TC (FAB) MITS

Fundie Boogeymen.

2003-08-19T14:50:00.000-05:00

As noted by Tom Tomorrow:

Fifty years ago today, the CIA helped overthrow Mossadegh in Iran, installing the Shah in his place, setting into motion a chain of events which would eventually lead to the revolution in 1979 and the rise of militant Islamic fundamentalism in the region--and therefore arguably, at least in part, to the events of September 11, 2001.

Which gives rise to this thought:
There are Militant Islamic Fundamentalists all over the Middle East and there are Militant Christian Fundamentalists running the US.

Which of the two do YOU think represents the greatest current threat to our fundamental American freedoms?

Geek alert...

2003-08-18T16:51:00.000-05:00

I have just recently discovered EverQuest. It's entirely possible that I will find that running around in a fictional world bashing Orcs and slashing Giant Fire Beetles is much more cathartic than writing this blog.

Mile Post

2003-08-18T16:48:00.000-05:00

According to Hesiod it's now been 700 days since Geroge W. Bush promised us he'd get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive".

Osama who? You mean Saddam Hussein right? Isn't HE the one who blew up the twin towers?

But then we don't have him either...

Fair and Balanced War coverage.

2003-08-14T12:23:00.000-05:00

Show's over folks. Nothing to see here. Move along now...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The United States military, in what appeared to be a significant shift in its relations with the news media, told commanders throughout Iraq Thursday that reporters, photographers and television crews would be forbidden from accompanying the military on some operations.

Fair and Balanced support the for the troops.

2003-08-14T11:57:00.000-05:00

Un-fucking-believeable!

Washington -- The Pentagon wants to cut the pay of its 148,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, who are already contending with guerrilla-style attacks, homesickness and 120- degree-plus heat.

Unless Congress and President Bush take quick action when Congress returns after Labor Day, the uniformed Americans in Iraq and the 9,000 in Afghanistan will lose a pay increase approved last April of $75 a month in "imminent danger pay" and $150 a month in "family separation allowances."

The Defense Department supports the cuts, saying its budget can't sustain the higher payments amid a host of other priorities. (Priorities like paying Kellogg, Brown & Root not to build latrienes? - ed) But the proposed cuts have stirred anger among military families and veterans' groups and even prompted an editorial attack in the Army Times, a weekly newspaper for military personnel and their families that is seldom so outspoken.

Congress made the April pay increases retroactive to Oct. 1, 2002, but they are set to expire when the federal fiscal year ends Sept. 30 unless Congress votes to keep them as part of its annual defense appropriations legislation.

Imminent danger pay, given to Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force members in combat zones, was raised to $225 from $150 a month. The family separation allowance, which goes to help military families pay rent, child care or other expenses while soldiers are away, was raised from $100 a month to $250.

Last month, the Pentagon sent Congress an interim budget report saying the extra $225 monthly for the two pay categories was costing about $25 million more a month, or $300 million for a full year. In its "appeals package" laying out its requests for cuts in pending congressional spending legislation, Pentagon officials recommended returning to the old, lower rates of special pay and said military experts would study the question of combat pay in coming months.

In a military deployment that is costing us $1 BILLION a friggin' WEEK, what's another $300 million a year?

I guess we can't really be expected to cut the amount of money we pay to Halliburton and Bechtel so it's only logical to screw the grunts who are getting shot at.

A Fair and Balanced Parody.

2003-08-13T15:06:00.000-05:00

(AP - New York) - In keeping with the Fox News tradmark infringement lawsuit enjoining Al Franken from using the phrase "Fair and Balanced" in the title of his new book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, conservative hottie Ann Coulter announced today that she is prepared to file similar suits against any Liberals or Democrats who use the words "Slander" or "Treason" in reference to anyone or anything other than themselves.

Fair and Balanced Crybaby

2003-08-13T14:51:00.000-05:00

Atrios seems to think that this whole "Fair And Balanced" lawsuit by Fox News is just an attempt by Bill O'Reilly to get revenge for being punked by Al Franken on C-span last May.

I gotta say it souuds like something O'Reilly would do. Sorta like turning off your opponent's microphone when you're losing the debate.

It's time for a confession

2003-08-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

In truth, there was no "technical glitch" with my ISP or Blogger that deleted my blog archives.What happened was that I made an attempt to quit blogging. I went cold turkey and deleted the blog from Blogger and my ISP and just walked away.

