Until she gets her own button, ...............Grace can be found here. She has her own button, ..............and you can still get there from here. February 26, 2007 --- Iran - Contra: Redux This morning the Left Coast alerted me to Sy Hersh's suspicions regarding a modern day Iran - Contra type operation in Media Is Missing The Story. Of course no one should find the fact that something like this is going on surprising. After all so many of the same bad actors as were running covert ops under Ronnie Raygun are back taking another harder kick at the can. Hersh thinks the real issue is the possibility that we are seeing a replay of Iran-Contra, whereby a cabal inside the White House is running an off-the-books covert war using funds unaccountable to Congress, in this case to support a foreign policy driven by Saudi Arabia and Israel. Yet the Administration so far has successfully kept the media off the trail by focusing on battles with Democrats on Iraq, and purported evidence of inexplicable Iranian complicity inside Sunni areas of Iraq. Hersh brought up these point in an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN. Some choice bits are: BLITZER: Near the end of your article, you have this explosive point in there about John Negroponte, who is now going to be the deputy secretary of state, as opposed to the head of U.S. intelligence. You write this: "I was subsequently told by the two government consultants and the former senior intelligence officials that the echoes of Iran-Contra were a factor in Negroponte's decision to resign from the National Intelligence directorship and accept the position of deputy secretary of state. snip........HERSH: I saw Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, and he described it this way, as "fitna (ph)," the Arab word for "civil war." As far as he is concerned, we are interested in recreating what is happening in Iraq in Lebanon, that is Sunni versus Shia snip............ we have been pumping money, a great deal of money, without congressional authority, without any congressional oversight, Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia is putting up some of this money, for covert operations in many areas of the Middle East where we think that the — we want to stop the Shiite spread or the Shiite influence. snip......We are simply in a situation where this president is really taking his notion of executive privilege to the absolute limit here, running covert operations, using money that was not authorized by Congress, supporting groups indirectly that are involved with the same people that did 9/11, (my bolding - of course that doesn't surprise me, since I feel him and DickHead Cheney are also part of the group) and we should be arresting these people rather than looking the other way... snip.......BLITZER: Your bottom line is that Negroponte was aware of this, obviously, and he wanted to distance himself from it? That is why he decided to give up that position and take the number two job at the State Department? HERSH: He — that is one of the reasons, I was told. Negroponte also was not in tune with Cheney. There was a lot of complaints about him because he was seen as much of a stickler, too ethical for some of the operations the Pentagon wants to run. How does it feel America, when someone with ETHICS feels obligated to resign his position in the government? Under the Bu$h Crime Family's administration ethics have not only become unecessary and scarce, but they are an impediment. I can't help thinking of a great bumper sticker that should be on every car belonging to a patriot. IMPEACHMENT - NOT JUST FOR BLOW JOBS ANYMORE February 23, 2007 --- His Meaness, Stephen Harper It was quite the scene in the House of Parliament the other day as Stephen Harper once again tried to indulge in scattergun and directed smearing of opposition members of the House. This time though he was so far out of bounds that he was shouted down, twice, and not allowed to finish slinging his smears. The MP whose family was the most insulted asked the PM for a retraction and apology the next day, also twice. But the PM either pretended to not understand or just refused to reply. After all, he is the President Prime Minister and can call anybody a terra-ist that he wants to. Just like his hero, the Idiot Boy in the White House. Prairie Wrangler has a good examination of the Harp's outrageous behaviour in Harpers True Mean-Spiritedness Shines Through Following a question from Stephane Dion about the politicization of the judiciary, Harper responded completely off topic (which isn't new), but in a completely reprehensible matter (which is). ........Appropriately, Harper was shouted down by the Liberal caucus and not even allowed to finish his