Operation Truth

Four Things the President Needs to Tell America's Troops and Veterans Iraq Veterans Call for Answers in State of the Union Speech

According to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America here are four things the President needs to tell the nation in his SOTU tonight.

1) This Nation’s Veterans are a Priority
2) The Current Problem of Military Overextension Will End in 2006
3) Here are the Benchmarks for Success in Iraq
4) Never Again Will our Troops be Sent to War Without Proper Equipment

My guess is that we here 0 of those in any meaningful way. He may pay lip service to 1 and 4, but he's done that before.

Things you never want to see at a poker table

Maybe they could invite the Bush administration as well

Instapundit.com:

INSTAPUNDIT WROTE:
"GETTING IT WRONG: It's an issue of The Economist from November, but the 'Lexington' column, which is often quite good, contains this howler: 'The rumor-mongers interpret Mr. Cheney's recent ubiquity as more proof that he is desperately trying to save his job.'

Er, except that, you know, the Vice President can't be fired. Cheney holds an independent office, and doesn't work for Bush. It's possible that he might be persuaded to step down in favor of someone (*cough* Condi *cough*) else, but there's no desperation involved. He could spend the next almost-three years hunting pheasants and fly-fishing and nobody could say boo. Any 'rumormongers' saying otherwise are probably fellow British journalists who don't understand that either . . . .

I don't want to be too hard on 'Lexington,' which is actually quite a good column in general. But I showed that passage to several colleagues (none of them people who would likely be upset if Cheney were fired) and all of them laughed. At least, said one, it wasn't an American journalist making that mistake, though that would be no great surprise if it happened. Perhaps someone should set up seminars for foreign journalists on how the Constitution works."

Daily Drew

Hollywood Rag - Celebrity Ragazine | Drew Barrymore at Curious George Premiere

Haven't done that in a while.

SOTU Bingo for tonight

The Democratic Party

The Great Glenn Greenwald

Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: Putting the terrorist threat into perspective:

"All of this seems obvious at this point. The total number of Americans killed by Islamic terrorists in the last 5 years -- or 10 years -- or 20 years -- or ever -- is roughly 3,500, the same number of deaths by suicide which occur in this country every month. This is the overarching threat around which we are constructing our entire foreign policy, changing the basic principles of our government, and fundamentally altering both our behavior in the world and the way in which we are perceived."

Read the whole post. It's brilliant which seems to have become Greenwald's norm.

Not bad

ChubbyChecker.com:

"Chubby Checker – the only artist to have 5 albums in the Top 12 all at once.

Chubby Checker First Platinum – 'Let's Twist Again'.

Chubby Checker – the only artist to have a song to be #1 twice – 'The Twist'.

Chubby Checker – the only artist to have 9 Double-Sided Hits."

Maybe this is why we are making so much noise about Iran

United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - Walker's World: Iran's really big weapon

Stand Up on Google Video

Official Google Video Blog: Highlight: Egami Media (Image Entertainment)

PS2 Games? Check them out from the library

The Video Game Librarian: It's The End of the Year As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) Special @ Gaming Target

We had the $240...

Aww yeah

How does he keep a straight face?

Aljazeera.Net - US pushes to keep Hamas out:

"A political party, in order to be viable, is one that professes peace."
--George W. Bush (he then ordered the US military to continue to blow shit up in Iraq)

A joke from The Big Pharaoh

The Big Pharaoh

An old Arab lived close to *New York* City for more than 40 years. One day he decided that he would love to plant potatoes and herbs in his garden, but he knew he was alone and too old and weak. His son was in college in Paris, so the old man sent him an e-mail explaining the problem:

"Beloved son, I am very sad, because I can't plant potatoes in my garden. I am sure, if only you were here, that you would help me and dig up the garden for me. I love you, your father."

The following day, the old man received a response e-mail from his son:

"Beloved father, please don't touch the garden. That is where I have hidden 'the *THING*.' I love you, too, Ahmed."

At 4pm the FBI and the Rangers visited the house of the old man and took the whole garden apart, searching every inch. But they couldn't find anything. Disappointed, they left the house.

The next day, the old man received another e-mail from his son:
"Beloved father, I hope the garden is dug up by now and you can plant your potatoes, that is all I could do for you from here; Your loving son Ahmed.

Drew on SNL

Responding to her bra-less appearance at the Golden Globes:

Insight

Impeachment hearings: The White House prepares for the worst

Why is another analysis of Bush's impeachment troubles important? This one is published in the GOP paper of records' Sunday magazine. That's right. The Washington Times is testing out the impeachment waters.

