you know why Native Indians (in America) are called 'Indians'? Ummm.....well, ok, so I'm the only one who didn't know. The answer lies here, where also lies a little rip from Howard Zinn's book - A People's History of the United States. It's the account of history that they don't tell you about in grade school - or any school. Not at the University of South Carolina, anyways. It disturbs me beyond to find out the truth about these great conquering heros that I was told about for all of the years of my formal education. These great conquering heros were no better than Hitler. Great. Someone needs to get pimp-slapped - a lot of people, in fact. Why can't we get the truth? Would the truth be that bad?!





Talking about truth - I have a little thing going on with George Washington University. I just don't think I'm down with going to a school whose namesake was an unabashed slaveowner. I've got issues with this - big issues. We in Washington, DC celebrate the man like he was some kind of conquering hero. Really? If George Washington was a great man, I guess that would make Stalin, Hitler, and Saddam hussein true saints?! More on this....I'm sorry, I just don't agree that being a champion of 'progress' absolves you from your shameful acts of slave-holding, slave-trading, slave-selling, slave-profiterring, etc. I'm just talking about GW here. Columbus' exploits are worse - much worse - so bad as to be unbelievable - sickly - dastardly - unthinkable. Believe me - the Columbus list goes on and on and on. Back to G-Dub, did you know good 'ol GW once got a whole barrel of molasses for one of his fine slaves? A WHOLE BARREL! You don't even know the half. And listen, we've been layin down and bowin down for four hundred years!!! I don't need to hear anymore GW apologists! I want the truth!





Anyway, on to other topics you never gave enough thought, what about the bombing of Japan? You know the atomic bomb and all that? Well, did you ever hear the term...'war crime'? Well, the title of this post is a group of people that know about the horrors of war - and about the horrors of nuclear war. Now don't go getting yourself all stopped up because you're not liking what you're hearing - sometimes the truth is ugly - but you shouldn't hide from the truth. I'd argue that it's your duty as an American to seek out the truth, always. The DC area has been getting some attention for a new airplane display that is about to go up in one of the umpteen Smithsonian museums - the display is of the Enola Gay - the plane that dropped the first A-bomb, on Hiroshima. Now, the details of the who and the how and the why are many and varied, and you can bet your bottom dollar that if you try to tell people the truth about this stuff it will shock their senses to the point that they'll want to vomit - and then punch you in the face - but like I said, the truth needs to come out - no matter how detestable.





This group is going to host a one day conference, on a Saturday, about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. It sounds totally cool. I can't believe that not once during my entire schooling up through twelfth grade did any history teacher of mine ever suggest that dropping those atomic bombs might not have been the best option - might have been avoidable - might have been wrong!. Not once. Brilliant. Or as the annoying LA film jerk who was watching the Swiss film the other day about milk kept repeating - over and over and over - Bravo! Loser. That makes me mad as all get-out. I'm sitting there sleep-walking for twelve+ years of edumacation! Fudge! Check out the pdf flyer for details. It's on Saturday, December 13, 2003 at American University in DC.

Occupation => Indignation => Circle of Violence == Israel/Palestine Conflict == Iraq Conflict == ...

Article on MSNBC.com talks about the inevitable anger aroused among the civilian populations of occupied territories, and how that anger leads to inevitable circle of violence. Was Britain in India a different story? Why?

The book, Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill, goes down this path. I've long held that this view is what causes the attacks against U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Of course, the violence in Iraq is no different than the violence in the occupied territories.

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Crackin me up...

Are you a bored first grade schoolteacher? Want to 'up the ante' a bit so as to, I dunno, get some attention for yourself, or prove to your students how smart you are, or maybe just have a little fun? Well, I've got an idea for you, but you've got to act FAST. Christmas, after all, is right around the corner!

Mind you, it's not my idea, so I can't take credit for it, but I can take some credit for helping to disseminate joy around the world with this little tale of how a nice first grade schoolteacher in Florida told her students that Santa was make believe. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!

