2009-12-26

psa [updated]

january 5th is the last day for registering or transfering your registration if you moved, verify your status

http://www.elections.state.il.us/VotingInformation/RegistrationLookup.aspx

i will not be on the ballot

i have not changed my opposition to ms bean, there will be no other person to vote for listed on the ballot for in the primary next month

i am a registered write-in for the IL-08 seat in the democratic primary in cook, lake, and mchenry counties, just put in "jonathan farnick" when you get to this race

[too, also]

as to why i'm doing this:

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/199701-Something-s-Not-Right-Here

video of segment @ link, partial transcript:

BILL MOYERS: But members of Congress, they take the same contributions from the same insurance and real estate and drug industry. You look at the list of contributions to members of Congress- they are as saddled by obligations as the President, right?


ROBERT KUTTNER: Well, some are and some aren't. I mean, the House, at least, just passed a bill that's over $100 billion to extend unemployment, extend insurance benefits in the interim prevent lay-offs at the level of state and local government. Now, you have a group of Democrats, and this is the real pity of it. The Democrats are supposed to be the party of the average person. You have the so-called New Democrats who are really the party of Wall Street. And then you have the Blue Dogs who are fiscal conservatives. And if you look at what happened in Barney Frank's committee to the financial reform bill, he's a pretty good liberal, he ended up looking like a complete stooge for industry because in order to get a bill out of his own committee, he had to appease the 15 New Democrats, so-called, who were put on that committee mostly by Rahm Emanuel when he was the-


MATT TAIBBI: Sort of as a means to raise money.


ROBERT KUTTNER: As a means to raise money. So Melissa Bean, who's a two-term Democratic Congressman ends up being the power broker because she controls 15 votes on Barney Frank's committee of what she's going to allow out of committee and what she isn't.


BILL MOYERS: Why does she control 15 votes?


ROBERT KUTTNER: Because there are 15 New Dems, and this is the centrist caucus that particularly specializes in taking money from the financial industry.


BILL MOYERS: You call them centrist, don't you mean corporate Democrats? I mean-


ROBERT KUTTNER: Corporate, yes, sorry. That's too kind. They're corporate Democrats who were put on that committee because Rahm Emanuel felt that there's no better place than the House Financial Services Committee if you want to shake down Wall Street, to put it bluntly.


MATT TAIBBI: There's a great example of Melissa Bean's power was when the banks wanted to pass an amendment into the bill that would have prevented the states from making their own tougher financial regulatory rules. And Bean put through this amendment that basically said that the federal government would have purview over all these laws. And it passed. And this was the kind of thing that the banks wanted. They just go to Melissa Bean, she puts that amendment in there and it and it gets through

2009-12-15

reason 4,872,327 why i'm not a republican [updated][again]

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/12/14/illegals-in-my-yard/

reason 3 why i'm not a 'conservative'



[update]

which is not to say that the democratic party is doing any better

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/12/citigroups-massive-tax-break.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CalculatedRisk+%28Calculated+Risk%29



[too, also]

the number 1 reason regarding republicans


I don't believe that we should limit waterboarding - or, quite frankly, any other alternative torture technique - if it means saving Americans' lives.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/12/aaron-schock-unambiguously-protorture.html

Cassel: If the President deems that he’s got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person’s child, there is no law that can stop him?
Yoo: No treaty.
Cassel: Also no law by Congress. That is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo.
Yoo: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11488.htm

because, remember what that weak-kneed apologist, president reagan said about torture:

"The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention . It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.

The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called 'universal jurisdiction.' Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1079/is_n2137_v88/ai_6742034/
(above link from http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7098)

if only

2009-12-08

to the memory of mr. mojo risin'



he would have turned sixty-six today

if the doors of perception were cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is: infinite - W. Blake

he just wanted to be the door



[fixed a typo and a simple subtraction issue]

2009-12-03

officially got kicked off the ballot yesterday



be sure to thank some local democratic party members for giving you no choice in the matter of the upcoming election

democracy is better served when there is only one person to vote for, yes ??

as an aside, the same people are trying to kick of the green party candidate (see the Obj. Pending next to his name)

(by the by, I submitted write-in forms to the Cook and Lake county clerk’s offices yesterday, today will drop one off @ the McHenry shop – I had little chance of winning on the ballot, will have even less now – viva la democracia)

2009-11-16

maybe this'll help

The Honorable Melissa Bean
432 Cannon House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative:

I am writing to you as I have no other recourse at this time. I am a constituent in your district and have tried to get on the primary ballot to be the lone challenger for a race in the upcoming Democratic election.