Should Bush be able to kill kittens with a hammer?

XQUZYPHYR & Overboard by August J. Pollak - Kitten-Off Redux - 1/9/2006

Yo Democrats

What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing Bush's tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich. The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF?
--Molly Ivins

No Comment

NEWSWATCH 50 || WWTI Watertown - Barrymore & Boyfriend Caught in Bathroom

Meet Prince Mongo

newtimesbpb.com | News & Features | Bob Norman | The Alien Has Landed | 2006-01-19

He's 333 years old from the planet Zambodia. He says things like, "It's the resurrection of the world. The Earth doesn't have much time left. We're on the second run right now. That painting is the tunnel to life. It won't end until the world ends. Then I will take the people I'm going to save back to Zambodia."

He's also wealthy, lives in a $2 million home, and likes to feed the homeless.

Waterboarding

Ok this has been bugging me for a while. Waterboarding is torture. Lemme lay this one out for you...

Take a 2x4 attach it the face of a restrained prisoner. Take a large amount of water and pour down the board so it hits the face and mouth of a the tortured person. At first they drink, no problem, but the stomach only holds a couple litres of water, so they gasp. Of course there's still water flowing into their face and they pull it into their lungs. Within a minute or two the person feels like they are drowning and browns out. If you keep the water flowing down the board, they will die, but of course that doesn't help the torturer so when they guy passes out, you stop the water, revive and repeat.

We do this.

Now you wanna know how I know it's torture? The 17th century Dutch thought it was torture. You know how I really know it's torture? Mastheading and keel-hauling were considered "lesser tortures".

Mastheading -- take a forty foot length of rope and run it under the prisoners arms and tie it off behind his head. Haul the prisoner up to a spar 50 feet off the deck, tie off the other end of the rope, and push the prisoner off the spar so he free falls to a couple of feet from deck at which point the rope jerks his shoulders against his ears and dislocates both of his shoulders (or possibly breaks his spine if the shoulders hold for some reason).

Keel Hauling -- take a long piece of rope, run it under the width of the ship. Tie the prisoner to the port side of the rope. Get 6 or 8 seaman on the starboard side even with the prisoner. Push prisoner overboard and have seaman heave. The prisoner gets pulled underwater, dragged along the bottom of a hobnailed keel (little nails stick out all over and rip the prisoners flesh on the way by), and haul the prisoner up the other side. Repeat two more times.

See waterboarding was considered worse than those by the Dutch, but we do that. Hell even the 17th century Dutch knew this was torture. Dutch law would allow for torture, but not a confessions compelled by torture. They knew someone would say /anything/ to get that torture to stop so they would not accept a confession obtained in such a way. 500 years ago people knew that this was a useless way to extract information, and we still use it.

Brilliant.

But, but, but mcsey won't somebody think of the children 9/11 changed everything! Oh yeah...

"Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment's notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march -- when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously? (ed: huh, you mean a two front war)

"It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same."
--Al Gore

No its not. Get over your fear. It's killing your mind. Let us not aspire to live. Let us not aspire to be great and powerful. Let us aspire to be good -- the rest will follow.

Stop supporting torture and its progenitors. We are better than that.

Good Point

"Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment's notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march -- when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously (ed: huh, you mean a two front war I think)?

"It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same."
--Al Gore

You gotta kidding me?

Media Matters -
CNN reportedly hires radio host Glenn Beck

The librul mee-dee-uh folks at CNN hired a guy that said, "You know, it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families?" and on Nick Berg's Dad, "I find this guy [Michael Berg] despicable. Everything in me says that. The want to be a better person today than I was yesterday says he's a dad, he's grieving, but I don't buy that. I'm sorry, I don't buy it. I think he is grieving, but I think he's a scumbag as well. I don't like this guy at all."

Ya... nice.

Funny

Guardian Unlimited | Ricky Gervais | Ricky Gervais podcast

Woman pleaded: I want hitman to kill me

Welcome to Kent Online

A 53-year-old woman was so depressed and desperate to end her life that she agreed to pay a friend to arrange for a hitman to kill her, a court heard.

Christine Ryder ended up handing over a total of £20,000 to Kevin Reeves after he agreed to murder her himself.

But Reeves, 40, of Saltings Road, Snodland, near Rochester, failed to keep his side of the bargain and she shopped him to the police.

Now he has been jailed for 15 months after being convicted of deception.

A judge told the married father: "While it is clear you had no intention of arranging for someone to kill Mrs Ryder and didn’t propose to yourself, you deceived her into believing it would happen."

Candle Factory Burns Down. Fire Blamed.

