Bush Is Blowing Smoke on Energy

quote[Hitting all the points in a noted GOP pollster's playbook, the President's plan is driven by politics not policy. Worse, it won't cut oil dependency.]

Don't be fooled by this deceptive bastard.

Five Years for Passing a Joint

quote[Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner has launched his next assault on freedom. The full House Judiciary Committee is set to vote as early as next week on H.R. 1528, which creates a new group of mandatory miniumum penalties for non-violent drug offenses, including a five year penalty for passing a joint to someone who's been in drug treatment.]

And yet, corporate criminals walk free, or are appointed to high (no pun meant) positions of government.

Oregon Police to Withdraw From FBI-Led Team

quote[The City Council on Thursday approved a recommendation to withdraw police officers from an FBI-led anti-terror task force after federal authorities refused to raise the mayor's security clearance to let him keep closer watch over its activities.]

The official revolt begins...

The "Culture Of Life" Fails Again

quote[ Memorial Hermann Hospital officials released a statement that reads in part, "In certain unfortunate cases where the death of a patient is unavoidable and medical experts believe that continued treatment will only increase pain and suffering, the physician may ask for a meeting of the Committee for Review of Medically Inappropriate/Futile Treatment. That committee is meeting today to examine the case of little Knya."]

Bush's Law is about to allow another child to die because the parents can't afford her care.

2 Brits Nabbed With $3 Trillion In Fake US Fed Notes

quote[The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday said it has arrested two British nationals with $3 trillion fake US federal bank notes in their possession, DZMM reported.]

Yes, you read that correctly - THREE TRILLION DOLLARS.

That is economic terrorism.

And, yet, all we hear about on T.V. is about the Michael Jackson trial...

Anti-Castro Majority Leader Tom DeLay Enjoys a Fine Cuban Cigar

quote[Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes, according to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a cigar is an economic prop to a brutal totalitarian regime. Arguing against loosening sanctions against Cuba last year, DeLay warned that Fidel Castro "will take the money. Every dime that finds its way into Cuba first finds its way into Fidel Castro's blood-thirsty hands.... American consumers will get their fine cigars and their cheap sugar, but at the cost of our national honor."]

What a freakin' hippocrite. I wonder if Jack Abramhoff paid for it?

Good God, Just Balance The Fucking Budget, Stop Your Stupid Wars, And For Fucks Sake Stop Giving The Rich More Money

Why, in all Hell, is this the only fucking thing that OUR congress can get done?

Bush's Campaign Against Jesus

Bush, The Closet Homosexual

First, a gay male escort gets unprecedented white house access, then Bush kisses Lieberman, and now this.

This guy has issues...

Some People Are Really Dumb

quote[The red Nazi flag, with its black swastika on a white circle, was the symbol of Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic German Third Reich, responsible for the slaughter of millions of innocent people.]

I really like how they had to add the last sentence...

Santorum Goes On Attack Against National Weather Service

quote[Santorum's bill is based on the premise that the federal government should not do what the private sector is capable of doing, and one of the largest private weather services, AccuWeather, is based in the senator's state.]

What an asshole!

DeLay Airfare Was Charged To Lobbyist's Credit Card

quote[The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe, according to two sources who know Abramoff's credit card account number and to a copy of a travel invoice displaying that number.]

This guy is going down in flames.

SCUM...

...slithering away from reality.

A Problem With Zoos

quote ["Baby chimps pick up habits by mimicking adults and we think he started mimicking smokers at his enclosure which probably led to smokers throwing him cigarettes," spokesman Daryl Barnes told SAPA.]

Okay, so it is officially Saturday. But I'm trying to continue a Funday Friday theme...

Maybe next week will be better...

American Interventions

A very interesting site...

Stuff Magnified

This is a cool collection of SEM images.

U.S. and Israeli Forces Storm Ashore In Nitzanim

quote[Hundreds of US Marines riding hovercrafts stormed ashore the beaches of Nitzanim Wednesday as part of joint maneuvers being quietly held between the US and Israeli militaries.]

Hmmm...Ever notice the large coast in the south of Iran?? It makes me curious.

Berkeley Professor Spooks Laptop Thief

quote[UNIVERSITY of Berkley professor, Jasper Rine, has a really good way of dealing with students who nick his lap-top - he scares the shite out of them in front of their mates.]