On November 9th, 2009, a local Democratic committeeman, Gregory Ferritto, challenged my petitions. Should he prevail, there will be no challenger in the Democratic primary.

I have a 100% assurance that I will not be able to overturn the challenge to my petitions: I needed eight hundred ninety and collected eight hundred ninety. The only way the voters will have a choice in the primary is that Mr. Ferritto withdraws his challenge.

To be clear, Mr. Ferritto has every right to challenge, that's not being debated, it's just that, here in Illinois, election law allows for one person to be the deciding vote in a choice that the district’s residents should have.

As the Florida Supreme Court has previously said regarding votes in elections: "We consistently have adhered to the principle that the will of the people is the paramount consideration…The laws are intended to facilitate and safeguard the right of each voter to express his or her will in the context of our representative democracy. Technical statutory requirements must not be exalted over the substance of this right."

I'm asking for your help to try to persuade him into dropping his objection, as I said, I have no other option, other than to withdraw my petitions, and the result is Democratic voters of having no choice in the primary.

There is a hearing about the matter tentatively set for Tuesday, November 17, 2009, so seeing to this quickly would be appreciated. I only received the notice on Friday the 13th, sorry for the short notice.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter.

Jonathan Farnick
600 W Jackson St
Woodstock, IL 60098
or not

2009-11-09

you'll vote for who you're told to

the residents of the 8th now won't have a choice

a pro-choice*, pro-war authoritarian corporatist vs. an anti-choice, pro-war authoritarian corporatist, will be your only choices in the november election

be sure to thank a local democratic committee-person for the options

* this may change if the stupak amendment (in any form) is in the final health care reform bill and the democratic incumbent votes for it




2009-11-03

what fourth amendment [updated]

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/11/hbc-90006019

by the same logic, if you mail a letter, and, in the course of it's travels, moves from usps vehicles to a private third party for transport, this "'private' information is actually being held by third-party private companies", and could therefore be subject to inspection without court order

[too, also]

there's been persistant talk of privatizing the post office*, should the transport of mail from box to box be in private hands, does the abilty to search widen as well ??

* something that should never happen

2009-10-30

3200, as presently written

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/10/29/house-health-care-bill-a-death-sentence-for-my-fellow-breast-cancer-survivors/

that would be a no

2009-10-25

this pisses me off *

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/us/25innocence.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=innocence%20project&st=cse

* title and link from trifecta


to those circulating petitions

please return them to me no later than saturday the 31st by mail or sunday the 1st by person, will be needing to deliver them to springfield the following monday

thanks in advance


2009-10-22

a battle of wits with an unarmed man *



* title and link from http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/alan-grayson-v-paul-broun


2009-10-21

one of the most in-depth, cogent articles on afghanistan in recent memory

http://amygdalagf.blogspot.com/2009/10/hey-joe-where-you-doing-with-that-gun.html#

via digby, of course

2009-10-15

just a reminder, it's 2009 [updated][again]

updated

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/10/interracial_couple_denied_marriage_license_in_la.php?ref=fpblg

my wife and i would have had to go to elsewhere to get married if we lived in his fine parrish

[update]

on a somewhat related topic



from http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/10/a-fathers-son.html

what's so hard to understand of the concept of two consenting adults getting married ??