Fire leaves dedicated candle makers close to wick's end

/stolen from fark

Hmm

Sploid: Thugs kill political scandal reporter

Bears commentary

Donkeypuncher: Super Bowl Shuffle, v 2.0?

The Chronic-WHAT-cles of Narnia

Flip Jack Flip

Abramoff Reportedly Negotiating a Deal in Which He Would Plead Guilty, Testify:

"Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, facing trial on fraud charges Jan. 9 in Florida, is negotiating a possible deal with the Justice Department, in which he would agree to plead guilty and cooperate in the wide-ranging political corruption investigation focused on his dealings with members of Congress and executive branch officials, people familiar with the talks said last night."

this.is.anfield: Bush Likes Bald

this.is.anfield: Bush Likes Bald

Weird.

And God shrieked NO!

NECA: The National Entertainment Collectibles Association

Gist: Yoko authorized a John Lennon action figure. All profits go to her wallet.

Save Cory Maye

Beltway Blogroll: A Tale Of Two Killers

Steve Guttenberg?

Metro

There are 100,000 actors in the Screen Actors Guild. Only 2,000 of them make more than $75,000 (£42,000) a year. That means 98,000 actors make less than $75,000 a year. From 1980 to 1990, I shot more films than any other actor in the Screen Actors Guild apart from Gene Hackman. Everyone keeps asking me that stupid question: "What are you doing?" I say: "Why do I need to do anything? I'm rich." Do you want me to be poor again? Do you want me to go back to making tomato soup out of ketchup and water? Or would you like me to be a multimillionaire and be rewarded for all the entertainment I gave you for all those years? I'm enjoying life now. If I was a plumber and I'd done the most plumbing jobs between 1980 and 1990, everyone would be saying: "What a great plumber" - he says "f**k you to the world and he's enjoying himself." But for some reason, as an actor, you're not allowed to say: "I'm f**king rich, bro."

It's enough to make you like the guy.

WWdN: In Exile: WWdN Poker Game Schedule Changes

WWdN: In Exile: WWdN Poker Game Schedule Changes:

"The WWdN Friday game at PokerStars is moving to Tuesday, beginning December 20th. The game will play each week, except in the event of major holidays, starting at 7:00 PM EST. The buy-in will remain at $10+1."

Re "The War on Christmas"

Poynter Online - Forums

It’s no surprise, of course, that this phony call to arms, this “Christmas (ergo, Christians) Under Attack” hysteria, emanates from the bowels of Fox News Channel. The network is, after all, ground zero in the culture wars that polarize so much of America these days. Make no mistake about it: Fox is on a mission. Its slogans say, “Fair and Balanced” and “We Report, You Decide.” But in the six years that I worked there, what I heard most from Fox management were mission statements – about turning things around, taking news back from the liberals, and giving “middle America” a voice long denied it by the “east coast media elite.”

Poker addiction blamed for heist

Poker addiction blamed for heist : The Morning Call Online

Lehigh class president Greg Hogan robbed a bank. He blamed an addiction to onlne poker. Dude, you're must be a crappy poker player.

Chad Johnson sighting

Positively Verisimilitude-esque: CJ Sighting ... sorta

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Doctor Who takes anti-war stance

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Doctor Who takes anti-war stance

Whaaa!!??

ABC News: Pa. Lawmaker Guilty of Conflict of Interest

You skip the news one day and another GOP state legislator goes down on corruption charges, but check what's next for Mr. Habay (R-Allegheny, PA).

Habay faces a second trial next year on 21 counts that allege he concocted a story about receiving a suspicious white powder in the mail and directed his staff to investigate his adversaries on state time.

/snicker

Wish list.

Amazon.com: Philips DVP642 DivX-Certified Progressive-Scan DVD Player: Electronics

I'll buy that.

Seed: The Other I.D.

An engineer and scientists look at I.D. -- no not that moronic Intelligent Design theory -- Incompetent Design. Basically his argument is that if you look at "the design" of the human body, if someone or thing created it, he/she/it is incompetent.

The thing that perhaps is closest to all of us is our own skeleton, and there are certainly all kinds of stupidity in our design. No self-respecting engineering student would make the kinds of dumb mistakes that are built into us.

All of our pelvises slope forward for convenient knuckle-dragging, like all the other great apes. And the only reason you stand erect is because of this incredible sharp bend at the base of your spine, which is either evolution's way of modifying something or else it's just a design that would flunk a first-year engineering student.

Look at the teeth in your mouth. Basically, most of us have too many teeth for the size of our mouth. Well, is this evolution flattening a mammalian muzzle and jamming it into a face or is it a design that couldn't count accurately above 20?...

