Recommended RNC Websites

either will beat McCain/Romney.

Ferraro now saying Barack should thank her for pointing out he's black. So it's not enough for him to win the majority vote, twice the states, and more delegates. He won all of that because of an old cranky ghostly woman.

Ferraro believes only women have obstacles.

loser patrol activate!

Crook and Liars

John McCain’s website tells visitors, “Too often the special interest lobbyists with the fattest wallets and best access carry the day.”

It’s become an increasingly amusing line as the senator’s presidential campaign has unfolded. We now know, for example, that McCain’s campaign staff is dominated by corporate lobbyists, and he adds new ones all the time.

The subject came up briefly during McCain’s “60 Minutes” interview.

Pelley: You point your finger at other senators and claim that there is culture of corruption on Capitol Hill. But you take money from lobbyists who have business before your committee, as other senators do. So how is it that you call the system corrupt?

McCain: Well, one of the reasons why I call the system corrupt is because we have members of Congress who are in jail, who are former members of Congress. But it’s not the individuals, it’s the system we have today. I believe that I serve with honorable men and women. And I believe the people who bring their case to government, the overwhelming majority of them are honorable people.

Pelley: The lobbyists?

McCain: Retirees have a lobbyist, firemen have a lobbyist. Your business has a lot of lobbyists, a lot of lobbyists.

So, when McCain blasts the role of lobbyists in the political process, he’s only talking about the bad lobbyists (the ones he doesn’t like); not the good lobbyists (the ones who give him money and run his campaign operation).

As for McCain’s examples, it’s true that there are lobbyists for firemen and senior citizens, but those aren’t the folks running his campaign.

Free Democracy

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...

If only the 3% where allowed to vote this might be true. But I think the 97% will want to vote as well.

Let us not forget, the 97% elected Bush......Twice!

More ammunition for those looking to blame the tanker contract on John McCain: Associated Press reports that three of McCain’s current campaign advisers lobbied last year for EADS to get the contract over Boeing. Two ended their lobbying when they joined the McCain team. But one, former Texas Rep. Tom Loeffler, lobbied for EADS while serving as McCain’s national finance chairman. McCain’s presidential campaign also has received $14,000 in contributions from EADS employees.

What a sweet old lady REALLY looks like.

mary ann, pass the dutchie!

bob denver, also a noted ganja achiever.

March 11, 2008 -- John McCain says he will bring a "pro-growth economic policy that…creates jobs and grows the economy." But his 26-year record in the U.S. Senate tells a different story. Sen. McCain has been the leading opponent of "Buy American" rules that encourage the Pentagon to buy American-made goods for the American military. He reportedly pressed the Pentagon to ignore the fact that Airbus receives government subsidies that give it an unfair advantage over its U.S. rivals.

He defends the process that awarded one of the largest Pentagon contracts to a group that includes a French-based corporation. And now a new report reveals that the senior lobbyists running John McCain's campaign actually lobbied on behalf of the "European plane maker that beat Boeing." [AP, 3/11/08]

How can John McCain champion American jobs and manufacturing as president when he is willing to tilt the playing field against American companies? No wonder John McCain said that a loss of 63,000 jobs in February was "not terrible."

McCain: 63,000 Lost Jobs "Not Terrible:" At a town hall in Atlanta this morning he said that "Today's unemployment figures are not good. They're not terrible, but they're not good. The unemployment rate did not go up." [McCain Town Hall, Atlanta, 3/7/08]

McCain Defends Boeing Tanker Deal Despite Job Losses. "I think it was a fair and open competition as far as I can tell. I'll be glad to send you the statistics. Almost all of that investment and any aspect of it will be kept inside the United States of America. My job is to have the best quality product at the lowest price to the taxpayer. I'm proud to have saved the taxpayer some $6 billion in what happened last time when they tried to do a tanker deal that was bad for America." [Town Hall Meeting, Waco, TX, 3/8/08: http://blip.tv/file/716522]

McCain "Pressed the Pentagon" to Ignore Airbus Subsidies When Considering Deal. "They say he pressed the Pentagon not to factor into its selection criteria alleged subsidies that Airbus was receiving from European governments, even thought the U.S. had sued the European Union at the World Trade Organization over subsidies provided to Airbus." [The Hill, 3/7/08]

Republican Congressman Says McCain "Flat-Out Wrong." "John McCain will be the nominee and I will support him, but if John McCain believes that Airbus or EADS is the company for our Air Force tanker program he's flat-out wrong -- and I'll tell him that to his face," said Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash. [Associated Press, 3/8/2008]

McCain Received Contributions From EADS "As Campaign Was Foundering." "McCain himself has received support from the EADS North America executive suite. He has received more than $12,000 in campaign donations from some of the company's top U.S. officials, support that continued even as his presidential campaign was foundering in mid- to late 2007." [Seattle Post Intelligencer, 3/7/2008, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/354300_mccaintanker08.html]

McCain Blames 5-Year-Old Scandal. Referring to a 2003 investigation into conflicts of interest involving Boeing and the Bush Pentagon, McCain said, "In all due respect to the Washington delegation, they vigorously defended the process before -- which turned out to be corrupt -- which would have cost the taxpayers more than $6 billion and ended up with people in federal prison." [Associated Press, 3/8/2008]

McCain Sponsored Amendment that Ended Defense Department's Buy American Requirement. In May 2003, Senate Republicans voted for a McCain amendment that would allow the Defense Department to forego a requirement to purchase American-made equipment if that equipment was manufactured by Australia, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands or Spain. [Senate Vote 191, 5/21/03]

Source: DNC

The 24-point blowout in Mississippi will get explained in the same way as South Carolina, allowing for a more subtle argument at the convention. Team Hillary will note that the racial division in Mississippi threatens the Democrats with marginalization in the general election.