[too, also]

http://rawstory.com/2009/11/louisiana-justice-refused-interracial-marriage-resigns/

2009-10-10

when will people realize that guantanamo is a ticking time bomb

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-worthington/a-truly-shocking-guantana_b_305227.html

and we need to put it out


there's two schools of thought [updated]

1. campaign contributions follow votes
2. votes follow campaign contributions

not saying what class this is from*, but here's the test results:



data from http://www.opensecrets.org/races/indus.php?id=IL08&cycle=2010

the only issue i have is her voting record and the general issue of legalized bribery no publicly financed elections

for comparison, here's a graphical representation of the election results from 2002-2008, by precinct, blue if 50+1 for the democrat, red if 50+1 went for the republican



my contention is that we could be better represented

*cF, ceF, ceFs, ceFta, ceFtasm

[update] the 1st picture above is with new data from same linked source, below is the original as posted on 10/10/2009, special trade contractors and misc business have been replaced by electric utilities and retail sales in the list; also adjusted formatting of pictures



2009-10-07

birinj

all out now

updated

http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1854-squeeze-play-militarists-and-media-close-off-alternatives-to-war.html

http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1851-on-the-unintelligent-uses-of-intelligence-.html

http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2009/10/fools-for-empire-ii.html

some quotes from the third link

Acquiescence in Executive war, [Fulbright] wrote, comes from the belief that the government possesses secret information that gives it special insight in determining policy. Not only was this questionable, but major policy decisions turn "not upon available facts but upon judgment," with which policy-makers are no better endowed than the intelligent citizen. Congress and citizens can judge "whether the massive deployment and destruction of their men and wealth seem to serve the overall interests as a nation."


and

Here's some news: you aren't a kid any longer. And Mommy and Daddy, and the intelligence agencies (with extraordinarily rare exceptions, and even they don't matter in the end), don't have "special, secret knowledge" that you can't access. You're an adult, and you can make these judgments as well as anyone else. If you are conscientious and honest, you can make far better judgments. So be an adult, and do it.

If any of you reading this feels insulted by my formulation, you might ask yourself why that is. I've stated facts; if the facts insult you, the error is not mine. I now state the issue in this form because, as attested to by the many essays I've written on these subjects, I've been making certain of these arguments for years. But the wall of resistance to these simple truths erected and diligently maintained by most people is massive and seemingly impregnable. If I anger a few people enough, perhaps they'll begin to question the lies they've unquestioningly accepted for so long.


do not believe, for one second what you are told, even from me
look it up, find out for yourself, make up your own mind

2009-09-23

suffices to say, my rep voted for this

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/radio/2009/09/23/grayson/index.html


2009-09-21

just think, if it wasn't passed in the first place...

http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=317927

from here

http://www.pruningshears.us/pruning-shears/2009/9/20/this-week-in-tyranny.html

it may take a while, this has been languishing for over two years

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR01416:@@@P


2009-09-15

yet even more old boss, new boss stuff

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/09/hbc-90005704

and

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/09/15/bagram/index.html

too

http://www.ianwelsh.net/meet-the-new-boss/

2009-09-14

speaking truth to power

written:
excerpted here http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=26781
full article here http://www.fff.org/comment/com0909b.asp

verbal:
three years ago http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879#

living under occupation:
"This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog," yelled al-Zaidi in Arabic as he threw his first shoe towards the U.S. president. "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq," he shouted as he threw his second shoe. (from the wiki)


2009-09-13

having fun with subtitles



from c&l


2009-09-08

h.r.676

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7401

related update:



yet another:



2009-09-01

punctum


punctus contra punctum


1st http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7384 via http://crooksandliars.com/mike-finnigan/mikes-blog-roundup-286

2nd http://coto2.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/caution-satire-in-video/ via (lost the link)


2009-08-28

greenwald updates

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/08/27/democrats/index.html

an older post

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/14/accountability/


2009-08-24

anarchy in the uk

two recent posts

http://sideshow.me.uk/saug09.htm#08211920
http://sideshow.me.uk/saug09.htm#08231328


2009-08-08

more old boss, new boss stuff

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/07/hbc-90005308?redirect=55878807

2009-08-06

there's a debate going on

on one hand, there are those advocating for single payer
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/452493/a_real_win_for_single_payer_advocates

on the other, there are those that don't
http://codycodester.blogspot.com/2009/08/who-is-pulling-strings-for-these.html