I mean, evolutionarily all of these things make sense but in terms of a reasonable, intelligent design? They're idiocy. So, the argument is there is no intelligence there in a lot of these things.

Snicker

BREITBART.COM - Some Megachurches Closing for Christmas

At least the war is good for someone

America, United States, Times Online, The Times, Sunday Times:

"The unprecedented number of troops who are returning from Iraq with missing limbs has given the US Paralympic Team an unexpected recruitment boost and the chance to become "unbeatable" at the next Games in Beijing in 2008. More than 60 potential recruits have already been identified in sports as varied as powerlifting, archery and table tennis.
John Register, a veteran of the Gulf War in 1990, who manages the US Paralympic Academy, said: "This has been a shot in the arm of the Paralympic movement and an immediate boost. The Paralympics is a huge motivating factor for injured service members. It exponentially increases the individual's idea of what is possible."

Lemonade I guess.

If you like... try.

Pandora.com

Those questions often evolved into great conversations. Each friend told us their favorite artists and songs, explored the music we suggested, gave us feedback, and we in turn made new suggestions. Everybody started joking that we were now their personal DJs.

Sports Joke

A Chicago man dies and goes to hell.

When he gets there, the devil comes over to welcome him. The devil then says, "Sometimes it gets pretty uncomfortable down here."

The man says, "No problem. I'm from Chicago."

So the devil goes over to the thermostat, turns the temperature up to 100, and the humidity up to 80. He then goes back to the Chicago man to see how he's doing. To the devil's surprise, the man is doing just fine.

"No problem...just like Chicago in June," the man says.

So the devil goes back over to the thermostat, and turns the temperature up to 150, and the humidity up to 90. He then goes back over to see how the Chicago man is doing. The man is sweating a little, but overall looks comfortable.

"No problem. Just like Chicago in July," the man says.

So now the devil goes over to the thermostat, turns the temperature up to 200, and the humidity up to 100. When he goes back to see how the man is doing, the man is sweating profusely, and has taken his shirt off. Otherwise, he seems OK.

He says, "No problem. Just like Chicago in August."

Now the devil is really perplexed. So he goes back to the thermostat, and turns the temperature down to MINUS 150 DEGREES. Immediately, all the humidity in the air freezes up, and the whole place (meaning Hell) becomes a frigid, barren, frozen, deathly cold wasteland.

When he goes back now to see how the Chicago man is doing, he is shocked to discover the man is jumping up and down, and cheering in obvious delight. The devil immediately asks the man what's going on. To which the Chicago man replies.....

"THE CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!"
"THE CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!"

Let them sing it for you

Let them sing it for you

Type in words. It uses clips from famous songs to sing them back to you.

SmashMyXBox.com // You donate, we smash!

SmashMyXBox.com // You donate, we smash!

Gist: Guy waits 55 hours in the cold to buy an Xbox360. Takes said Xbox and smashes the shit out of it in front of fanboys at Best Buy.

Beautiful.

Oddjacked

Oddjack Announcements: Buh-Bye - Oddjack

Oddjack, one of my favorite gambling sites, is closing. Good luck to the newest ex-Gawker Media employees.

Bad Hair Day*

*I don't think so, but that's what the shirt says.

Bomb Al-Jazeera in Qatar?

Mirror.co.uk - News - EXCLUSIVE: BUSH PLOT TO BOMB HIS ARAB ALLY:

"PRESIDENT Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a 'Top Secret' No 10 memo reveals.But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash.A source said: 'There's no doubt what Bush wanted, and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it.' Al-Jazeera is accused by the US of fuelling the Iraqi insurgency."

Now normally, this is a laugher, except the we did "mistakenly" bomb the Al-Jazeera offices in Kabul in 2001 and again "mistakenly" bomb their offices in Baghdad in 2003.

Salon.com - Daou Report

THE STRAW MEN OF IRAQ: Ten Pro-War Fallacies

Technical Issues

funny movie:video meeting - Google Video

Wait around till the end for the punch line.

Bush and the Attack of the So-and-Sos - Wonkette

Bush and the Attack of the So-and-Sos - Wonkette:

"Many news outlets today proclaimed a softening in the administration's tone regarding critics of the Iraq war, with the president himself noting, 'I heard somebody say, well, maybe so-and-so is not patriotic because they disagree with my position. I totally reject that thought.' Heard 'somebody' say it, eh? Well, you know how if you walk by the same piece of furniture every day, you can kind of forget that it's there? Vice presidents are totally the same way."