Holy crap, this kid is in for a whole heap of trouble.

Make sure to listen to the audio at the bottom of the page. Alternatively, a video of the lecture cane be found here. The good stuff starts at around 48-49 minutes in the Real Player video, so you can skip past the entire lecture.

Judiciary Committee passes cockfighting bill, tables domestic violence bill

Well, at least we know what is really important to SC repug's.

A Time for Disobedience

quote[There are many other ways to confound stonewallers and fabricators. When government officials distort the truth or tell lies at off-the-record briefings, reporters might contemplate exposing them by name. Wouldn’t that break the off-the-record ground rules set by the officials and accepted by the reporters? Yes, it would, but consider the compact that was agreed to. The reporters, for example, might have agreed not to name the officials or their jobs or agencies. In return, the officials agreed to tell them the truth. Once an official lies about or distorts events, he has broken the compact, and as long as the reporter, in his article, can effectively demonstrate the official’s lies or distortions, then I would argue that all bets are off and the reporter is freed from the ground rules and can describe the briefing in candid detail.]

This is a very well writen article and I especially like the quoted idea. However, MSM is a business first, and we all know business are about money first, not integrity.

I don't think any major market players will ever stage a mass-scale protest.

Hybrids Could Pay More Gas Tax

quote[The idea is simple but technologically daunting -- base gas taxes on miles driven instead of on gallons of fuel bought. And advocates say the reason for such a change is also simple -- although such fuel-efficient vehicles as hot-selling hybrids pay less in gas taxes, they're still out on the nation's roads contributing to congestion and wear and tear on an aging infrastructure.]

What the hell are these people thinking???

Ann Coulter Meltdown on Fox News

Someone give this bitch a sandwich.

The Latest Campaign To Scare The Shit Out Of You

quote[Recurrent intelligence reports say al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi has obtained a nuclear device or is preparing a radiological explosive -- or dirty bomb -- for an attack, according to U.S. officials, who also say analysts are unable to gauge the reliability of the information's sources.]

Come on...When are they going to realize we don't believe them??

Bill O’Reilly’s Papal Hypocrisy

quote[Recently, Bill O’Reilly has heaped praise on Pope John Paul II. Here is O’Reilly on the Factor last Thursday:

But I do know that I’ve studied this pope as well as I’ve studied anybody. And I can’t find anything, anything that this guy didn’t walk the walk. You know, right down the line. Nobody’s perfect, but this guy was close in his personal behavior and the way he conducted himself.

O’Reilly was not so kind, however, when the Pope expressed his opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. He launched into this diatribe on the March 12, 2003 edition of the O’Reilly Factor:

But as I’ve said before, I believe also that John Paul is naive and detached from reality. If America does not lead an attack on Iraq, once again, Saddam remains in power and is free to use his anthrax and other terrible weapons as he chooses.

So the pope does not seem to be concerned about that or about Saddam’s behavior in general. Once again, he must know Saddam is a killer. He must know he’s oppressed his own people using murder and torture. He must know that.]

Not exactly new, but I don't think it was ever presented here...

Ted Nugent to Fellow NRAers: Get Hardcore

quote[With an assault weapon in each hand, rocker and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent urged National Rifle Association members to be "hardcore, radical extremists demanding the right to self defense."]

What an asshole.

Thanks for the link, Jay.

Why In Hell Is This Assface On The Cover Of Time???

quote[Ann Coulter and I were well into a bottle of white Bordeaux—and I believe she was chewing her fourth piece of Nicorette—when it happened. From what little I knew of her—mainly her propensity for declamations such as "liberals love America like O.J. loved Nicole"—I thought it impossible for Coulter to blush. Many of her fans would later tell me it was her fearlessness they admired, her fully unburdened sense of outrage against liberalism, against anyone left of Joseph McCarthy (whom Coulter flattered in her best-selling book Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism).]

Yeah, and they want me to subscribe in order to read the article. Like that will ever happen...

Battlespace America

quote[The new Pentagon can peruse intelligence on U.S.citizens and send Marines down Main Street.]

Biig brother is watching you.