2009-08-01

this

http://www.locksoflove.org/

makes this



no longer operative

on an almost unrelated note, signature collection starts in four days

2009-07-26

it's all good

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/26/climate-change-obama-administration#

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/7/26/83453/2524


2009-07-03

the other half of "to or from" is "non-government systems"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070202771.html

almost unrelated, i think the term he's looking for is: bought and sold

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/secrets-of-the-wsj/

both from the sideshow


2009-07-01

not cool

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2009/07/hoping-for-mass-slaughter-of-american.html


2009-06-30

cool

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/30/supcoruling_senate/

2009-06-23

remember

part 1
http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-convo-with-gitmo-detainee-lawyer-ive.html

part 2
http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/2009/06/part-2-gitmo-detainee-obama-has-perhaps.html

this is happening in OUR name, do NOT question why, should we be hit again

via avedon

2009-06-22

to the memory of tyra, a four-year-old german shepherd working dog



you brought to our family great companionship and to my wife great joy in schutzhund training and ring sports, we'll miss you

2009-06-13

a wee bit busy @ work

so there has been light posting as of late

http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/002987.html

more old boss/new boss stchuff


2009-05-25

that was then

(52) To any man whom we have deprived or dispossessed of lands, castles, liberties, or rights, without the lawful judgement of his equals, we will at once restore these. In cases of dispute the matter shall be resolved by the judgement of the twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the peace (§ 61)...

...

(61) SINCE WE HAVE GRANTED ALL THESE THINGS for God, for the better ordering of our kingdom, and to allay the discord that has arisen between us and our barons, and since we desire that they shall be enjoyed in their entirety, with lasting strength, for ever, we give and grant to the barons the following security:

The barons shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter...

http://www.usconstitution.net/magna.html

this is now

preventative detention

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/05/25/obama/index.html

would have thought habeas corpus was settled law by now, many have fought and died to have these liberties and the rule of law be held secure, close gitmo (pdf) and charge them in a court of law

2009-05-22

they invoke rule 22

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=21569


2009-05-21

they ask questions

http://www.atlargely.com/atlargely/2009/05/how-does-33-billion-vanish.html


2009-05-19

they make commentary

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/19/cafferty.bush.administration/


2009-05-17

they write letters

http://open.salon.com/blog/rickyb/2009/05/16/letter_to_president_obama

oh, and today is


2009-05-10

hey mama




2009-05-09

his team

was what got me interested in professional basketball, sorry to hear

2009-05-06

from a past republican administration

Part XI
Concluding Observations
The underlying facts of Iran/contra are that, regardless of criminality, President Reagan, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, and the director of central intelligence and their necessary assistants committed themselves, however reluctantly, to two programs contrary to congressional policy and contrary to national policy. They skirted the law, some of them broke the law, and almost all of them tried to cover up the President's willful activities...

http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/part_xi.htm

from the previous republican administration

Part XI
Concluding Observations
The underlying facts of the build-up to the Iraq war are that, regardless of criminality, President Bush, the President of Vice Cheney, the national security advisor, the secretary of defense, and the director of central intelligence and their necessary assistants committed themselves, however reluctantly, to programs contrary to congressional policy and contrary to national policy. They skirted the law, some of them broke the law, and almost all of them tried to cover up the President's willful activities...

http:// (hopefully there will be a link one day)

2009-05-03

the replacements

no, no

just sayin'

2009-04-26

teh stupid, it does burn (updated)

Should Bill Clinton, Sandy Berger and their team have been held criminally or civilly liable for dereliction of duty 3,000 people died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, given that they knowingly allowed Osama bin Laden to flee Sudan for sanctuary in Afghanistan? *

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/23/AR2009042303476.html

from morrison's other watering hole

* it's a legitimate question because of the inclusion of the cavuto

(update)

"The pressure from the anti-American left rattled him and he opened Pandora's box," said Gingrich.

...