It lasted less than a month before I came crawling back for another fix.

I'm hoplessly addicted to this thing now.

Is there a 12 step program for bloggers?

Why does Bush hate our Troups?

2003-08-13T13:44:00.000-05:00

Grunt Soldiers Take a Budget Hit:
And the indifference to front-line soldiers' needs isn't restricted to hiring substandard contractors in Iraq. Soldiers and their families have been targeted for nasty budget cuts to help pay for all the goodies handed to Halliburton et. al. These budget cuts effecting military families back home just adds to the general low morale of troops in the Iraqi deployment.

Army Times, has been scathing in its criticism of the cuts and budgeting enacted by the GOP-controlled Congress.

These include:

Canceling a "modest proposal" to increase the benefit from $6,000 to $12,000 to families of soldiers who die on active duty;

Rolling back recent increases in monthly imminent-danger pay (from $225 down to $150) and family-separation allowance (from $250 down to $100) for troops getting shot at in combat zones;

Refusing to consider military tax relief to help military homeowners, reservists who travel long distances for training, or parents deployed to combat zones;

Passing pay raises for some higher ranks, but capping raises for the lowest ranks at 2 percent, well below the average raise of 4.1 percent;

Enacting a $1.5 billion cut in the military construction request for 2004
As Army Times wrote: "Taken piecemeal, all these corner-cutting moves might be viewed as mere flesh wounds. But even flesh wounds are fatal if you suffer enough of them. It adds up to a troubling pattern that eventually will hurt morale - especially if the current breakneck operations tempo also rolls on unchecked and the tense situations in Iraq and Afghanistan do not ease."

All of this makes for the most deadly combination for a solider: an administration that loves war and hates the troops.

Ahhhh. The wonders of Privatization!

2003-08-13T13:34:00.001-05:00

When the going gets tough, the contractors stay home.

Some of Army's Civilian Contractors Are No-Shows in Iraq: "Last fall the Army hired Kellogg Brown & Root, a Houston-based contractor, to draw up a plan for supporting U.S. troops in Iraq, covering everything from handling the dead to managing airports. KBR, as it's known, eventually received contracts to perform some of the jobs, and it and other contractors began assembling in Kuwait for the war.
But as the conflict approached, insurance rates for civilians skyrocketed -- to 300 percent to 400 percent above normal, according to Mike Klein, president of MMG Agency Inc., a New York insurance firm. Soldiers are insured through the military and rates don't rise in wartime.
It got 'harder and harder to get (civilian contractors) to go in harm's way,' said Mahan, the Army logistics chief. "

Mystery Deaths

2003-08-13T11:57:00.000-05:00

There's something in Iraq that's killing our troups and it ain't "resistance fighters".

Skippy has some good links to the trail of this bizarre story.

One thought; Remember all that delpeted uranium ordinance floating around that particular neighborhood?

And the beat goes on...

2003-08-13T10:52:00.000-05:00

Iraqi Guerrillas Kill 2 U.S. Soldiers: "TIKRIT, Iraq - The U.S. military Wednesday said two American soldiers were killed in guerrilla bomb attacks during the past 24 hours. The deaths brought to 60 the number of U.S. troops killed in action since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat over. "

Fair an Balanced

2003-08-12T14:35:00.000-05:00

I am joining the "Fair and Balanced" movement.

Tom Tomorrow explains.

A parable

2003-08-12T13:50:00.000-05:00

A rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? He was aghast to discover that it was a rat trap. Retreating to the farmyard the rat proclaimed the warning; 'There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!'

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, 'Excuse me, Mr. Rat, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.'

The rat turned to the pig and told him, 'There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!' 'I am so very sorry Mr. Rat,' sympathized the pig, 'but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers.'

The rat turned to the cow. She said, 'Like wow, Mr. Rat. A rat trap. I am in grave danger. Duh?'

So the rat returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's rat trap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a rat trap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

His wife's sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well. She died, and so many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.

So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when there is a rat trap in the house, the whole farmyard is at risk.

(ed note: A cautionary observation: The farmer has destroyed his entire farm in pursuit of the rat, but the rat is still in the house.)

Sing it with me now!

2003-08-11T16:53:00.000-05:00

Bush Lied! People died.

Here's something you don't see every day.