Decoded at last: the 'classical holy grail' that may rewrite the history of the world

quote[The previously unknown texts, read for the first time last week, include parts of a long-lost tragedy - the Epigonoi ("Progeny") by the 5th-century BC Greek playwright Sophocles; part of a lost novel by the 2nd-century Greek writer Lucian; unknown material by Euripides; mythological poetry by the 1st-century BC Greek poet Parthenios; work by the 7th-century BC poet Hesiod; and an epic poem by Archilochos, a 7th-century successor of Homer, describing events leading up to the Trojan War. Additional material from Hesiod, Euripides and Sophocles almost certainly await discovery.]

This is really cool.

IS JOHN BOLTON FIT TO BE AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.?

quote[Why don't you tell Congress where you stand? Here, we'll make it easy for you. All you have to do is fill in one form now and with one click we will send your personal message to both of your senators, your house representative too. We'll even look them up based on your address and tell you who they are. Just a few simple words from you mean more than any form letter can. Please read the question carefully to make sure your vote matches your comments.]

This is a very important petition. If Bolton makes it, you can be sure that there will be a war with Iran next. If you'd like more info on Bolton click here.

Surprises Lurk in Satellite Snaps

quote[For many years, Mike Leeds has been road-tripping from his home in Portland, Oregon, to Nevada's Black Rock Desert for the Burning Man arts festival.

So last week, when Google announced its new Maps service, which includes the ability to view and navigate with high-resolution satellite images, Leeds couldn't resist tracing his 500-mile route, one screen at a time, to see what he drives by on his annual round trip. He never expected that the last of his "45 miles to the click" route images would show, in great detail, the early setup of Burning Man.]

This is pretty cool. Make sure to check out the image gallery.

Cheney Earned $194,852 From Haliburton In 2004

quote[On their return, the Cheneys listed his $203,000 government salary and $194,852 in deferred compensation he received from the Halliburton Co., where he was chief executive officer from 1995 to 2000.

Cheney struck a deal with the oil giant in December 1998 to have his 1999 salary paid in fixed annual installments - including interest - over a five-year period after his retirement from the company.]

Yep, he has no interest in Haliburton's financial success.

Tom Delay's House Of Scandal

quote[To put it plainly, DeLay's Republican Congress doesn't care about you. Their major legislation appears to be little more than a quid pro quo with huge special interests -- with cynical indifference to the problems facing middle class Americans. As health care costs have continued to skyrocket, Republicans passed legislation that provided almost $140 billion in windfall profits for their donors in the pharmaceutical industry, while making it explicitly illegal for the federal government to bargain for lower prices and preventing ordinary seniors from importing FDA approved drugs from Canada at a lower cost. As millions of Americans lost their jobs in the Bush/ DeLay economy, House Republicans gave away billions in taxpayer money to special interests like Enron. As millions more Americans struggled to make ends meet, Republicans cut the right to overtime pay for countless workers.]

This is an awesome site, put together by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Tell everyone you know about it! Something has to be done to stop the congressional corruption.

WRONG QUESTION

quote[WHEN U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (above) spoke Tuesday night at NYU's Vanderbilt Hall, "The room was packed with some 300 students and there were many protesters outside because of Scalia's vitriolic dissent last year in the case that overturned the Texas law against gay sex," our source reports. "One gay student asked whether government had any business enacting and enforcing laws against consensual sodomy. Following Scalia's answer, the student asked a follow-up: 'Do you sodomize your wife?' The audience was shocked, especially since Mrs. Scalia [Maureen] was in attendance. The justice replied that the question was unworthy of an answer."]

LOL!!

US accused of seizing Iraqi women to force fugitive relatives to give up

quote[American forces were yesterday accused of violating international law by taking two Iraqi women hostage in a bungled effort to persuade fugitive male relatives to surrender.

US soldiers seized a mother and daughter from their home in Baghdad two weeks ago and allegedly left a note on the gate: "Be a man Muhammad Mukhlif and give yourself up and then we will release your sisters. Otherwise they will spend a long time in detention." ]

Isn't this the type of crap were supposedly there to stop?