Join Bill O'Reilly's Enemies List

The Blog | Arianna Huffington: The Bill O'Reilly Blacklist | The Huffington Post

Money shot

Hawkish Democrat Calls for Iraq Pullout - Yahoo! News:

"Seldom overtly political, Murtha uncharacteristically responded to Vice President Dick Cheney's comments this week that Democrats were spouting 'one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges' about the Bush administration's use of intelligence before the war.
'I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done,' Murtha said."

Bring it on

AMERICAblog: Because a great nation deserves the truth:

"The President and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone -- but we're not going to sit by and let them rewrite history. We're going to continue throwing their own words back at them."
--Dick Cheney

The worst liar in the worst administration ever is going to throw politicians words back at 'em? Fine, bring it on. You all ready played the "dissent = treason" canard. It won't work again.

Nice Shirt

Sitenews

mcSey

For some reason, my blogroll... ain't rolling. The page takes a while to load. I'm gonna assume this a bloglines.com problem for a couple of days, and then I'll take care of it if it duresn't go away.

This has to stop

Detainees Deserve Court Trials:

"Adel is innocent. I don't mean he claims to be. I mean the military says so. It held a secret tribunal and ruled that he is not al Qaeda, not Taliban, not a terrorist. The whole thing was a mistake: The Pentagon paid $5,000 to a bounty hunter, and it got taken.

The military people reached this conclusion, and they wrote it down on a memo, and then they classified the memo and Adel went from the hearing room back to his prison cell. He is a prisoner today, eight months later. And these facts would still be a secret but for one thing: habeas corpus"

I'm starting to think that there are hundreds of Adels down there. That's about the only conclusion that I can reach as to why people ostensibly elected to defend the Constitution have been pissing all over it. At some point the powers that be realized that a large majority of the people down there were not terrorists. They may have been fighting against American forces in Afghanistan, but fighting an occupying power does not a terrorist make.

This is a CYA operation by someone who realizes that when the truth comes out, and it will, that when the truth comes out they are well truly fucked. This whole regime is well and truly fucked and will go down in history as undoubtedly the worst of all-time.

They are "proper fucked" as Turkish would say.

Happy Birthday zengrrrl!

The Heart of Torture

Hullabaloo

If there's debate why put it behind us?

CNN.com - Bush adviser: Intelligence accusations?'flat wrong' - Nov 14, 2005:

"President Bush's national security adviser defended the administration Sunday against accusations that it misled the nation about the need for war with Iraq as Democrats stepped up their attacks on the president's candor.

Stephen Hadley told CNN's 'Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer' that those claims were 'flat wrong.

''We need to put this debate behind us,' he said. 'It's unfair to the country. It's unfair to the men and women in uniform risking their lives to make this country safe.'"

You admit that there's debate on a subject, dismiss the other side as "wrong" with no proof to back up this assertion, and then claim we should put the debate behind us... why?

Because you know can't win that debate on facts perhaps?

What do you expect when rape is your national sport?

Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.co.uk

Izzy, Rishi, and 8chez

Cool view of the newspapers

Internet Service to Put Classic TV on Home Computer - New York Times

Duh.

Party Poker Blog:

"Subject: Did you see this about the 3 Billionth hand at party On Monday night, the world's largest online cardroom, Party Poker, dealt its 3 billionth hand. Prior to the big hand, and as an incentive to get players to celebrate with them, Party announced a prize opportunity for the players involved in the 3 billionth hand. The hand occurred at 10:51 EST on a $0.50/$1.00 limit hold%u2019em 6-max table.Everyone at the table immediately scored $10,000 for being in the 3 billionth hand. An additional $50,000 was set aside for the person who would go on to win the hand. Humorously, 4 of the 6 players at the table folded before the river. Apparently the 10,000 :1 odds on their money to chase a miracle runner-runner were not appetizing enough to warrant a call. At least one player was clearly aware of the situation at hand proclaiming 'we did it' in the chat box before the flop. The same player folded after the flop."

OK lemme sort this one out for you. There's six players at the 3 billionth hand to be dealt on Party Poker. Each one of them instantly gets a $10K bonus. The winner of the hand gets an additional $50K. This is .50/1.00 Limit Hold-Em. The max pot is like 10 bucks. So they were all ready up $10K on the hand with a chance at $50K. Why not play for the miracle? So you lose eight bucks on the hand... for a chance at $50K? I think that would be worth it when you're all ready up $10K.

I just saw a bald eagle

They nest around here at this time of year, and it's not at all unusual to see one in a tree along the river. As there population has increased over the last few years, its becoming common to see them flying several miles from the river. We see them passing over my folks house fairly regularly.