2003-08-11T12:50:00.000-05:00

For the baseball fans: An unassisted triple play

Poor Arnold

2003-08-11T11:45:00.000-05:00

The Terminator is being attacked from both the Right and the Left.
The Left says he's a closet Nazi and the Right says hes a closet Commie.
It's almost enough to make one think he's the perfect candidate.

Where the mind is without fear

2003-08-10T20:19:00.000-05:00

"Where The Mind is Without Fear:

Rabindranath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

From Rabindranath Tagore's Geetanjali

Mahfuj, Stockholm"

Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances...

2003-08-09T23:08:00.000-05:00

So it looks like there are about 130 cadidates for Governor of California. That means that, mathematically speaking, the next governor of California could be elected with as little as 0.77 percent of the vote.

Is Arnold a closet Librul?

2003-08-08T16:48:00.000-05:00

I never thought I'd be one to link to Rush, but this almost gives me a reason to endorse The Terminator.

Stop the Tape: Hear Me Now and Believe Me Later:"Here me now and believe me later, my friends: all these conservative orgasms over Arnold Schwarzenegger are - like the 'Gorbasms' liberals experienced over Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev - fake. I know that (R) next to Schwarzenegger's name excites the White House, but his own words prove he's not a conservative. I call this 'The Hollywood Syndrome,' and it happens every time some actor-type says anything even remotely conservative. I'm not trying to cold shower anybody here, but don't look to anyone in Hollywood to validate your political ideas."

Let me see if I've got this straight

2003-08-08T00:09:00.000-05:00

Darrell Issa spent $1.7 million in an attempt to buy the California Governor's mansion just so The Terminator could move in?

We got 'em on the run now!

2003-08-06T14:25:00.000-05:00

Look! We've arrested Saddam's bodyguard's brother!

Or was that Saddam's brother's bodyguard's cousin's neighbor's uncle?

The Sanctity of Marriage

2003-08-05T15:36:00.000-05:00

So you want to protect the "sanctity of the marriage institution" by passing a consitiutional amendment banning "gay marriage"?

Why not go all the way then and outlaw divorce? Make adultry a felony? Institute the death penalty for spousal abuse?

The reason there isn't any big push for these measures is that too many of the "religious" right would end up, in jail if we did.

Back at work

2003-08-05T13:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, I took the day off yesterday to mark the end of my 50th year on this planet. A wise man once told me that "You can't stay young forever, but you can always be immature." I endevour to live by that philosophy.

I spent the day watching Star Trek reruns and The Lord of The Rings on DVD and playing chess on the internet.

Today

2003-08-04T00:05:00.000-05:00

Is my 50th birthday.

Avedon my Avedon

2003-08-03T23:32:00.000-05:00

Pardon me if I seem to be sounding a bit like a fanboy, but if you're not reading Avedon Carol's Sideshow every day, well, you just should, that's all.

Her latest rant:

In short, I'm sick of the obligatory sigh of relief at getting rid of Saddam in favor of an illusory utopian future for Iraq. There is every chance that the people of Iraq are and will be worse off now that nasty old Saddam is gone, so just cut it out. Yeah, he was a bad man, placed there and supported by other bad men, who happen to be the same people who promoted and ran the invasion. Their infighting is no excuse for the deaths and maiming of American service personnel and Iraqi children.

A Brief History Lesson

2003-08-03T23:08:00.000-05:00

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - F.D.R.

"Be afraid. Be very afraid" (or words to that effect) - G.W.B.

Which of these two men do you think will be better remembered as a great American leader?

We do stupid things

2003-08-03T14:33:00.000-05:00

I was recently inspired by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz's admission that "We do stupid things." to create a new blog to chronicle the "stupid things" done on our behalf by our government.
In the interests of the widest possible coverage, everyone please feel free to drop by "We Do Stupid Things" and email your contributions.

Your weekly dose of fear mongering

2003-08-03T11:50:00.000-05:00

Brought to you today by the Lord High Executioner.

Ashcroft: al-Qaida Could Strike Again

Big news!

2003-08-03T11:25:00.000-05:00

Why am I not encouraged by that fact that somethng like this:
U.S Goes Two Days With No Combat Deaths
is considered noteworthy?

I just have no words...

2003-07-31T00:10:00.000-05:00

The Transportation Security Administration asked Congress last Friday for permission to cut $104 million, or about 20 percent, of the funding for the air marshal program to help offset the agency's $900 million budget deficit.