Look For Media Labels

quote[Repetition is key to successful advertising. The American media uses repeated arbitrary labeling in its supposedly impartial coverage in a deliberate campaign to alter public perception. Americans were meant to feel less sympathy for an kidnapped Italian woman shot by U.S. soldiers manning a checkpoint in Iraq after the talking heads repeatedly referred to her as a “communist journalist.” A Fox News reporter in the same story would never have been dubbed a “neofascist journalist.” John McCain (R-AZ) might become president someday but “maverick senator John McCain” probably won’t. Ralph Nader’s name rarely appears in print without the unappealing word “gadfly” or a form of “crusading.” Why not describe figures in the news using terms that aim for neutrality, like “Italian reporter” or “former Green Party candidate Ralph Nader”?]

Interesting article. Too bad the mainstream media will never discuss this.

Study: Inmates suffer during lethal injections

quote[As many as four of every 10 prisoners put to death in the United States might receive inadequate anesthesia, causing them to remain conscious and experience blistering pain during a lethal injection.]

How is it that execution can be considered part of the neocon's "culture of life?"

Wolf Blitzer Is An Asshole

quote[On the April 8 edition of CNN's Inside Politics, CNN hosts Wolf Blitzer and Judy Woodruff discussed Pope John Paul II's funeral with Crossfire co-hosts Paul Begala and Robert Novak, both Catholics. Blitzer opened the segment by suggesting that while "I'm sure Bob is a good Catholic, I'm not so sure about Paul Begala." In responding to Blitzer, Begala took exception to on-screen text* earlier in the program that characterized many Catholic doctrines as "conservative":

BLITZER: While they were united today in mourning the death of the pope, U.S. Catholics are a diverse group, as illustrated by two of our Crossfire co-hosts, the conservative Robert Novak, the liberal Paul Begala. Both good Catholics -- I don't know "good" Catholics, but both Catholics. I'm sure Bob is a good Catholic, I'm not so sure about Paul Begala.

BEGALA: Well, now, who are you to pass moral judgment on my religion, Mr. Blitzer? My goodness gracious.

BLITZER: All right, go ahead, go ahead.

BEGALA: On the day of my Holy Father's funeral. My eldest son is named John Paul, after the Pope.

BLITZER: So you are a good Catholic?

BEGALA: I'm serious, that annoys me. I don't think anybody should presume that a liberal is not a good Catholic.

NOVAK: Paul, Paul, Paul is a good Catholic.

BEGALA: The Holy Father is liberal. And in fact, when [CNN contributor] Carlos [Watson] was speaking [earlier in the program], I was in the green room. Underneath, some producer had written, "Many Catholic doctrines are conservative." Absolutely correct. Many are liberal as well. The Holy Father bitterly opposed President Bush's war in Iraq. He came to St. Louis -- and I was there -- and he begged America to give up the death penalty. President Bush strongly supports it, as did President Clinton and others. Many of the Holy Father's views -- my church's views -- are extraordinarily liberal. The Pope talked about savage, unbridled capitalism, not Bob Novak's kind --

BLITZER: I was certainly not questioning -- I was only teasing.

BEGALA: Okay.

BLITZER: Don't be so sensitive.

BEGALA: Well, it's an important day for my faith.

BLITZER: It's a very important day --

BEGALA: It's the only pope of my adult lifetime, so I'm a little emotional tonight.

BLITZER: It's a very important day for Bob Novak. Go ahead, Bob.]

I Think I'm Going To Puke

Warning, this should only be used on a broadband connection.

Whitehouse Tapes

quote[Between 1940 and 1973, six American presidents from both political parties secretly recorded just under 5,000 hours of conversations. This site is designed as a service to the research community by making freely available all of the presidential recordings, along with relevant research materials, so that scholars, teachers, students, and the public can hear and use these remarkable tapes for themselves.
The site is hosted and maintained by the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs.]

Really cool.

Eruption and earthquakes spark fear on Sumatra

quote[A volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra island erupted yesterday sending hot ash high into the air and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of villagers, officials said.]

Man, can't these poor folks get a break?

A House Crumbling From Within...

quote[Jack Abramoff was somber, bitter and feeling betrayed. Once a Washington superlobbyist, Abramoff is now the target of a Justice Department criminal probe of allegations that he defrauded American Indian tribes of tens of millions of dollars in fees. As stories of his alleged excess dribble out—including the emergence of e-mails showing he derisively referred to his Native American clients as "monkeys" and "idiots"—some of Abramoff's old friends have abandoned him and treated him like a pariah. They claim they knew nothing of his questionable lobbying tactics. So last week, glumly sitting at his corner table at Signatures, the tony downtown restaurant he owns that remains his last redoubt, Abramoff lashed out in frustration.]