answer (the first such occasion in collective memory for a Prime Minister), for what amounts to a completely irrelevant, and more damaging, outrageously unacceptable attempt to associate the Liberal party broadly - and worse, Mr. Bains specifically - with terrorism. I've always been impressed with Mr. Bains, who is as partisan as any MP but always well spoken and respectful in the House. By all accounts, he has been an honourable member of parliament, which is rare indeed. To slur his name for no good reason on outrageously spurious grounds is unjustifiable. February 22, 2007 --- American Heroines It's George Washington's birthday and the jury in the Libby trial for perjury and obstruction of justice is now deliberating. The seemingly unlimited number of shills that constantly spread lies about the significance of this trial never shut up about how Valerie wasn't covert (she was), Ambassador Wilson is a liar (he ain't), there's no underlying crime (there was), and on and on ad infinitum. The rest of the media that doesn't necessarily spread lies and propaganda like the prose vomit Victoria Toesucker put in the WaPoo last weekend in her attempt at jury tampering, simply ignore the whole issue. The women pictured above however with help from more people than I could ever name, but especially lately Jeralyn Merrit, Swopa, Parachutec, looseheadprop and scarecrow have made a mission of publicizing and analyzing the issues in this case, which I (and they I would think) is more important than Watergate. The Ladies of FiredogLake, with help from others both male and female are playing the roles of Bob "I'm a PR agency for Bu$Co" Woodward and Carl Bernstein in the current saga about rot at the center of the American government. Christy in a recent posting, "The Bottom Line" quotes a piece she wrote in the early days of Firedoglake that evokes the importance of this trial better than any thing I could ever compose. Here is an excerpt and I would highly recommend that you go to the link and the link to the original posting. Imagine that one day you wake up to the incessent ping of your beeper. It is still dark outside your window, and you slide out of bed, pad quietly down the hallway and try not to wake up the wife and kids, as you slip into your home office and place a call on a secure phone. You are told that your cover has been blown, that your family may be at risk. You have to make instant decisions for your own safety, that of your family, and of every asset you have in the field - and to do that, you have to prioritize which assets are more valuable and which you can afford to lose, if necessary. You have to decide then and there which of the people you cultivated, the ones you promised safety in exchange for information and cooperation, which of them may have to die because you may not have time to save them all. Why has your cover been blown? Because you work as a CIA colleague of the wife of a man who dared to question the veracity of the President of the United States on a matter of national security, a matter of an exaggerated claim that was inserted in his State of the Union address to bolster his case for war in Iraq. And the President's cronies and hatchet men decided to out this man's wife for political payback, as a lesson to anyone else who would dare to question their decisions and as a means to staunch the bleeding from this initial salvo of criticism. Damn the consequences. No consideration for all the lives interconnected in this network of agents and field assets, or the years it took to cultivate them. No thought of the impact that this betrayal by highly placed governmental officials would have down the line — how hard it would make it to recruit human intelligence assets in the field at the very time that we need them most to gather information inside the terrorist networks that threaten us more and more each day. I want to say thank you Christy, Jane, Marcy, Jeralyn, and all the rest of the Firedog gang. If there is justice in the world someday all informed Americans (and others in the world) will recognize the vital service that you all have performed in service to the true meaning of the United States of America. Sir Charles Speaks I don't like it but I accept the fact that many if not most rich atheletes are ReThuglican. Let's face it the ReThugs are the ones who feel that government was invented to serve the needs of the rich elite. So I must admit that I derive some satisfaction when one of them sees the light and calls out the Criminal Conspiracy that is the Republican party of the 21st century. Some things that the former 76er and Sun has said on ESPN and CNN are below. NBA Hall of Fame player, Charles Barkley announced his intentions last July to run