I swear I'm still laughing! I can imagine this schoolteacher having a battle of wits with one of his/her students:

teacher: Christmas is around the corner.

student: I can't wait to see Santa!

teacher: Santa is make-believe.

student: huh?

teacher: Santa is make-believe. You didn't know that?

student: <gulp>

teacher: Yeah, it's just something adults tell children to make them happy around Christmas.

student: Santa is not make believe...

teacher: Duh! How do you think Santa could have time to get to everyone's chimney in just a few hours?! And most people don't even have chimneys!

student: <bawl><cry><bawl><cry>!!!

teacher: Don't worry - you'll still get your presents.

More good news from Iraqistan...

A U.S. soldier loses a leg to a...grenade attack from an....Iraqi police officer? Ummmm...yeah. So, let's see. Where to start? Too much bad stuff. It's like Juliette Lewis's character, Mallory Knox, from Natural Born Killer....'Bad! Bad! Bad!'. She was scolding Woody Harrelson's character, Mickey Knox, for killing the old Indian man in the desert. The Indian man had been so nice to them - fed them, gave them a place to sleep, and now Woody hauls off and kills the old man. Mallory is just so overwhelmed by the wrongness of what Mickey has done that she starts yelling and pointing at Mickey 'Bad! Bad! Bad!'.

There's not so much an association between the U.S. soldier getting attacked by one of his own and the old man getting killed by Mickey Knox, but the bad of the situation is all-engulfing. It's bad that we broke international law to invade Iraq. It's bad that we're still in Iraq. It's bad that we've run the occupation so poorly (and brutally). It's bad that U.S. soldiers have to worry about the forces they've armed (sound familiar?). It's bad that this soldier lost his leg. It's bad that he won't be the last soldier to lose a leg in Iraqistan. It's bad that this soldier will not be taken care of by his government when he gets back home. It's bad that Bush might get re-elected for having started this war. It's bad that the press is little more than a mouthpiece for this Administration. It's bad that Iraqi-police-on-U.S.-forces attacks have happened many times already and will continue to happen - probably with increasing frequency and effect. It's bad that we've spent hundreds of billions of dollars on Iraqistan and will probably spend several hundred billion more by the time it's over - all without making America any safer from terrorism. It's bad that we don't know what 'over' is in Iraq. It's bad that Iraq is headed towards theocracy. It's bad that we've established a mind-numbingly dimwitted and dangerous precedent by invading another sovereign country. It's bad that the UN has put its stamp of approval on the invasion. It's bad that the Bush is putting nuclear weapons 'back on the table'. The list goes on. As Mallory Knox said, 'Bad! Bad! Bad!'.

Another dead body...

New York Newsday reports that:

A body was found inside United Nations headquarters on Monday, a U.N. spokesman said. U.N. security and the New York police department are investigating the matter.

Well, we know this is not the first dead body to surface, and my instincts tell me it won't be the last. The 04 election is right around the corner - can't take any chances.

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England - winner

Yes, it's difficult to contain my enthusiasm for the Pommes winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup, but I'll manage. It did turn out to be a good final game, almost very good, but it had everything to do with the hype surrounding the game than the actual play itself. This article, I think, captured the pre-game festivities just about right. World sporting events just help to show everything that is right with the world - in my humble opinion. From the previously-mentioned article, check out the joking that will go on between the Brits, the Aussies, and the New Zealanders:

Ordinary Australians are more likely to joke about the English not taking a bath; your average Pom about the Australian finding culture only in the bottom of yoghurt cartons. Both will joke about New Zealanders being over-enamoured of sheep: hence the notion that the "Cormo Express" be re-named the "Love Boat" and sent to Auckland.

We got at least one great headline (coming soon) out of it, though.

Johhny Wilkinson was superb, per usual, for England. He kicked the winning goal with just one minute remaining in overtime.

Now, let's get to detracting. Rugby is far too slow for my taste, even though I had some Brit sitting across the table from me (at Summers) explaining to his significant other how much faster and continuous - continous? - Rugby was than American football. Now, I'm not going to sit here and defend the American football as a continuous game, but to call Rugby continuous because it has slightly fewer stops than American football is like calling Afghanistan a nice place for a visit because it's slightly less violent than Iraq.