On the ride home from breakfast today sitting ten yards off the road in a corn field was a bald eagle. Damn those things are big. Two and a half foot tall birds roxor. I slowed down to about 20, and then realized my camera was in the lapatopa bag in the trunk:(

I pulled over and the girls and I watched it for a couple minutes, but when I opened the trunk the thing took off. Six foot of wings flapping a few times and it was off. Very cool bird. Now I want to catch one diving. We had a golden eagle take a swipe at Mazzie (our chihuahua) two years ago, but I've never seen a bald eagle dive at prey.

Cynicsim anyone?

Capitol Hill Blue: GOP memo touts new terror attack as way to reverse party's decline

Top 10 Bushisms

From an email forward:
Top 10 Funniest Bushisms Of All Time
The Top Ten Funny Mistakes, Misstatements, Bloopers and Blunders By President George W. Bush
1. "I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport." Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001

2. "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

3. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

4. "There's no doubt in my mind that we should allow the world worst leaders to hold America hostage, to threaten our peace, to threaten our friends and allies with the world's worst weapons." South Bend, Indiana, Sept. 5, 2002.

5. "There's an old...saying in Tennessee...I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee that says Fool me once...(3 second pause)... Shame on...(4 second pause)...Shame on you....(6 second pause)...Fool me...Can't get fooled again." Nashville, Tennessee, Sept. 17, 2002.

6. "See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction." Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003

7. "The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the -- the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice." Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 2003.

8 "I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep on the soil of a friend." on visiting Denmark, Washington D.C., June 29, 2005

9. "Wow! Brazil is big." after being shown a map of Brazil by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 6, 2005

10. A TIE BETWEEN:
"Rarely is the question asked, 'Is our children learning'?" Florence, S.C. Jan 11 2000
"The illiteracy level of our children are appalling." Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 20004

She does all her own stunts

Conference Blogging

Achievement Technologies: Skills Tutor

Technorati Tags: Live Blog

ecto Test -- Convention blogging.

Still blogging the convention. Educational Resources is next.

10:50 -- Selling Quickmind.net. How's the Safari support?

10:55 Teachers will like the integration with state standards.

11:04 Multicast from the server?

11:06 Keyboard shortcuts for the web app?

11:15 Pro dev stuff on Office, Inspiration, etc... plus integration to lesson plans

Technorati Tags: Live Blog

Conference Blogging

Got here at 8:00 AM. Intro session, general BS. 9:30 Wireless Generation presentation. Guy is lost. Walkouts all ready. Sad to see someone die onstage.

Pearl Fang's New Movie Trailer

Pearl Fang: Lazarus of Little Rock Trailer

Go check it out.

It's all Judy Miller's fault

What Judy forgot: Your right to know - Los Angeles Times

Gist: Fitzgerald said that if Miller had testified he would have indicted in Oct 2004. That bitch subjected us to four more years of Bush.

Duh.

CBS Poll Finds Public Takes Plamegate Seriously

Even their own know it.

KnoxNews | No Silence Here:

"But sadly, what they say about absolute power is coming to reality in the 2005 GOP Washington. Republicans in just 10 years have developed the arrogance it took the Democrats 30 years to develop.'

-- Former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK), writing in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "

You might want to sign this guy.

The Sun Online - News: Red card for tackler, 9

Gist: Four foot tall nine year old kid runs on to pitch during a Premiership game at Everton, slide tackles 6' 180 lb. opposing defender.

Worse than Watergate?

The Blog | Arianna Huffington: Plamegate: Worse than Watergate | The Huffington Post

If Rove and Libby are indeed indicted (adding Cheney to our Merry Fitz-mas gift list would just be getting greedy), I believe it will shake up our government in a way we haven't seen since Watergate.

To borrow a phrase from that era, let me make myself perfectly clear: I'm not saying that Plamegate is the same as Watergate. I'm saying it's worse. Much, much worse. No one died as a result of Watergate, but 2,000 American soldiers have now been killed and thousands more wounded to rid the world of an imminent threat that wasn't.

Could there be anything bigger?

Top 10 Talking Points in the Plame Affair

The WitList: The GOP%u2019s Top 10 Talking Points in the Plame Affair:

"2. We lied our way into a war that%u2019s cost us thousands of lives, $300 billion , and the respect of the civilized world, and this is the worst Fitzgerald can come up with? Sweet!"

Read the rest. Good stuff.

Hammers, Hiltons and Dial-a-Shot

Tao of Poker: A Poker Blog

Pauly. the incomparable poker blogger, explains the origin of some of the poker lingo that has sprung up from poker Blogistan.