Indeed, it probably never occurred to Gingrich to consider how ridiculous these kinds of attacks are. If you support torture, you're pro-America; if you support the rule of law, you're anti-America. If you believe war crimes should be ignored, you're pro-America; if you believe in accountability, you're anti-America.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017922.php

2009-04-24

good news

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7094

now, if we could only get her, and mike back on here locally....

2009-04-23

mr smith (updated)

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Shep_Smith_We_do_not_fking_0423.html

the one exception to the rule*

* rule being, every host on fox is a lying sycophant

(update)

compare the above with remarks from the stupidest person on air @ nbc

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30353898#30353898

to paraphrase chris hayes on olbermann, whenever you debate the merits of torture, the sadists win

and from mr black

Deep Thought

The United States doesn't torture, but anyone who opposes torture is un-American.

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2009/04/deep-thought_23.html

more from the booman

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/4/24/95047/8872

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/4/23/20210/9052

and because some on the right will not accept anything that wasn't championed by ronald reagan:

The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention . It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.

The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called "universal jurisdiction." Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1079/is_n2137_v88/ai_6742034/

why does ronnie hate america ??

from andrew sullivan via brad's blog

some commentary from someone who would know

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/opinion/23soufan.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1240752276-eCKb9HRru9tYQ/uS4dZepQ

2009-04-21

more light reading

http://washingtonindependent.com/39692/doj-sits-on-secret-2007-cia-interrogation-memo

http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-13440.htm

Something More For Eric Holder To Chew On
by Tim F.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=20287

Inquiry Into the Treatment of Detainees In U.S. Custody
Report of the Committee on Armed Services United States Senate

http://armed-services.senate.gov/Publications/Detainee%20Report%20Final_April%2022%202009.pdf (15meg .PDF)

Jesus. That really gives new meaning to the famous Pogo line: We have met the enemy, and he is us.

JGabriel

2009-04-19

to reiterate

Art. 147. Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be those involving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or property protected by the present Convention: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed in the present Convention, taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.

Art. 148. No High Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve itself or any other High Contracting Party of any liability incurred by itself or by another High Contracting Party in respect of breaches referred to in the preceding Article

http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/texts/BH241.txt

This morning on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said the White House did not support prosecuting -- not only CIA officers who tortured, believing in "good faith" what they were doing was legal -- but would also not support the prosecution of "those who devised the [interrogations/torture] policy."


http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/19/721803/-More-than-Nuremberg:-Update:-Rahm-Says-No-Prosecutions

if they continue on this path, can they themselves be brought up on war crimes charges ??

also

http://chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/3/1743-tortured-logic-obama-writes-off-old-crimes-while-promoting-new-outrages.html

i drink coffee

but have some tea

http://www.thomhartmann.com/2009/04/15/the-real-boston-tea-party-was-against-the-wal-mart-of-the-1770s/

the above and below from avadon




2009-04-18

riddle me this

how can you reconcile this subhead:

"a netowrk of america's next generation of classical liberal leaders"

and have a executive council made up of:

Clint Bolick
Alliance for School Choice

Leonard Liggio
Atlas Economic Research Foundation

T. Kenneth Cribb
Intercollegiate Studies Institute

Edwin Meese III
Ronald Reagan Fellow, The Heritage Foundation

Edwin J. Feulner, Jr.
The Heritage Foundation

Gene Meyer
The Federalist Society

Barbara Ledeen
Founder, Independent Women’s Forum

Randal C. Teague
The Fund for American Studies

Grover Norquist
Americans for Tax Reform

Ron Robinson
Young America’s Foundation


neo-conservative is more accurately neo-liberal,,so classical-liberal is more accurately blatantly-conservative ??

just asking


2009-04-17

strange democracy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OETwbVBPI1U

hey obama, congress

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/countdown-special-comment-future-us-depend

investigation and prosecution of war crimes are not an option, you are REQUIRED to do so

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLq7Aqd_H7g&NR=1

i'm sure the meadea will be all over it, though

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=20062

beware of the dos prompt

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/boston-college-prompt-commands-are-suspicious

In an interview in London in April 2008, I remind F.B.I. director Robert Mueller of the attacks planned against targets on American soil since 9/11 that his agents have disrupted: for example, a plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and another to wreak mayhem at army recruiting centers and synagogues in and around Torrance, California. These and other homegrown conspiracies were foiled by regular police work. The F.B.I. learned of the Fort Dix plot from a Circuit City store where a technician raised the alarm when asked to copy firearms-training videos, while the Torrance cell was rounded up when cops probed the backgrounds of two of its members after they allegedly robbed a local gas station.