Obama, they will argue, lost the white vote halfway through the primaries and won’t get it back for a general election. Winning the industrial states coming next will provide them ammunition for that argument to the superdelegates. It promises to make Denver a powderkeg, and the Clintons will spend the next six weeks rolling out the fuse.

Hillary gets her own KO 'special comment' 2nite.

belly running a mile a minute joints corrupt...getting even more sicker with the spitzer dick suckers...oh and did i mention i am too watching condi lie her fucking ass off..

morning yourll, jez popping in gotta go get some shut eye..am highly druged am home today!

Call for appointment

FrontPageMagazine.com

The Pentagon has had a dirty little secret for years now: Foreign suppliers are an increasingly important part of the industrial base upon which the U.S. military relies for everything from key components of its weapon systems to the software that runs its logistics. With the Air Force February 29 decision to turn over to a European-led consortium the manufacture and support of its tanker fleet - arguably one of the most important determinants of America's ability to project power around the world - the folly of this self-inflicted vulnerability may finally get the attention it deserves from Congress and the public.

The implications of such dependencies were made clear back in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. In the course of that short but intense operation, American officials had to plead with the government of Japan to intervene with a Japanese manufacturer to obtain replacement parts for equipment then being used to expel Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait.

The obvious lesson of that experience seemingly has been lost on the Pentagon. In the nearly two decades that have followed, it has sought to cut costs and acquisition timelines by increasingly utilizing commercial, off-the-shelf (or COTS) technology. Under the logic of "globalization," COTS often means foreign-supplied, particularly with respect to advanced computer chips and other electronic gear.

Such a posture raises obvious questions about the availability of such equipment should the United States have to wage a war that is unpopular with the government or employees of the supplier. Then there is the problem of built-in defects such as computer code "trap doors" that may not become obvious until the proverbial "balloon goes up" and disabling of U.S. military capabilities becomes a strategic priority to foreign adversaries, or those sympathetic with them.

Even the Pentagon and intelligence community recognized that this sort of train-wreck was in prospect had Huawei, a company with longstanding ties to the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, been allowed to buy 3Com. The latter's "intrusion prevention" technology is widely used by the U.S. government to provide computer security in the face of relentless cyber attacks from, among others, Communist China.

Now, unfortunately, the Air Force has set in motion what might be called a "plane-wreck." Opposition is intensifying on Capitol Hill, on the presidential hustings and across America to the service's decision to make the European Aerospace, Defense and Space (EADS) consortium the principal supplier of its aerial refueling capabilities for the next fifty years..........

You can find the podcast at this link;

http://www.ktlk.com/cc-common/podcast.html

Obama Win Defined By Race

Broken down, the Mississippi vote had an unmistakable racial descant — and unmistakable limits for Obama. Exit polls revealed once again an emerging racial divide that has opened in the Democratic party between whites who tend by healthy margins to favor Clinton and blacks who overwhelmingly favor Obama.

African Americans comprised nearly half of the Democratic vote in Mississippi — and 90% of those voters, according to exit polls, pulled the lever for Obama, his strongest showing yet among African Americans. But Obama did poorly among whites, winning only 30%, according to exit polls. While this split was visible in Alabama and the border state of Tennessee earlier this year, it was visible in Ohio's primary last week, too.

John Edwards for President.
new
Submitted by rctowns on Tue, 03/11/2008 - 8:10pm.
in '68, in the midst of an unbelieveably chaotic convention in chicago, with mayor daley's stormtroopers beating the crap out of anti-war/anti-nixon protesters... the DNC nominated Hubert Humphrey... how many primaries/delegates had Hubert won in the run to the convention?

Zero.

=====================

I REALLY like this!

But is it likely GORE would be a beneficiary of this scenario first? (And is GORE still DLC? I pray he isn't!))

oh my bad...coz more blacks (non persons) voted for him and less whites--oh but spitzer had his dick sucked...more juicey

Did he fall on his sword for Hil'ry?

What about Obama and Mississippi?

When Wolfwitz MISAPPROPRIATED PUBLIC MONIES to keep his babe-on-the-side around (by giving her jobs and over-paying her with hefty salaries) the media didn't scream about the theft (crime) of that, let alone about Wolfwitz's adultery.

Spitzer did wrong by his wife, and his personal budget, for sure, but at least he didn't steal the taxpayer's money outright in order to feed his habits the way Wolfwitz did.

The Limbaugh effect
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/03/019954.php
It's my view that Republicans shouldn't interfere in Democratic primaries, just as Dems shouldn't interfere in ours. Rush Limbaugh doesn't see it that way, and he encouraged his listeners to vote for Hillary Clinton in Texas.

------
http://tinyurl.com/368mhv
Mr. Limbaugh explained his plan to listeners on Monday, the day before the primary:

The strategy is to continue the chaos in this party. Look, there’s a reason for this. Our side isn’t going to do this. Obama needs to be bloodied up. Look, half the country already hates Hillary. That’s good. But nobody hates Obama yet. Hillary is going to be the one to have to bloody him up politically because our side isn’t going to do it. Mark my words. It’s about winning, folks!