Why Patrick Fitzgerald Gets It

Booman Tribune ~ Boo!

With Freehs like this who needs enemies?

PERRspectives Blog: Freeh at Last: Revenge and Revisionism at the FBI

Duh.

Bloomington native reports the news: HeraldTimesOnline.com

Former Faux News reporter David Shuster

He went on to recount his six-year tenure at Fox. "At the time I started at Fox, I thought, this is a great news organization to let me be very aggressive with a sitting president of the United States (Bill Clinton)," Shuster said. "I started having issues when others in the organization would take my carefully scripted and nuanced reporting and pull out bits and pieces to support their agenda on their shows.

"With the change of administration in Washington, I wanted to do the same kind of reporting, holding the (Bush) administration accountable, and that was not something that Fox was interested in doing," he said.

"Editorially, I had issues with story selection," Shuster went on. "But the bigger issue was that there wasn't a tradition or track record of honoring journalistic integrity. I found some reporters at Fox would cut corners or steal information from other sources or in some cases, just make things up. Management would either look the other way or just wouldn't care to take a closer look. I had serious issues with that."

Ian Fishback -- American Hero

The Blog | Cenk Uygur: A Real American Hero | The Huffington Post

Dear Senator McCain:

I am a graduate of West Point currently serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army Infantry. I have served two combat tours with the 82nd Airborne Division, one each in Afghanistan and Iraq. While I served in the Global War on Terror, the actions and statements of my leadership led me to believe that United States policy did not require application of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan or Iraq. On 7 May 2004, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's testimony that the United States followed the Geneva Conventions in Iraq and the "spirit" of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan prompted me to begin an approach for clarification. For 17 months, I tried to determine what specific standards governed the treatment of detainees by consulting my chain of command through battalion commander, multiple JAG lawyers, multiple Democrat and Republican Congressmen and their aides, the Ft. Bragg Inspector General's office, multiple government reports, the Secretary of the Army and multiple general officers, a professional interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, the deputy head of the department at West Point responsible for teaching Just War Theory and Law of Land Warfare, and numerous peers who I regard as honorable and intelligent men.

Instead of resolving my concerns, the approach for clarification process leaves me deeply troubled. Despite my efforts, I have been unable to get clear, consistent answers from my leadership about what constitutes lawful and humane treatment of detainees. I am certain that this confusion contributed to a wide range of abuses including death threats, beatings, broken bones, murder, exposure to elements, extreme forced physical exertion, hostage-taking, stripping, sleep deprivation and degrading treatment. I and troops under my command witnessed some of these abuses in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

This is a tragedy. I can remember, as a cadet at West Point, resolving to ensure that my men would never commit a dishonorable act; that I would protect them from that type of burden. It absolutely breaks my heart that I have failed some of them in this regard.

That is in the past and there is nothing we can do about it now. But, we can learn from our mistakes and ensure that this does not happen again. Take a major step in that direction; eliminate the confusion. My approach for clarification provides clear evidence that confusion over standards was a major contributor to the prisoner abuse. We owe our soldiers better than this. Give them a clear standard that is in accordance with the bedrock principles of our nation.

Some do not see the need for this work. Some argue that since our actions are not as horrifying as Al Qaeda's, we should not be concerned. When did Al Qaeda become any type of standard by which we measure the morality of the United States? We are America, and our actions should be held to a higher standard, the ideals expressed in documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Others argue that clear standards will limit the President's ability to wage the War on Terror. Since clear standards only limit interrogation techniques, it is reasonable for me to assume that supporters of this argument desire to use coercion to acquire information from detainees. This is morally inconsistent with the Constitution and justice in war. It is unacceptable.

Both of these arguments stem from the larger question, the most important question that this generation will answer. Do we sacrifice our ideals in order to preserve security? Terrorism inspires fear and suppresses ideals like freedom and individual rights. Overcoming the fear posed by terrorist threats is a tremendous test of our courage. Will we confront danger and adversity in order to preserve our ideals, or will our courage and commitment to individual rights wither at the prospect of sacrifice? My response is simple. If we abandon our ideals in the face of adversity and aggression, then those ideals were never really in our possession. I would rather die fighting than give up even the smallest part of the idea that is "America."

Once again, I strongly urge you to do justice to your men and women in uniform. Give them clear standards of conduct that reflect the ideals they risk their lives for.

With the Utmost Respect,

-- Capt. Ian Fishback

1st Battalion,

504th Parachute Infantry Regiment,

82nd Airborne Division,

Fort Bragg, North Carolina

I (hope to) see dead people.