Well You Can Hardly Call FOX News Conservative

LMFAO!

Why doesn't this asshole just give up? (FYI, it's another Jeff GuckGannonert thing).

Law Would Put 'In God We Trust' In Schools

quote["It sounded right to me," said Rep. Bob Bastian, R-Somerset, recalling the first time the bill crossed his desk. Bastian is one of the bill's sponsors. "We're a country that was formed by Christian-thinking people, and we need to continue to have our trust in God."]

Good God, did these fundie idiots even get through grade school?

Pakistan Tribe Punishes Sister for Brother's Crime

quote[In June 2002, Mai lost the chance to lead a normal life. In line with the so-called “tribal law” the Punchayat (local council)of the Mastoi tribes passed a ridiculous sentence of gang-rape on her to punish her due to “her brother’s suspected affair with a woman of higher social standing.”]

This is just disgusting, but at least she's having some success in getting reform.

Stop Junk Chain Letters

quote[Question everything! E-mail is an unreliable medium for sharing information. It is unreliable, cannot be tracked and no company uses it to give away money or products. It's an ineffective tool for political activism and won't make you a millionaire overnight.]

A great resourse that complements snopes.com.

A Pennsylvania Court Ruling That Reunites A Lesbian Mother And Her Non-Biological Daughter

quote[A Pennsylvania appeals court has re-united a non-biological lesbian mother who has been estranged from her daughter. The two have been unable to carry on any kind of a relationship because the child’s biological mother has worked to keep her daughter and former partner apart ever since the two women split. The non-biological mother, thanks to a Pennsylvania Superior Court ruling, will now get to see the daughter she helped raise for three years.]

In other news, the C.T. State senate voted today on legislation to recognize same-sex civil unions. The measure, expected to pass in the house, will be the first of its kind in the country. Other states that recognize such unions have only done so, at the order of the sate judicial system.

Court Upholds Teen's Right To Rant

quote[If you think the Constitution somehow doesn't apply to high school students, Ryan Dwyer, 16, would like a word with you. And if you think that even when students are home, they somehow remain under the control of their teachers and principals, a federal judge in Trenton has news for you.]

Score one for the Bill Of Rights...

Rush Limbaugh: I'm a Nazi

Freking hilarious!

Bypass Compulsory Web Registration

This a great tool for when you get a news story, but don't want to register to read it.

The Top 100 Things I'd DoIf I Ever Became An Evil Overlord

quote[Being an Evil Overlord seems to be a good career choice. It pays well, there are all sorts of perks and you can set your own hours. However every Evil Overlord I've read about in books or seen in movies invariably gets overthrown and destroyed in the end. I've noticed that no matter whether they are barbarian lords, deranged wizards, mad scientists or alien invaders, they always seem to make the same basic mistakes every single time. With that in mind, allow me to present...]

I thought this was amusing.

Hannity on Pope: “Wild-Eyed Liberal Loon”

quote[Are these a bunch of wild-eyed liberal loonies?

HANNITY: Yes.]

What an ass.

The Culture of Life Top Ten

quote[Conservatives have been very effective in past years in coming up with emotionally-laden phrases that are at best disingenuous and at worst outright lies. Witness "weapons of mass destruction," "partial birth abortion," "ownership society," and "freedom on the march." But their newest buzzphrase is perhaps the most galling.]

Seems pretty much on the mark for me.

US in race to unlock new energy source

quote[More than a mile below the choppy Gulf of Mexico waters lies a vast, untapped source of energy. Locked in mysterious crystals, the sediment beneath the seabed holds enough natural gas to fuel America's energy-guzzling society for decades, or to bring about sufficient climate change to melt the planet's glaciers and cause catastrophic flooding, depending on whom you talk to.]

Sounds to me like a dreadfully wrong approach to our energy problems.

Archaeologist Finds 'Oldest Porn Statue'

Ha ha. That's too funny.

Color Photo's From World War ONE

quote[The color photo was invented in 1903 by the Lumiere brothers, and the French army was the only one taking color photos during the course of the war.]

Wow.