“We’re already screwed: Vote Hillary!” his Web site proclaims.
[..]
---------------
Crossover voting was heavy -- and maybe illegal
Posted by Amanda Garrett March 08, 2008 19:32PM
http://tinyurl.com/26ljat
[...]
Sandy McNair, a Democratic member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, said Friday that the manipulation of the system was troublesome.

"It's something that concerns me, that I think needs to be looked at further," McNair said. "This is not a structural thing by the Republican Party. If it's a problem at all, it's on an individual level."

Lying on the pledge is a felony, punishable by six to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
[...]
-------
In Texas:
On the local conservative radio stations, many Republicans are calling and complaining about feeling “disenfranchised”.

Apparently, they didn’t realize that by implementing Rush Limbaugh’s strategy of voting for Hillary in the Primaries to prolong the Democrats fist-fight, they would not be allowed to vote for any of the Republicans on the rest of the ballot.
http://tinyurl.com/2fnoj4
----------
http://tinyurl.com/2p8muw
Cross-over voting under Ohio law

Who is that?

________________________________

Move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!

didn't think this ethanol thing through completely
Submitted by dan on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 10:53am.
...what bugs me is that there is so much misinformation out there about corn based ethanol. what site says its a god send. another says it will deplete our water supply. its clear that farmers are switching to it because thats where the money is. what about alternative fuels. hemp, switchgrass, etc.
----------
I continue to subscribe to the explanation given to me by a feed store manager which could be entitled Competition For Acreage.

Until I read/hear a better argument for the generalized increase in crop costs, his explanation, which I have since read elsewhere, is the most succinct (of course, higher agricultural fuel/fertilizer costs and a lot of other details enter into the picture, so this is the simplified version).

The argument goes like this: When a single type of easily-grown crop becomes valued unusually high (corn), farmers must be paid a premium as an incentive to grow a different crop (say, wheat for instance).

If this argument holds true, then it is possible that hemp or switchgrass or any other easily-grown crop (intended to be feedstock for refining into fuel) might enjoy an unusually high value due to tremendous demand caused by high fossil fuel prices.

I am not convinced that competition for food-producing acreage would end simply because the most popular fuel-feedstock crop ceases to also be a food crop (corn) and becomes a non-food crop (switchgrass, for instance) instead.

The basic discussion concerning the validity of this argument is whether the particular type of crop is the crux of the problem, or if the diverted use of farm acreage for fuel production instead of food production is the crux of the problem.

If, by some miracle of alchemy, farmers could grow gold, we would all starve.

Last night, the House approved significant ethics rules changes, “creating for the first time an independent panel empowered to initiate investigations of alleged misconduct by members.” The six-member bipartisan Office of Congressional Ethics will “refer their findings to the House ethics committee along with a public report.” The Gavel has more coverage.

I hope you feel better soon ! :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

summer cold/allergies for me today.

uck!

am very dizzy...hopefully hasta manyana...later

You know, it is perfectly legit to critisixe Hillary on her policies, lack of experience, her sense of entitlement, etc.

But I am really irritated by the sexist attacks on her appearence, her "shrill" manner, her alleged coldness.

I know misogyny is a lot more socially acceptable than racism, but it's ridiculous that so few people acknowledge that that's what's going on.

It's fine to not support her on her policies or tactics, but the sexist aspect is so blatant. Gimme a break.

________________________________

Move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!

Does anyone here remember the recurring character on the Marc Maron Show from LA. Her name was Svetlana and she was played by the comedian Iris Bahr. It was so hilarious. Well, the woman doing the news at the top of the hour on AAR sounds just like her. Makes me smile.

why isnt sam in for hartman today?

Hypocrites R Us=GOP..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

hope you feel better soon.

What good would it do? He'll just get drunk again and cry on the House floor, and everyone will nudge each other to be quiet and feel sorry for his wife.

________________________________

Move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!

Democrat Primaries are one thing.

50% of the 97% are not voting for Democrats.

November is a 97% race.

You've got to sell the the Middle...

AAR didn't sell to the Middle and went down the drain..

Obama already knows this!

What him shift!

==================

Black or African American alone: 12.4% or 37.1 million

Hispanic or Latino of any race: 14.8% or about 44.3 million

just ask whatsherface ....

Mr. Spitzer is scheduled to speak today at 11:30 a.m. at his Manhattan office, and the resignation is to be effective Monday, aides to the governor said.

Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson would likely be sworn in to replace him at some point after that.

http://www.thesnotgreensea.com/

under the Utube window theres a pull down menu:

"Morning Sedition/Marc Maron Show archives"

drop down to: Svetlana The Russian Prostitute

hit go when the choice is highlighted.

They hate me for my ivory cream complexion.

But she said the same thing about Jesse Jackson in 1988.

Obama Says Ferraro Dividing Democrats
http://tinyurl.com/2sjb8j
By JOAN LOWY – 2 hours ago
[...]
"Part of what I think Geraldine Ferraro is doing, and I respect the fact that she was a trailblazer, is to participate in the kind of slice and dice politics that's about race and about gender and about this and that, and that's what Americans are tired of because they recognize that when we divide ourselves in that way we can't solve problems," Obama said on NBC's "Today" show.

Yes we can.

wasn't she the Russian Prostitute ?