Cash4Cadavers.com

Who's gonna die next year? Wanna bet on that?

Express Written Consent

Deadspin, Sports News without Access, Favor, or Discretion

(Link goes to a .pdf -- You have been warned.)

See, Bush is objectively /for/ torture.

New Iraq Abuse Allegations Get McCain Moving - Los Angeles Times:

"McCain noted too that he wanted prohibitions against torture underscored in the Army Field Manual, which he said 'is the document that the Army goes by and the military goes by when in the process of interrogation and treatment of prisoners.'

Told that the White House was opposed to such an amendment and that the president might veto the bill if the amendment were included, McCain said he was unsure whether there were enough votes in the Senate to override it.

'I hope,' he said of the Bush administration, 'that they will understand why we're trying to do this and why it's so important to America's image in the world.'"

Wil Wheaton Wins World Series Of Strip Poker

The Toque: The World Leader In Canadian Humour, Parody, And Satire - Wil Wheaton Wins World Series Of Strip Poker

More on Pat Tillman

-THE CUNNING REALIST-: Anatomy Of A Disgrace

Project Censored

Project Censored

The list of the 25 most important stories not given MSM coverage this year.

Mamet on Poker and the Democratic Party

Poker party - Los Angeles Times

One may sit at the poker table all night and never bet and still go home broke, having anted away one's stake.

The Democrats are anteing away their time at the table. They may be bold and risk defeat, or be passive and ensure it.

Bush -- Man of the uh... not people

The Blog | Nicholas von Hoffman: Far From the Madding Crowd | The Huffington Post:

"Old time pictures of President Franklin Roosevelt show him crippled by polio, trapped in the back seat of an open touring car, no protective bubble, waving at the people and smiling away as though he didn't have a care in the world and might be enjoying himself. They don't do that any more.

President George Bush is never seen outdoors in public or, if he is, he is never surrounded by less than a thousand armed guards. So it was quite a surprise to read in the New Orleans Times-Picayune that, Longtime members of the White House press corps said they could not remember the last time they saw the president riding in an open car in an American city, calling the exposed journey nearly unprecedented.” By way of explanation the newspaper quoted a Secret Service agent saying, "Well, we don't normally cruise through American cities that have been virtually emptied of people." So that’s it. The politicians come out of their holes when there are no people around.

A little late

USATODAY.com - NBC's Williams: Journalists' gloves off:

"'By dint of the fact that our country was hit we've offered a preponderance of the benefit of the doubt (to the President) over the past couple of years,"

Bullshit. Fuck getting hit. When shit, like when we're "hit", is bad we need you to do your job the most. Do your fucking job and maintain a healthy skepticism. IT'S YOUR FUCKING OBLIGATION TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE AIRWAVES WE LET YOU USE!

Matilda's Advice and Rants: The Hall of Shame

Matilda's Advice and Rants: The Hall of Shame:

"These eleven congressmen, Republican conservatives all, just voted against the $51 billion package ( H. R. 3673) for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Horrible human beings, all. Rep. Joe Barton - TX, Jeff Flake - AZ, Virginia Foxx - NC, Scott Garrett - NJ, John Hostettler - IN, Steve King - IA, Butch Otter - ID, Ron Paul - TX, James Sensenbrenner - WI, Tom Tancredo - CO, Lynn Westmoreland - GA"

Fuck! Even Bugman voted for this no brainer.

Man-Dog blames the National Weather Service

CapitolBuzz: Santorum Blames National Weather Service For Katrina

In his continuing quest to give pork to PA based Accuweather.

/channeling Pat Robertson:
"O Lord could please kill off Rick Santorum. He's a young man, but cancer could get him, right?"

Damn straight.

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Photo Gallery (Worst Disaster)

Wingnut Slime Machine Attack Time

Powell regrets UN speech on Iraq WMDs. 09/09/2005. ABC News Online:

"In an interview with American ABC TV news to be broadcast on Friday (US time), Mr Powell said 'it's a blot' on his record.

'I'm the one who presented it on behalf of the United States to the world, and (it) will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It's painful now,' he said."

Yes it was.

Virtual|Matter: Was FEMA packed with unqualified cronies to aid the Bush/Cheney ticket in the 2004 swing state of Florida? Take a look%u2026

Bastards

U.S. Newswire : Releases : "FTCR: Internal Memos Show Oil Companies Intentionally..."

Click through to see oil industry memos on needlessly closing gas refineries in the mid-90's to drive up pump prices. Not surprising really, but I'm surprised they got caught.