for Governor of Alabama, perhaps in 2010. "I was a Republican until they lost their minds," said Barkley at the time. ........I think a lot of politicians are corrupt, and it's about time we put some people in there who are going to look out for the majority of the people instead of the rich people." .......anything that the Republicans say about the war in Iraq -- it's just bogus. I mean, it's a terrible situation .......I think the Republicans are terrible, and the Democrats are not much better. ... But I think the Republicans have took (sic) the country in a terrible situation. ......."I really believe I was put on Earth to do more than play basketball and stockpile money," Barkley said. "I really want to help people improve their lives, and what's left is for me to decide how best to do that." You go Chuck, hopefully somebody will make the Republican Party illegal for being a terra-ist organization or just for being thieves. Maybe it's time to bring back the Whigs (not to be confused with the WHIG or White House Iraq Group that doctored the intelligience to lie the nation into war.) February 13, 2007 --- Those Considerate Iranians Check out this picture, which is part of the evidence the House of Evil (White House) recently had presented in Baghdad to prove that Iran was supplying weapons etc. that were killing Americans in Iraq. If you look closely you will see that the information on this mortar round is all written in not only the English language, but uses the same alphabet as the UK and the US. Now I can't help but speculate about if I were to go to an American arms depot and check out the munitions, would the information on the shells be in Farsi, you know, just to be polite and considerate of those at whom the weapons would be used. Also according to various sources that I have consulted it isn't 2006 or 2007 in Muslim countries. Apparently their dating system relates to their "Jesus" (you know the guy with bombs in his turban) and it is something like 1385 there. BTW, HE on those casings stands for High Explosive, but as I mentioned before, neither H or E are letters in Farsi. For some reason, the American "briefing" by three anonymous spooks or whatever the other day reminds me of the ham bone performance that Colin "I used to deserve respect" Powell gave at the United Nations during the lead up and roll out of Dick and George's excellent Iraqi adventure. This time they couldn't find anybody with a "rep" to haul their lie infested water so "anonymous" sources it just has to be. I guess John Bolton was busy at a Swinger's Party, cause I'm sure he could have done a wonderful job. By and large though some of the most respected (cough, cough) papers etc. in the land bought into the fairy tale, in spite of what they now know about how they were used like toilet paper in the lead up to the illegal Iraqi invasion. Today in the New York Times in Skeptics Doubt U.S. Evidence on Iran Action in Iraq HELENE COOPER and MARK MAZZETTI write: Three weeks after promising it would show proof of Iranian meddling in Iraq, the Bush administration has laid out its evidence — and received in return a healthy dose of skepticism. Whooda thunk, eh? Rehabilitating ReThuglicans: redux Apparently Chuck Hagel (see previous post) and some other members of the "Republic" party were just having bad dreams or acid flashbacks. I guess the White House of Thugs must have pulled some chains because good old prairie boy Chuck and other Rethugs defeated their own resolutions in the Senate. It takes a real political genius to introduce a bill into the Senate and then join the opposition to defeat the same bill. I never claimed to understand lower life forms, like ReThugs, though. January 25, 2007 --- Rehabilitating ReThuglicans For a Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska), certainly seems to be trying to revamp his image, especially in relation to the First Draft Dodger's pathetic Iraq War Catastrophy. I think he still has some things to explain concerning things like owning a major interest in an electronic voting machine company that was involved in his own election to the Senate. But he did vote for the empty gesture of non-condidence in the Senate commitee challeging the Surge that is the Chimp's latest "solution" to the quagmire. Here's an exerpt for an interview with Mr. Hagel from Gentleman's Quarterly. GQ-It's incredible that you had to ask for that. Hagel-It is incredible. That's what I said to Andy Card. Said it to Powell, said it to Rice. Might have even said it to the president. And finally, begrudgingly, they sent over a resolution for Congress to approve. Well, it was astounding. It said they could go anywhere in the region. GQ-It wasn't specific to Iraq? Hagel-Oh no. It