The next day, Homeland Security - the TSA's parent agency - sent an advisory to airlines and law enforcement agencies warning al-Qaida may try more suicide hijackings.

Sometimes, you'd rather be wrong

2003-07-30T12:32:00.000-05:00

Avadon Carol has a good rant today about how it is not always a good thing to have your predictions come true.

Look, I hate this Cassandra stuff, really. I always hope I'm just being pessimistic or even paranoid. But I've been feeling this train-wreck headed for us from the very beginning. Remember when Ken Layne predicted that if Bush became president there would be "a blood-bath"? Well, the blood-bath came and he promptly forgot it. Look, the guy demonstrated on national television during the presidential debates that he couldn't open his mouth without causing an international incident. As soon as he was in the White House he messed things up with China, twice, and all that was before 9/11. Then he rushed into Afghanistan with all the speed of someone who has no idea what war is and I knew then that it was a mistake if he wasn't going to stay for the long-haul, and I also doubted his commitment. I was right. Then the Iraq stuff started and it was perfectly obvious to anyone with an IQ over seven that we could expect no more from him there even if there had been a good reason to invade - and I still maintain there was not.

Have I been wrong? No, I haven't. I hoped I was, but it's all just kept rolling in its inexorable way and some people still won't wake up and I just don't know what it takes.

Some people are sighing with relief because the press, at long last, appears to be blinking its way out of its stupor and being more critical of the administration, but they don't do the one thing that has the best chance of getting us to a road out of this mess, which is to pay attention to the opposition. Democrats keep holding press conferences to address these issues - especially including security issues - and the press doesn't even show up. Gee, no wonder the public still thinks the Republicans are better on national security: No one has bothered to tell them that most of the people who are actually trying to address national security aren't Republicans.

No, the Republicans' answer to national security is to try to terrorize ordinary people who are funny-colored or read a lot or are members of peace groups and who have nothing to do with terrorism. They call us traitors merely for caring that the Constitution is being pulled out from under us. I mean, what else do you call it?

OK, Now I'm confused....

2003-07-30T12:19:00.000-05:00

From our illustrious leader:

[Bush] Said the United States must sort through "literally miles of documents" to learn the truth of whether Saddam's regime had ties to al-Qaida and details about its weapons programs. "We've been there for 90 days," he said.

Ok, let's back up a bit here. If I recall correctly, one of Bush's selling points before the war was that 'we' already knew that Saddam had ties to al-Qaida. That we already had the proof!

I mean, isn't that what all those soldiers were talking about at the fall of Baghdad when they were crowing about "payback for 9/11?"

Hell, polls show that more than half the people in the US believe that Saddam planned the whole thing. Where do you suppose they got that idea?

Did someone say something about 'revisionist history'?

Why does Dubyuh disrespect our flag?

2003-07-28T18:21:00.000-05:00

Yep, that's him.

The hypocracy of the right knows no bounds.

I guess all that rhetoric from the right about flag-desecration only applies to them Librul Traitors.

(Thanks to Tom Tomorrow for the link)

Mark Twain wrote over a hundred years ago: "I am not finding fault with this use of our flag; for in order not to seem eccentric I have swung around, now, and joined the nation in the conviction that nothing can sully a flag. I was not properly reared, and had the illusion that a flag was a thing which must be sacredly guarded against shameful uses and unclean contacts, lest it suffer pollution; and so when it was sent out to the Philippines(Iraq? - ed.) to float over a wanton war and a robbing expedition I supposed it was polluted, and in an ignorant moment I said so. But I stand corrected. I concede and acknowledge that it was only the government that sent it on such an errand that was polluted. Let us compromise on that. I am glad to have it that way. For our flag could not well stand pollution, never having been used to it, but it is different with the administration."

Only in America

2003-07-28T17:30:00.000-05:00

What the hell is THIS all about?

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon (news - web sites) is setting up a commodity-market style trading system in which investors would be able to bet on political and economic events in the Middle East -- including the likelihood of assassinations and terrorist attacks.

Sorry about that

2003-07-25T12:31:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my new-old blog. Due to unforseen circumstances (mainly my screw-up at Blogger and on my old ISP) my entire blog for the past year has been erased. So I'm starting over.

For all of you who have links to this blog on your blog roll, I'd appreciate it if you update your link. Thanks.

Regular blogging will resume in a day or two.