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

I dont think saying "if he wasn't black..."

Its not bad or racialist or whatever.

Its good, It means Americans are actually excited about giving somebody whos different a chance. Americans are excited about diversity, and are embracing diversity for diversity's sake.

Submitted by Meg on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 12:05pm.
You know, it is perfectly legit to critisixe Hillary on her policies, lack of experience, her sense of entitlement, etc.

But I am really irritated by the sexist attacks on her appearence, her "shrill" manner, her alleged coldness...
---------
I agree, sorta, but it ain't always misogyny or sexism.

A friend told me that Hillary's voice, when elevated (as it is frequently during her campaign), affects him like fingernails on a blackboard.

George W. Bush's inability to speak drives me nuts and makes me anxious.

It both cases I believe that it is a matter of some stuff bothering some people more than other people.

Yes, MMRules, Svetlana was the Russian prostitute. Iris Bahr is brilliant!

I hope that news person from Poland is on at the top of the next hour.

1. after listening to bush's gross song on Olbermann last night, could any of that be treated as a legal confession?
2. go Dawn Wells, cool lady and still good looking!
3. how sad is it to see so many Democrats we've admired through the years showing such evil sides of themselves?

I agree with Toni..

Use Hemp !
You Can't get high off it..
What's the Big problem ?
Too Logical for them ?

And,I hear it grows like a weed ! ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

oh yeah, and after listening to the vod~wayne gelman!~he was great~~remember the time they did the sketch where he killed the rest of them in a 'going postal' kind of thing and then said THIS is wayne gelman like he did at the end of the news? good days

I have a list of them ... example.. Condi Rice when she says any word with a "p" in it

I have to read transcripts there are so many people that bug me when they speak.

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Really I'm more irritated by people commenting on her looks and/or sexuality. As if that were relevant to anything.

The same thing happened woth Janet Reno. Critisize her actions all you want. That' fine and perfectly legit. But the majority of the public discourse on her was "She's ugly" or "She looks like a man!" or "She must be a lesbian"

It's disgusting. And the same thing happens to every single woman in public policy.

________________________________

Move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!

I don't get it .

But ONLY Gilbert Gottfried bugs EVERYBODY when he speaks.

Really I'm more irritated by people commenting on her looks and/or sexuality. As if that were relevant to anything.

===================

This is going to be a great year!!!

FAA says small plane briefly violates Washington restricted air space - Reuters

=George W. Bush's inability to speak drives me nuts=
new
Submitted by Kevin © on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 12:32pm.

always have the luck..It's possibly your hardware configuration. The higher end products work fine.

How scum my Vista works OK?
Submitted by Peter Dragon on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 12:35pm.

I don't get it .

In my town when I was in my old hometown in January. Pees me ovf.

http://www.irisbahr.com/

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

In formally protesting the Air Force's decision to award a tanker contract worth about $35 billion to a team that includes the parent of rival Airbus, The Boeing Co. said the competition was "seriously flawed."

The Air Force has said that it simply picked the plane that better suited its needs.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press reported Tuesday that aides to Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, lobbied last year on behalf of EADS. And Bloomberg News reported that the Loeffler Group, led by Tom Loeffler, now co-chairman of McCain's campaign, received $220,000 from EADS in 2007, according to congressional lobbying records.

**************

MORE-

The US filed a complaint with the WTO alleging that Airbus/EADS unfairly benefited from European subsidies awarded to the company. Airbus/EADS countered by arguing the Boeing receives similar subsidies in the form of tax breaks. The original tanker contract required bidders to explain how the outcome of the WTO dispute might affect their ability to perform under the contract. This requirement was regarded as hurting the Airbus/EADS bid.

McCain wrote a letter to the Air Force in December 2006 complaining about the requirement. Four days later it was removed from the bid specifications.

Dennis Kucinich is on the phone..He wants to talk to you ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

A very special radio show.

Those serial sketches were like old time radio.

Interesting to hear Marc talk about Riley yesterday

As always

http://pjs.sytes.net:8888/listen.pls

endless streaming funny

" Court Holds Navy to Rules Safeguarding Marine Mammals"
Sunday 02 March 2008

Appellate panel backs a lower court decision but allows a 30-day reprieve from the toughest rules so sonar training can go forward.
A federal appeals court has rejected the Bush administration effort to exempt Navy sonar training from key environmental laws, backing up a lower court that imposed extensive safeguards to protect whales and dolphins from harmful sonic blasts.

Even so, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave the Navy a 30-day reprieve from the most far-reaching protections - such as shutting down sonar when whales are spotted within 2,200 yards - so it could conduct a pair of training missions this month off Southern California and to give it time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The Navy is carefully considering additional review, including possible review by the Supreme Court," Lt. Cmdr. Cindy Moore said Saturday. Once the monthlong reprieve ends, the Navy spokeswoman said, the ruling "leaves in place significant restrictions on our ability to train realistically."

The decision, released late Friday night, is the latest in a string of legal defeats for the Navy in Los Angeles and Hawaii as it tries to avoid court-ordered restraints on how it trains sailors to hunt for submarines with a type of sonar that has been linked to the death of whales and dolphins.

The cases pit the interests of national security and troop readiness against the enforcement of environmental laws and the safeguarding of federally protected marine mammals.

The case in Los Angeles has taken on additional overtones of a constitutional struggle between the judicial and administrative branches of government.