Let's set up another joke - it's worth it. During the runup to the final, the Aussie press was all over England for playing a predictable, sleepy game - and the criticism wasn't all undeserved. With that, there is also a general knock that the version of Rugby played in the Rugby World Cup relies too much on the not-overly-exciting 'goal' - like a field goal in American football. The 'try', worth five points instead of three, is akin to the touchdown in American football, and like the touchdown, it is much more exciting than a 'goal'. When you add the automaticity and long range of a goal-kicker like Johnny Wilkinson to the mix, you get more and more predictability, more stops in play, etc. Here's the joke from an Aussie:

I was sitting in my favourite local pub last weekend, watching the England v France semi-final. There was a group of England supporters at the bar, and they had a mascot with them. A dachshund done up in a little red-and-white vest. Don't ask me how they talked the doorman into letting them bring it in, but they managed it somehow.

Well, not long into the match, France gave away a penalty and, true to form, Johnny Wilkinson nalied it through the uprights for 3 points. The dog started yapping and rolling about, much to the delight of the English, and the amazement of everyone else.

A little later, Johnny made one of his famous field goals, putting the English further ahead. The dog went mad! It did three back-flips on the bar, and then ran up and down high-fiving all the punters. Most of us were agape by this stage at the dog's athletic ability and intelligence, so I went over and said to his owner, "That dog really is amazing. I've never seen anything like it, but I have to know... What does he do when England score a try?"

The Englishman gave a shrug, and with a totally straight face said:

"I don't know. I've only had him for three years."

Nice!

Holy sh*t

This article in the Washington Post has everything. Man. We're way beyond statistics here. This is the kind of stuff that awakens people to the horrors of war, and brings down chickenhawk sitting presidents.

Quote #1, from an ER physician at the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad:

"The injuries are horrific," he said. "They are beyond anything that you see in a textbook, and they are the worst that I have ever seen."

Back home, in San Antonio, the doc only saw car crash and gunshot victims. Kinda gives you the sense that when he says 'horrific', he really means horrific.

Quote #2, from injured soldier Matthew VanBuren, focus of the article:

"My buddy Frosh, he was fresh out of basic," VanBuren said. "He got to the unit about a week ago, from Des Moines." He started to cry.

"I was teaching him my job so that if I got hurt, he could take over for me," he said, the tears sneaking out from the corners of his bright blue eyes.

For those of you who love your country, and think this war on Iraq (and other defenseless, poor countries inhabited mostly by brown, Muslim peoples) is a pretty good thing, then I and the Deparment of Defense urge you to sign up to serve your country right away. You have five branches of service to choose from, so don't be shy. Make us proud! [Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard]

Wait! I'm not even saying you have to change your life around - ever heard the term weekend warrior? Huh? Huuuhhh? Sounds pretty good, right? That's because it is pretty good! Just one weekend a month and two weeks during the summer! Check out the reserve links below. Remember, there is no commitment until you sign on the dotted line. [Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Coat Guard Reserve, Marine Forces Reserve, Naval Reserve]

Oh, Look! Just in time for the the end of my post. At least six more Spanish soldiers have just been reported killed in Iraq - that means there's room for six more of you to prove once and for all that you all really do believe all that nonsense you've been talking for the past couple of years! Hurry, don't delay! The never-ending war on terror is not going to end until we kill or capture all of the terrorists - the ones that exist now, and the ones that are coming of age now, and the ones that we are creating, and the ones who are still in their mommy's wombs. Maybe we could get rid of them all in one fell swoop - 'mow them all down', so to speak - as Trent Lott says. Hey, sounds like a good plan to me. I know that wouldn't create more terrorists! I am positive that all this talk about a draft is just phony baloney because I know a thing or two about the hard core patriots we have in this country, and I know for sure that we have more than enough strong fighters who would like nothing more than to go a round or two with an IED or an RPG.