said the whole region! They could go into Greece or anywhere. I mean, is Central Asia in the region? I suppose! Sure as hell it was clear they meant the whole Middle East. It was anything they wanted. It was literally anything. No boundaries. No restrictions. GQ-They expected Congress to let them start a war anywhere they wanted in the Middle East? Yes. Yes. Wide open. We had to rewrite it. Joe Biden, Dick Lugar, and I stripped the language that the White House had set up, and put our language in it. Then when they asked Chuck Hagel if he regretted his yes vote on the authorization to use military force which allowed Bu$hCo to invade Iran, he said: So to answer your question—Do I regret that vote? Yes, I do regret that vote. Yo, Hillary are you listening? January 23, 2007 --- State of the Union! Poor to terrible kinda sums it up, eh? One of my first postings here was four years ago, just before what I hoped would be almost the First Fool's final SOTU. But no, here we are with the world going to hell in a handbasket, and the King of Idiots still pretending to be the Deciderator. At least we won't have to watch him in front of Denny "I like to wrestle with Boys" Hastert AND Dickless Cheney. With Nancy Pelosi looking over his shoulder, it will be kinda like his mother is watching, well not his mother the ogress that she is, more like our mom, Ms. Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Chimporer may as well just say "poor to terrible" and then spend the rest of his time sharing this with America. It sums up well what he has done to the country. Poll: Bush Approval Rating At New Low On Eve Of State Of Union, President's Approval Rating Falls To 28%, A New Low CBS Poll released this morning! Happy New Year January 17, 2007 --- Here it is halfway through January and I haven't posted here since that black letter day that they shot John Kennedy in Dallas. I guess I needed to take a holiday, for the holidays. The Godfather of Soul We lost a great one on Christmas Day last year. As one would expect from the hardest workin' man in show business, James Brown died with gigs lined up that he won't be making. He made a final appearance at the Apollo Theater in Harlem where he laid in state as thousands came to pay their respects to one who will never be duplicated or replaced. I remember back in my college days when Jame Brown and the Flames Live at the Apollo almost got worn through the grooves in the LP from being played so much. Stupid Evil People It looks to be an interesting year coming up, and things could definitely go well or the world could wind up virtually in flames. It remains to be seen if the new Democratic majority Congress can apply the breaks to the wrongheaded direction of the Bush Crime Family and their Foreign Policy of schoolyard bullies. Things should either take a turn for the better or the whole Middle East could explode, especially if the US and their fellow Israeli thugs attack Iran. The voters gave the Bush Administration an indication of their preferences re: Iraq and so did the bi- partisan James Baker led commision, but Commander Codpiece knows better than everyone and it appears he will need to be either shot or arrested before he will quit destroying the United States and the rest of the world. The less said about Dead-eye "5 deferments" Cheney the better, it would be better yet if no one ever had to see or hear him again. Legal Things Jury selection is underway in the "Scooter" Libby trial. Apparently they've had to excuse a number of potential jurors because they couldn't deny a general dislike or out and out hatred of the Bush Administration and Dick Cheney in particular. One juror explained that if Cheney testified and other testimony contradicted that of the President of Vice they would have to assume the VP was lying. It will be difficult in DC to seat a jury that isn't predisposed to not believe anyone from the Office of the Vice President. Expecting anyone who isn't mentally defective or highly partisan (or both, a common combination) to consider Dick Cheney to be credible may be asking a bit much. FiredogLake has managed to get a press pass to the trial and will be live blogging as the trial progresses. I'm saddened to hear that Jane Hamsher who along with Christy "Redd" Hardin Smith has been the prime mover of this wonderful blog won't be able to attend the trial in person for at least a couple of weeks due to serious health issues. I really hope things work out well for Jane and will miss her presence and wisdom. Get Well Jane! We may (note I say may) have our own significant trial here in British Columbia this spring. A date of April 2 has been set for the trial of Basi, Basi and Virk on charges stemming from the Legislature Raid back