After losing repeatedly in court, the Navy persuaded President Bush and the White House to exempt its Southern California training missions from the environmental laws that underlie the case.

Sunday 02 March 2008

Appellate panel backs a lower court decision but allows a 30-day reprieve from the toughest rules so sonar training can go forward.
A federal appeals court has rejected the Bush administration effort to exempt Navy sonar training from key environmental laws, backing up a lower court that imposed extensive safeguards to protect whales and dolphins from harmful sonic blasts.

Even so, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave the Navy a 30-day reprieve from the most far-reaching protections - such as shutting down sonar when whales are spotted within 2,200 yards - so it could conduct a pair of training missions this month off Southern California and to give it time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The Navy is carefully considering additional review, including possible review by the Supreme Court," Lt. Cmdr. Cindy Moore said Saturday. Once the monthlong reprieve ends, the Navy spokeswoman said, the ruling "leaves in place significant restrictions on our ability to train realistically."

The decision, released late Friday night, is the latest in a string of legal defeats for the Navy in Los Angeles and Hawaii as it tries to avoid court-ordered restraints on how it trains sailors to hunt for submarines with a type of sonar that has been linked to the death of whales and dolphins.

The cases pit the interests of national security and troop readiness against the enforcement of environmental laws and the safeguarding of federally protected marine mammals.

The case in Los Angeles has taken on additional overtones of a constitutional struggle between the judicial and administrative branches of government.

After losing repeatedly in court, the Navy persuaded President Bush and the White House to exempt its Southern California training missions from the environmental laws that underlie the case.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030208D.shtml

"The last sentence really say it all - my ass persuaded, they know if they go running to the Monkey Boy he'll do what ever they want. "Please exempt us please"

He was kind of nostalgic yesterday.

I wonder if he would move back to NY if they offered him a show now?

Pelosi Gets Reform Bill While GOPers and Some Dems Kick and Scream

TPM

Last night, the House passed an ethics reform bill, which will create an outside panel to review ethics complaints against lawmakers. It's a noted improvement over the current setup -- which isn't saying much since the House ethics committee has been a punchline for many years.

The outside panel, which will have six members (3 GOPers, 3 Dems), won't have subpoena power. And it will simply forward recommendations to the actual House ethics committee for further action after investigating. That's why some critics like CREW's Melanie Sloan call it a "paper tiger." Other good government types have given their support on the theory that something is better than nothing.

As The Hill reports, the Dem leadership pushed hard for the reform bill despite Republicans and a number of senior Democrats digging in their heels and doing what they could to prevent the vote. As The Washington Post reports, "Even with two House members under indictment, two others sent to prison, and several others under federal investigation, nearly half the House did not want to submit the body to the scrutiny of a panel not under its control." Some of the choicer quotes from last night's debate:

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS): "If you have a single ounce of self-preservation, you'll vote no."

Mighty reform foe Rep. John Murtha (D-PA): “We have a New York governor in the news right who shows that you can’t legislate ethics. It always comes down to the individual.”

And most quotable of all:

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, registered his displeasure with the proposal by using a parliamentary tactic to delay the vote. Just after 8 p.m., Abercrombie forced a vote on a motion to adjourn, which only served to delay the vote on the ethics resolution until an hour later. The vote failed 177 to 196, with 14 Democrats voting in favor of it.

Afterward, Abercrombie railed against the proposal to resounding applause on both sides of the aisle.

“With this proposal we are indicting ourselves, yielding and retreating to those who would tear this House down and denigrate us as crooks and knaves and hustlers…we cringe before our critics,” he said. “If we have no respect for ourselves—how to we expect it from anybody else?”.......

Get rid of all the crooks ASAP

UK top cop who led CIA probe found dead

Manchester Police Chief Who Cleared Britain of Helping Secret CIA Flights Is Found Dead

ROB HARRIS
AP News

Mar 11, 2008 13:45 EST

A city police chief who led an investigation into charges that Britain cooperated with secret CIA flights to transport terrorism suspects without formal proceedings has been found dead, his deputy said Tuesday.

Manchester Chief Constable Michael Todd, 50, was found dead in Snowdonia, about 240 miles northwest of London, Deputy Chief Constable Dave Whatton said. He had been missing since going out for a walk Monday during his day off.

Whatton said the body, which was found Tuesday afternoon, had not yet been formally identified but he believed it was Todd.

He said a coroner's inquest would investigate the cause of death and did not give any further details.

Todd was elected vice president of the Association of Chief Police Officers of England and Wales in 2006, according to a biography on his Web site.

The association gave him the task of looking into accusations that Britain allowed the CIA to use the country's airports to fly terrorism suspects to other countries without any extradition hearings, a clandestine procedure known as "extraordinary rendition."

Todd's investigation concluded last June that there was no evidence to back the claim. Last month, however, Britain admitted one of its remote outposts in the Indian Ocean had twice been used by the United States as a refueling stop for the secret transfer of two terrorism suspects.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/UK_top_cop_who_led_CIA_probe_found_...

Environmental Groups Sue Bush Administration to Force Polar Bear Protection -
Faced with overwhelming scientific evidence, government continues delay on Endangered Species Act listing due to global warming.
Washington - Today the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace sued the Bush administration for missing the legal deadline to issue a final decision on whether to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act due to global warming.