Snap back to reality

I was boppin' around downtown the other day and saw something that gave me one of those 'perspective moments'. There was a father-daughter duo walking amongst other family members along one of DC's comfortably-wide walking streets. As they were coming towards me, I glanced at the little girl and quickly realized that she was reaching up, with her right hand, at an extremely high angle - as if someone had just yelled STICK 'EM UP! - but only one of her hands got the message. So, my brain, doing a 'Do what now?', told me to look a little harder, and what I noticed next was that the father was an amputee, and he had an Ace bandage-type wrap around the stub of his left arm at what seemed to be just below his left elbow. The little girl was window-shopping, as was daddy, but her right hand was grasping and grasping for something to hold onto - her little fingers just couldn't find anything to latch onto, and just kept slipping off the Ace-bandaged end of dad's arm. The end of dad's arm seemed to be perfectly rounded, and tightly wrapped so that seemingly nothing could grab it - accidentally or otherwise.

Now, I don't know if this guy was an Iraq war vet, but I felt certain that he was - for several reasons. DC is home to Walter Reed Medical Center, where most/all of our returning vets go for artificial limbs and rehab. It seems if he was not an Iraq vet, that is, a recent amputee, he probably would have had an artificial limb installed by now. Something about the guy just said 'military' too, though, I really don't remember if he had a buzz cut, military mementos, etc. And regardless of whether this father was one of the many amputees of the War on Iraq - be it Ali or one of our own - it's a bit of a wake-up call.

It's just too immense for me to try and comprehend all at once. You have the incredible innocence of the little girl, the incredible bravery of the father, and the über-vileness of this Administration that is lurking far off in the background. And I think the Dark Side is a good analogy because the power of the Dark Side can corrput basically-good people, just as this Administration has.

p.s. On a lighter note, a little plug for an indie flick I just saw at Visions. To Be and To Have - some French-fried flick with subtitles - I knew I'd like it based on those grounds alone, but it was good - muy good. These days I dig on anything that reminds me of innocence in the world - the schoolchildren in this flick do just that, in spades.

Idealogically confuzed...

It seems those zany Libertarians are at it again - getting that rambunctious southern bobblehead Neal Boortz to speak at their 2004 National Convention. From my days in Hotlanta, I remember that dude spewing over the airwaves. Sometimes I wasn't sure who I was listening to - Rush or Boortz.

Justin Raimondo has a good article on Antiwar.com about Boortz' and his rendezvous with destiny.

P.S. I gotta throw in a plug for my homeboy James Bovard who I caught on CSPAN's Booknotes a few weeks ago. This dude is MUH-NEE!$!$! His new book Terrorism and Tyranny sounds like it's probably a great read based on what he said during his Book TV interview. Dude has a super-cool demeanor - hates bad politicians, regardless of their party affiliation - and just generally seems to bring sanity to the table. I lose listeners quickly when I diatribe, but this dude seems like he can cross the left/right threshold and really get his message across. Yeah, dial it up!

Class Dis-missed!

Apparently, Bremer is looking to degrade the education level of Iraqi schoolchildren until U.S. schoolchildren can compete. What else could be the reason for the firing of 28,000 schoolteachers in Iraq? Yes, that says 28,000.

American's top man in Baghdad, L. Paul Bremer, last week fired 28,000 Iraqi teachers as political punishment for their former membership in the Saddam Hussein-dominated Baath Party, fueling anti-U.S. resistance on the ground, administration officials have told United Press International.

Now, I'm sure that this punishment for those teachers being evil Baathists is fully deserved, because after all, I'm sure those teachers had each made a personal decision to be Baathist. Think about it, they could have chosen to be Baathist voluntarily, and lived, or they could have chosen to be raped, tortured, and murdered. Life is full of decisions - some easier than others.

This guy Bremer sure is bold - I'll give him that much. But how could we blame him? After the rousing success of that let's-create-a-150,000-homegrown-terrorists-problem-by-dismantling-the-Iraqi-army move, I'm surprised he hasn't done more! There are many powerful statements in this new article, but just one more for now.

"It's a piece of real stupidity on the part of the neocons to try and equate the Baath Party with the Nazis," said former CIA official Larry Johnson. "You have to make a choice: Either you are going to deal with Iraqis who are capable of rebuilding and running the country or you're going to turn Iraq over to those who can't."