just after Christmas of 2003. Of course this date has been set before for December of 2005 and April of 2006, so we will see if it actually comes about. There is also doubt whether or not the real issues will get dealt with even if there is a trial. This case is about a lot more than some hapless Indo-Canadian bureaucrats who got caught accepting bribes from white guys that aren't facing charges. These ministerial aides didn't have the juice to effect the decisions the bribes were meant to influence, as far as I'm concerned. They were merely conduits to those with the power. Hello Gary "ferret" Collins and how are you this morning "Soup Nazi?" The mainstream media (mainly Can-West Global here in BC) has been extremely remiss and lacking in their coverage of this whole issue. Much of what has appeared has been puff pieces bemoaning poor David Basi and crying about those mean RCMP. Even the Attorney General of the province has made prejudicial statements that any AG with honor would consider cause to resign. But then Wally also sides with Alcan against the citizens of Kitimat. Hey Wally, the Attorney General of British Columbia is SUPPOSED to represent the PEOPLE of British Columbia - it's hard to believe this guy was even a judge. I feel along with Robin Matthews and BC Mary that the whole institution of justice in BC is on very shaky ground. If justice is perceived to be unjust long enough, people will eventually take justice into their own hands - people will only participate willingly as long as they believe in the fairness of the system. Even though the media does such a poor job of covering this whole Legislature Raid issue anyone interested can access the information that BC Mary and KootCoot can manage to dig up at BC Mary's Legislature Raids and the old Coot's House of Infamy. Anyone with any information they wanted to share relevant to this issue is invited to email either blogger of leave a message on the comment boards. This government prefers to operate unseen and if we don't start paying attention we will wake up and find that everything the citizens of British Columbia used to consider their legacy and assets is gone to line the pockets of the Campbell Crime Family and their cohorts. Anyone who really wants to bring themselves up to speed on the Basi et. al. trial and the intersecting issues would be well advised to read the six part (so far) discussion by Robin Matthews at Vive le Canada. Robin not only can see the plots within the scams within the Criminal Conspiracy that passes for the government of Campbell the "Soup Nazi" but is also very adept at articulating the slime he discovers there. Robin has been attending all or most of the recent hearings and I would highly recommend his writing about his observations in court and the various connections as this obviously observant and articulate man sees and calls them.

Click on image to hear Neil Young's new release. Living with War. 1) After The Garden 2) Living With War 3) The Restless Consumer 4) Shock And Awe 5) Families 6) Flags of Freedom 7) Let's Impeach The President 8) Lookin' For A Leader 9) Roger And Out 10) America The Beautiful   Mag Archives November-2006 October-2006 September-2006 August-2006 June/July-2006 May-2006 April-2006 2004-2005 archive-2003     Wear This With Pride Numbers 2 million = Number of infants worldwide who die each year within 24 hours of birth 0.5% = Proportion of U.S. newborns who die in their first month, the second highest infant-mortality rate among industrialized nations, behind only Latvia 1 = Number of votes the District of Columbia would have in Congress under a bipartisan bill proposed in the House of Representatives last week; the district currently has only a nonvoting House delegate 437 = Seats in the House, an increase of two, if the proposed legislation is enacted; Utah would get the other new seat 27.2 = Median age of U.S. Hispanics, nine years lower than the median for all Americans 45% = Proportion of Americans younger than 5 who belong to a racial minority group, compared with 33% of the overall population 6 = Number of mostly Muslim countries among the top 10 nations in which Google users are most likely to search for the word sex. Pakistan, Egypt and Iran lead the list 10 = Number of Canadian, Australian and U.S. locales among the top 10 cities in which Google users are most likely to search for the word drugs 1.23¢ = Cost to the U.S. Mint to manufacture a penny, a 27% jump from last year, attributed to skyrocketing metals, manufacturing and transportation costs 5.73¢ = Cost of producing a nickel, up 19% from 2005 Sources: CNN (2); Washington Post (2); USA Today; Washington Post; Google Trends (2); USA Today (2) From the May 22, 2006 issue of TIME magazine