"The Endangered Species Act is absolutely unambiguous: the Fish and Wildlife Service was required to make a final decision months ago. Now it's up to a federal court to throw this incredible animal a lifeline," said Andrew Wetzler, director of the Endangered Species Project at NRDC. "We need urgent action from this administration, to protect the polar bear and reduce greenhouse gas pollution, not continued delay."

Polar bears live only in the Arctic and are totally dependent on the sea ice for all of their essential needs. The rapid warming of the Arctic and melting of the sea ice pose an overwhelming threat to the polar bear, which could become the first mammal to lose 100 percent of its habitat to global warming.

The groups filed their lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit seeks a court order compelling the administration to issue the final decision on polar bear protection immediately.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031108EA.shtml

"The Bush administration seems intent on slamming shut the narrow window of opportunity we have to save polar bears," said Kassie Siegel, climate program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, and lead author of the 2005 petition seeking the Endangered Species Act listing. "We simply will not sit back and passively allow the administration to condemn polar bears to extinction."

They still sell meat grinders?

http://cocovado.com/villawareonline/meatgrinders.asp

I know it is out there somewhere but is there a roster for that picture?

Just before the Iraq debacle started.

Prescient and brilliant.

http://tinyurl.com/2qujuc

that's Mary Ann's mug shot. Aint she sweet looking? I think she's stoned in that picture.

The Surge is .... oh never mind.

Tuesday 11 March 2008

The United Nations has delivered a grim assessment of the conflict in Afghanistan, reporting that violence increased sharply last year and resulted in the deaths of more than 8,000 people, at least 1,500 of them civilians.

In a report to the security council, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said the number of violent incidents rose from an average of 425 a month in 2006 to 566 each month last year.

The number of suicide attacks rose to 160 in 2007 from 123 in 2006 - with 68 attempts thwarted in 2007 compared with 17 in 2006, he said.

Ban claimed that while the insurgency draws strength from locals, much of the violence is led from abroad. "The support of foreign-based networks in providing leadership, planning, training, funding and equipment clearly remains crucial to its viability," he said.

Current violence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since a US-led invasion in 2001 to oust Taliban rulers.

The focus of the conflict has been in Afghanistan's southern and eastern provinces, but the insurgents are increasingly using Iraq-style tactics, such as roadside bombs, suicide attacks and kidnappings against foreign and Afghan targets around the country.

"Afghanistan remains roughly divided between the generally more stable west and north, where security problems are linked to factionalism and criminality, and the south and east, characterised by an increasingly coordinated insurgency," the secretary general said.

He cited a number of worrying trends, including the gradual emergence of insurgent activity in the previously calm north-west, and the encroachment of insurgents into the two provinces of Logar and Wardak, which border the capital, Kabul.

Ban said the tactics of anti-government elements changed noticeably in 2007 in response to the superiority of Afghan and international security forces in conventional battles.

The opposition groups were forced "to adopt small-scale, asymmetric tactics aimed largely at the Afghan national security forces and, in some cases, civilians: improvised explosive devices, suicide attacks, assassinations and abductions," Ban said.

Ban also expressed concern at the increase in attacks on Afghan and international humanitarian workers. In more than 130 attacks, 40 aid workers were killed and 89 abducted, of whom seven were later killed by their captors, he said.

A committee of MPs found yesterday that the costs of operations by British forces in Afghanistan rose by 122% to £1.6bn.

That's one of the great things about Maron v Seder..
Get a little inside knowledge every once in a while..

Ofcouse I had VOD problems yesterday so I might have missed some of it..
I wish Marc would talk about Jim more..I miss that guy ALOT,too ! :(

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

If I just get over a lazy thing I can just do it with my kitchenaid. Just need to find the parts and set it up. Problem is I may just get into sausage making if I get that far.

Ferraro: Obama should be thanking me for comments
David Edwards and Nick Juliano

Geraldine Ferraro says her comments on Barack Obama's race being the primary reason for his success in the presidential campaign are being "spun" as racist, and she says he should be thanking her for the comments.

Rather than retreat from her seemingly foot-in-mouth comments, the former New York City lawmaker has decided to go on offense. Ferraro has claimed her words were taken out of context and has decried being painted as racist by some.

"The spin on the words has been that somehow I was addressing the his qualifications. I was not," Ferraro said Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America. "I was celebrating the fact that the black community in this country came out with a pride in a historic candidacy, and has shown itself at the polls. You'd think he'd say, 'Yeah thank you for doing that. ... we want to say thank you to the community.' Instead I'm charged with being a racist."

The latest dust-up over whether Clinton supporters are inappropriately inserting race into the campaign began with Ferraro's comments to a small California newspaper last Friday. In an exchange with a "decidedly bitter edge" Ferraro said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." The same day she repeated the sentiment to conservative talk radio host John Gibson but denied she was playing "the race card."

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Ferraro_Obama_spinning_me_as_racist_0312.h...

my god.... so she smokes weed. Big fucking deal.
jesus, the amount of people who are in jail because of weed - its astounding to me.

LETS GET A FUCKING CLUE PEOPLE - WEED IS NOT OUR ENEMY - BUSH IS!