I ask Mueller: So far as he is aware, have any attacks on America been disrupted thanks to intelligence obtained through what the administration still calls “enhanced techniques”?

“I’m really reluctant to answer that,” Mueller says. He pauses, looks at an aide, and then says quietly, declining to elaborate: “I don’t believe that has been the case.”

read the above (http://culture11.com/blogs/theconfabulum/2008/12/24/fbi-director-enhanced-interrogation-hasnt-prevented-attacks/) then watch the below



The CIA inspector general in 2004 found that there was no conclusive proof that waterboarding or other harsh interrogation techniques helped the Bush administration thwart any "specific imminent attacks," according to recently declassified Justice Department memos.


http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/66895.html

if anyone tells you torture works, they are lying

and from that far left smear site

...That's what the conservative media consists of: partisans offering inconsistent, insincere, and nonsensical arguments on behalf of torture and the depraved thugs who authorized it.


do read the whole thing

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200904240025?f=h_column

2009-04-12

a request of congress to block every single thing the obama administraiton may want until they do something about this

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004767

and the same goes regarding the habeas bullshit too


of course, i have to work that saturday

http://www.noprivatearmies.org/take_action.html


2009-04-06

as a reminder [updated]

for the primary, i voted for kucinich; in the general, i voted for mckinney

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/06/memos/index.html
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/06/obama/index.html
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/08/criticism/index.html

i did not know he wouldn't be any better than UU., i only thought that he might not be, and would be pleasantly suprised if i was proven wrong
there is the consolation that i'm not dissapointed and was not fooled again
there is some hope, he has just under four years to make amends

or make it worse

http://openleft.com/diary/12758/the-case-for-distrust

[update]

wondering if rep. bean will ever join in on this

H.R. 984: 2009-2010 State Secret Protection Act of 2009

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-984

via Michael

also, regarding habeas corpus

The bottom line is this: Current procedures under the CSRT are such that a perfectly innocent individual could be held and could not rebut the Government's case and has no way of proving his innocence.

I would like somebody in this Chamber, somebody in this Government, to tell me why this is necessary
. I do not want to hear that this is a new world and we face a new kind of enemy. I know that. . . . But as a parent, I can also imagine the terror I would feel if one of my family members were rounded up in the middle of the night and sent to Guantanamo without even getting one chance to ask why they were being held and being able to prove their innocence...

But what is avoidable is refusing to ever allow our legal system to correct these mistakes. By giving suspects a chance--even one chance--to challenge the terms of their detention in court, to have a judge confirm that the Government has detained the right person for the right suspicions, we could solve this problem without harming our efforts in the war on terror one bit...

Most of us have been willing to make some sacrifices because we know that, in the end, it helps to make us safer. But restricting somebody's right to challenge their imprisonment indefinitely is not going to make us safer. In fact, recent evidence shows it is probably making us less safe.


and

When I am president we won’t work in secret to avoid honoring our laws and Constitution


man, if only that person got elected president

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/11/bagram/index.html

http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/4674

oh wait, he did

more here:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-08/the-cia-torture-cover-up/

and here:

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004714


2009-04-05

'cus it needs to be said every once and a while




is he talking about geneva convention violations by us

“Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something.”

or something some other country did, just wondering


2009-04-03

just words on a screen

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch.html

from quentin


2009-04-01

more like this

EXCLUSIVE: LEMMON Aid Act of 2009
Deal reached, vote expected today
Joe Wilbert and Tom Scully, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Comment
Print
Font Size Share
Got a Question?
You Report