US hawk admits Iraq war 'illegal'

Al Jazeera has gotten plenty of bad press back here in the US, but their articles don't seem any more tilted to me than any U.S.-based paper is for the U.S. point of view - especially the truly right-wing papers like The Washington Times, the New York Post, or The Wall Street Journal. Well, just my opinion. I report, you decide.

Anyhoo, Al Jazeera has a story that's been making the rounds in a lot of the international fishwraps. It seems whenever Americans go out of country they seem to forget that there's this thing that Al Gore invented that helps information get places quickly.

"I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing," said Perle in London in comments published by the British media on Thursday. "International law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone."

Let's see if this gets any press in the WaPost or on Meet the Press.

State Department Worker Dead

Not sure where I first found this article, maybe BuzzFlash or AntiWar.com, but it's so odd to me that only Fox reported it. It's been a week or two and I still haven't found any other local or nationals reporting on this yet.

Just bizarre...

The Beautiful Game? No. 'Try' the Brutal Game

On Saturday morning at 4 am DC time (8 pm Sydney time) Australia will square off against England in the 2003 Rugby World Cup in what is sure to be an exhilarating game. Soccer, we know, is the most popular sport in the world, but the various rugby-like games provide us with true warrior-heros (Rugby League, Rugby Union, Australian Rules). More...

Space Shuttle crash indirectly caused by rush to war with Iraq

This one is fairly obvious to me - why not anyone else? Guess I'm just gifted. Anyways, walk back to just-before-war time - take a look - what do you see? You see a hard-charging Bush-led Administration, in conjunction with Neo-con idealogues, the people at Fox, think tanks, churches, the Pentagon, and others ramming a war down our throats. We're told that America, as the first true hyperpower in the history of the world, has a moral obligation - in fact - a duty to exert ourselves if for no other reason than to say don't tread on me, Goshdarnit! A massive buildup of nearly 100,000 U.S. soldiers is sitting on the Iraq-Kuwaiti border, poised to attack. The war drums are banging louder every day. U.S. public opinion is starting to sway in favor of war. Several long months of hype and lies and rhetoric and twisted truths and half-truths are finally paying off. We're almost ready. We're tired of WMD - we're fearful - we're exhausted emotionally - get rid of the WMD - whatever the cost - right or wrong - international law and reason be damned. We're strong - we're right - we're the best - we're Americans - brown people be damned.

Ok, you get the picture. Now, what is the absolute worst thing (within reason) that could happen to the United States as we try to convince the world that we really are as powerful as we claim to be - that we really can crush Saddaam and his vaunted Republican Guard with nary a stern look, that we are the saviours of the Earth? Well, it could be a lot of things I suppose, but almost none could have been more dramatic than what unfolded for us. The Space Shuttle with 6 of our finest, and an Israeli, is helpless in space. There's little to no chance that we can get a new shuttle up there in time to save them from suffocating due to lack of oxygen supply. HORROR!

When the word comes down from NASA, Cheney says no way, we'll take our chances. The spy people keep calling - but Mr. Vice President, they plead, all they want is some pictures. It won't take long - maybe a day or two, three tops, and it could be important. Cheney doesn't budge, not because he's a sadomasochist (debatable), but because he's a shrewd politician. He knows if this little 'pictures thing' goes anywhere, it goes everywhere. He risks losing years worth of work, and months worth of public speaking. Besides, they might make it back. And if they don't, well, this war is important to the future of the free world. You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Something like that.

Can you imagine, if during this incredibly blusterous run-up to the war, if the United States of America, saviour of the free world, dropped this little nuggest at the next UN meeting...Negroponte: <gulp>...ummm....we have a situation. we, uh, ummmm.....our space shuttle sustained some damage during liftoff and we risk breakup if it is not repaired before re-entry. We don't have any shuttles that can do the job in time. Could someone, like, help us out, or something? AND WE'RE STILL THE BEST AND WE STILL DON'T NEED THE HELP OF THE UN OR ANYBODY ELSE, NOT ON IRAQ OR ANYTHING BECAUSE THE UN IS IRRELEVANT, but maybe just this one time we could use a little help, please, pretty please, with sugar on top?

First, there came evidence that NASA did, in fact, try to get satellite images of the Shuttle - but they kept getting denied. Why?

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