Prostitutes...accusations of sexism and racism...foreshasdows of impending financial collapse...

and after I deal with that stuff, maybe I'll read the news!

that's Mary Ann's mug shot. Aint she sweet looking? I think she's stoned in that picture.

what I don't understand is how she is only 64 centimeters high? Is she really only two feet tall or does that infer she didn't have high quality dope?

http://home.att.net/~oz/thecrew2a.jpg

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Manchester Police Chief Who Cleared Britain of Helping Secret CIA Flights Is Found Dead

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/2555
[...]
the Taliban government banned opium production in 2000. Opium production subsequently suffered more than a 90% decrease. The opposition Northern Alliance fiercely protected the remaining raw opium marketing and production.
[...]
In late 2001, with extensive assistance from U.S. air support and United States Special Forces, the UIF succeeded in retaking most of Afghanistan from the Taliban.

Wiki: Northern Alliance
The United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UIF)

The gift that keeps on giving!

thanks for mug shot of Mary Ann. She is so sweet looking...

No wonder they were stranded on the Island, there was NO motivation. Ha

i guessed that the height graph behind mary anne was biased so i typed in "convert 66 inches to centimeters" in google, thinking it would come back with some links to converters and instead it came back with a calculator icon and the line:

66 inches = 167.64 centimeters

ya! )

caught that yesterday.

Marianne was the character she played?

Breaking News: John Daly Would Rather Get Drunk Than Play Golf

by Jeremy Scott (Scribe)

Maybe one of the most shocking pieces of golf news to come out in years has rocked the PGA: John Daly, 300+lb. golfer and winner of two major championships, would rather get drunk than play golf.

I know, I know. It's tough to believe. But we have it straight from a reliable source: Butch Harmon. Harmon is Daly's swing coach. Well, at least he was. He used to be. Recently, though, he quit. His reason? And I quote:

“My whole goal for him was he’s got to show me golf is the most important thing in his life,” Harmon said from his golf school in Las Vegas. “And the most important thing in his life is getting drunk.”
Seems that Daly had a minor bit of a meltdown at the recent PODS Championship this past weekend. During a rain delay, Big John spent a lot of time in the Hooters corporate tent, drinking beer and mingling. Then he went out and shot a 77. He followed that up on Friday with an 80. Listen, I am not lying when I tell you that I could shoot an 80.

So Daly missed the cut. But rather than go out and practice the next day—or heck, even going home to mope—Big John says to himself, "Gee, that Hooters corporate tent is probably still hopping." So he heads back for more beer, signs some autographs (signing one on a woman's pants... classy), and just generally hangs out.

Now, for all I know, it's common practice for golfers who miss the cut to stick around an extra day so they can schmooze and booze in the tent of a beer and chicken wing joint. I'm certainly no professional golfer. But somehow I doubt it.

Let's take that superhuman alien robot we know as Tiger Woods as an example. When was the last time you heard a story about him getting drunk or signing autographs in weird places or anything like that? Yeah... never. Because the one or two times Tiger has missed the cut, I'm quite sure he was up at 4am the next day hitting the driving range.

Tiger—the undisputed "winner" in the PGA—cares more about winning golf tournaments than he does about drinking or socializing. Daly, well... Daly just doesn't seem to care about much at all, eh?

I mean, this is a dude who lights up cigarettes on national television in the middle of a tournament round, for Pete's sake. This is a man who resembles John Goodman, so he's obviously no stranger to cheeseburgers. This is a man with a history of gambling problems, who was married to a woman who got in legal trouble related to a gambling ring.

With Daly it has been scandal after scandal after scandal... all related to one of three things: women, alcohol, or gambling. It's sort of the PGA's equivalent of "sex, drugs, and rock & roll." But does the PGA really need or want a rock star?

JUST LEAVE MARY ANN ALONE!

Like Cats to Water The House
Submitted by toniD on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 12:37pm.
Like Cats to Water
The House last night voted to create an outside panel to review ethics complaints. Let's just say that it passed over very strenuous objections from some quarters.

We've but together some of the best quotes from the debate.

My favorite, from Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS): "If you have a single ounce of self-preservation, you'll vote no."

--David Kurtz

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/pelosi_gets_reform_bil...

Group of Iraqis asks UN to take over

Iraqi Group Appeals to UN to Put Their Nation Under Its Supervision

RYAN LENZ
AP News

Mar 12, 2008 09:37 EST

A group of Iraqi tribal leaders, former politicians and intellectuals appealed Wednesday to the United Nations to take control of Iraq in a move they say would help U.S. troops leave the beleaguered country.

Both the U.S. administration and the Baghdad government are unlikely to endorse the request, which was addressed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and delivered to the Cairo offices of the organization.

"We believe that the only opportunity left for Iraq to be saved from a dark, but not inevitable future, is to engage the international community represented by the United Nations," the letter said. "Such a step will allow the American troops to leave and the occupation to be brought to its end."

The group's coordinators include Adeeb al-Jadir, Ahmed Al-Haboubi and Nouri Abdel Razak Hussein, politicians overthrown in 1968 when Saddam Hussein's Baath party came to power and long part of the liberal anti-regime opposition prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The U.N. dramatically curtailed its operations in Iraq after an August 2003 suicide attack killed its representative and scores of others. The United States has been pushing for an expanded U.N. role in Iraq but that did not include supervising the country.

The Iraqi group said the world body should supervise a new security plan to restore order during a transitional period and prepare for new elections of a government to replace Nouri al-Maliki's troubled cabinet.

Representatives for the campaign will travel to the U.N. headquarters in New York to seek support from key members, said al-Haboubi, a former government minister.

"We are also ready to discuss our proposals with U.S. officials," he said.