The Lemmon Aid Act of 2009 (H.R. 714), introduced by Rep. Bean (D-IL), and co-sponsored by 37 other members, is expected to be introduced and voted on in the House today. Early expectations are that it will narrowly pass and move to a contentious vote in the Senate later this week. The Bill, the Lentigo Educational Medical MobilizatiON Act, encourages preventative measures and increased medical education, tries to rectify the shortcomings of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 by removing the donut hold in Part D, allowing the government to bargain for lower drugs prices in conjunction with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and not allowing unelected accountants making life and death medical decisions. It will force portability for workers to take their existing coverage from one employer, thru unemployment, to a future job, if that plan is more expensive or offers less coverage. One of the biggest provisions of the bill is the ban of blocking coverage of preexisting conditions. The insurers must cover all people who apply, pay their premiums, and need medical assistance...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/01/lemmon-aid-2009/



2009-03-28

to some democrats, most republicans, and esp. the former president of vice and UU.



by English singer Lily Allen, on her second album It's Not Me, It's You, track 8, "Fuck You"

Look inside,
Look inside your tiny mind
Now look a bit harder
Cause we're so uninspired,
so sick and tired of all the
hatred you harbor

So you say
It's not okay to be gay
Well I think you're just evil
You're just some racist who
can't tie my laces
Your point of view is medieval

Fuck you (Fuck you)
Fuck you very, very much
Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don't stay in touch


Fuck you (Fuck You)
Fuck you very, very much
Cause your words don't translate
And it's getting quite late
So please don't stay in touch

Do you get,
Do you get a little kick out of
being slow minded?
You want to be like your father
It's approval your after
Well that's not how you find it

Do you,
Do you really enjoy living a
life that's so hateful?
Cause there's a hole where
your soul should be
Your losing control of it and
it's really distasteful

Fuck you (Fuck You)
Fuck you very, very much
Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don't stay in touch


Fuck you (Fuck You)
Fuck you very, very much
Cause your words don't
translate and it's getting
quite late
So please don't stay in touch

Fuck you, Fuck you, Fuck you,
Fuck you, Fuck you, Fuck you,
Fuck yooooou


You say
You think we need to go to war
well you're already in one
Cause it's people like you
that need to get slew
No one wants your opinion

Fuck you (Fuck You)
Fuck you very, very much
Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don't stay in touch


Fuck you (Fuck You)
Fuck you very, very much
Cause your words don't
translate and it's getting
quite late
So please don't stay in touch

Fuck you, Fuck you
Fuck you, Fuck you
Fuck you, Fuck you



2009-03-26

looking back

Flashback, 1999
Mar 26th, 2009 at 8:57 pm by Susie



http://susiemadrak.com/2009/03/26/20/57/flashback-1999/


2009-03-21

oh w'hell

http://www.atlargely.com/2009/03/rfk-jr-free-paul-minor.html

http://blog.locustfork.net/2009/03/02/white-house-counsel-greg-craig-asked-to-step-down/

on an unrelated note, have any (or all) of the united states attorneys appointed by UU. been replaced yet ??

just wondering

also, you have to have it to jeopardize it

http://mediamatters.org/items/200903200026?f=h_top


2009-03-19

looking back

March 19, 2003



"My fellow citizens, at this hour American and coalition forces are in the early stages of an illegal invasion and occupation to disarm an unarmed Iraq, to kill a million or more of its people, and to create a hostile envirnment to make it easier to rob the United States treasury, direct those funds to politically connected firms and individuals, and trash not only the Constitution, but also the Geneva Conventions and the good name of our great country..."

slightly edited text of the finally former president

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/19/sprj.irq.int.bush.transcript/


2009-03-18

three things

a: an example of why you can learn more from bloggers, and their commenters, than the meadea:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/report-treasury-knew-about-aig-bonuses-earlier-than-geithner-claims.php#comment-3411707

and

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/17/dodd/index.html

b: put the blame where it is due, 8 years deregulation by bush/cheney, paulson who put the bailout together, and the democratically controlled congress who passed it

c: in an attempt to fix the problems now before us, obama compounds it by picking for treasury secretary a person who helped create the mess in the first place, the democratically controlled senate confirms him any way, and, as the first links says, we are shocked, shocked by the relevations of the day