The men said the petition was signed by dozens of Iraqi dignitaries and they had scores of supporters in Iraq who preferred to rename anonymous for know to avoid harassment.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government on Wednesday announced a committee formed to explore ways citizens could sue U.S. forces involved in "unjustified killings," according to the prime minister's office.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Group_of_Iraqis_asks_UN_to_take_ove...

Run time: 00:25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjqFCuEI5K0

to discuss the contempt citation after the break!

"The outside panel, which will have six members (3 GOPers, 3 Dems), won't have subpoena power. And it will simply forward recommendations to the actual House ethics committee for further action after investigating. That's why some critics like CREW's Melanie Sloan call it a "paper tiger." Other good government types have given their support on the theory that something is better than nothing."

A new article on CENTCOM commander Adm. William Fallon confirms that his public statements last fall ruling out war against Iran last fall were not coordinated with the White House and landed him in trouble more than once with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Can you imagine being "in trouble" with those 2.... a 4 star Admiral being in trouble with a guy who can't even talk & the other who's
heart can't even take a simple beat. What a JOKE!

hington - A new article on CENTCOM commander Adm. William Fallon confirms that his public statements last fall ruling out war against Iran last fall were not coordinated with the White House and landed him in trouble more than once with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

In an admiring article on Fallon in Esquire, former Pentagon official Thomas P.M. Barnett writes that Fallon angered the White House by "brazenly challenging" Bush on his aggressive threat of war against Tehran. Barnett also cites "well-placed observers" as saying Bush may soon replace Fallon with a "more pliable" commander.

Barnett's account, which quotes conversations with Fallon during the CENTCOM commander's trips to the Middle East, shows that Fallon privately justified his statements contradicting the Bush policy of keeping the "option" of an unprovoked attack on Iran "on the table" as necessary to calm the fears of Egypt and other friendly Arab regimes of a US-Iran war.

Barnett recalls that when Fallon was in Cairo in November, the lead story in that day's edition of the English-language daily Egyptian Gazette carried the headline "US Rules Out Strike against Iran" over a picture of Fallon meeting with President Hosni Mubarak.

That story, published Nov. 19 and not picked up by any US news media, reported that Fallon had "ruled out a possible strike against Iran and said Washington was mulling nonmilitary options instead."

Later that day, according to Barnett, Fallon told him during a coffee break in a military meeting, "I'm in hot water again," and then confirmed that his problems were directly with the White House.

That was the second time in less than a week and the third time in seven weeks that Fallon had publicly declared that there would be no war against Iran. In an interview with Al-Jazeera television in September, which Fallon himself had requested, according to a source at Al-Jazeera, he had said, "This constant drum beat of conflict is what strikes me which is not helpful and not useful."

And only a week before the trip to Egypt, in an interview with Financial Times, Fallon had said, a military strike was not "in the offing," adding, "Another war is just not where we want to go."

These statements represented an extraordinary exercise of power by a combat commander, because it contradicted a central feature of the Bush-Cheney strategy on Iran. High-ranking Bush administration officials had been routinely repeating the administration's line that no option had been taken "off the table" since early 2005.

At an Oct. 17 news conference, Bush said he had "told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

Fallon's public statements explicitly ruling out an attack on Iran thus undermined the Bush administration's threat against Iran.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031108R.shtml

Dollar Falls to Record Low on Concern Fed Package Won't Succeed

By Ye Xie and Gavin Finch

March 12 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell to a record below $1.55 per euro as firms from Citigroup Inc. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the Federal Reserve's plan to inject $200 billion into the banking system may fail to break the freeze in money-market lending.

The U.S. currency erased almost half of yesterday's 1.6 percent rally versus the yen, which came after the Fed said it would lend Treasuries to financial institutions in return for mortgage debt. Traders bet the Fed will cut rates by as much as three quarters of a percentage point next week to avert a recession, while the European Central Bank keeps borrowing costs unchanged at 4 percent.

``It's difficult for the dollar to gain traction,'' said Paresh Upadhyaya, who helps manage $50 billion in currency assets as a senior vice president at Putnam Investments in Boston. ``The Fed is probably running out of options; the market is fixated on interest-rate differentials, which are clearly negative for the dollar.''

The dollar fell to $1.5504 per euro, the weakest since the euro's 1999 debut, and traded at $1.5484 at 1 p.m. in New York, from $1.5338 yesterday. It dropped to 102.36 yen from 103.42, within 1.5 yen of an eight-year low. The euro traded at 158.49 yen from 158.61.

The euro set a record high for the 10th trading day in 12. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said today he's concerned about excessive currency moves, and that it's important to anchor prices. He spoke at a press conference in Mainz, Germany. The euro's 17 percent rally versus the dollar in the past year risks hurting the economy by undermining exports.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amCKjxCgFR7o&refer=w...

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/bill_buckley128.html
Bill Buckley’s Strange History Revealed

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/obama_a_tool127.html
Obama a Tool of Bilderberg?

Senator suggests UN taxes on taxpayers in America not really such a bad idea

:Ex-DEA Admits CIA Imported Cocaine

A clip from “American Drug War: The Last White
http://www.AmericanDrugWar.com

"State senator Bruno, the leader of the Rethug majority is on TV talking about Spitzer. only problem: Bruno is under investigation for financial misdeeds. Rethugs have no shame."

Comment by Sue P