The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail

The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail

Read it and weep (heh-heh).

(JABBS): Large Numbers Of Americans Remain Ignorant On Iraq, Al Qaeda And 9/11

Journalists Against Bush's B.S. (JABBS): Large Numbers Of Americans Remain Ignorant On Iraq, Al Qaeda And 9/11: R

oughly half of U.S. adults are woefully misinformed on ties among Iraq, Al Qaeda, and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a new Harris Poll.

According to the poll, released today:

-- Only 46% said they knew the following statement to be not true: 'Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.' Another 30% weren't sure, and 22% believed the statement to be true.

-- Only 42% said they knew the following statement to be not true: 'Several of the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11 were Iraqis.' Another 31% weren't sure, and 24% believed the statement to be true.

-- Only 33% said they knew the following statement to be not true: 'Saddam Hussein had strong links with Al Qaeda.' Another 24% were not sure, and an amazing 41% believed the statement to be true.

In other words, on three key questions regarding ties between Iraq, Al Qaeda and 9/11, a majority of Americans either are completely misinformed, or unsure of the truth -- and thus open to misinformation.

This one's for you, Bob. And before you start spouting your winger talking points, why don't you click on the link above and actually read the article and the results of the poll. It's all about you, man. Read it. Or are you just a freeper? If that's the case, I won't be wasting my time with you again. Ignorance is not bliss; it's incompetence and maybe just criminally negligent for any U.S. citizen these days. As opposed to peaceful but vehement protest, which is our right and, now, our patriotic duty!

Enjoy.

Daily Kos: Torturing children

Daily Kos: Torturing children

Just read it. Follow the link above and read the article. It explains why we are living the novel (now historical) 1984. How can anyone of half a mind and even a quarter of a heart support this administration? It's just insane! We're living in the equivalent of 1930's Germany. The only difference is, we have nukes.

CBS News | Billions In 9/11 Loans Botched | December 29, 2005 19:33:59

CBS News | Billions In 9/11 Loans Botched | December 29, 2005 19:33:59:

(CBS/AP) A golf course in Texas got $640,000 because people allegedly stayed home to watch television immediately after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 instead of playing golf. A dry cleaner in Florida got $420,000 because his business closed for several days after the attacks. And a tanning salon in Las Vegas that got $583,000 because the bank decided tourism was down.

In a program to help businesses after Sept. 11, a high percentage of government-backed loans went to recipients who appeared to be unqualified, some of them unaware they were receiving terrorism-recovery money, investigators report. "

Hey! I could use some money, too. I was traumatized. We all were. No work got done at poor old MOEC, a telecom startup that didn't make it through the bubble-burst. I was laid off for the first time in my life and had to grub for low-wage jobs in the retail sector (I'm a database administrator by trade). But I never tried to get a loan on the entrails of Katrina. Everyone involved in this fiasco should be made to do the perp walk so we can all get a good look at them. Yet another nadir in the history of the Rep's Culture of Corruption and Incompetence.

CBS News | White House Web Site Revelation | December 30, 2005 08:33:41

CBS News | White House Web Site Revelation | December 30, 2005 08:33:41:
"When web bugs are linked to a cookie so that a site can tell if the same person has visited again - a federal agency using them must demonstrate a 'compelling need,' get a senior official's signoff and disclose such usage."Just another nail in the coffin of personal liberties; you were expecting anything less?

Police Kill 20 Sudanese Protestors in Cairo - New York Times

Police Kill 20 Sudanese Protestors in Cairo - New York Times

Meanwhile, the genocide in the Sudan continues. Makes me sick. If the refugees only had oil, we'd be there for them in a flash -- to steal it.

Justice Dept. Opens Inquiry Into Leak of Domestic Spying - New York Times

Justice Dept. Opens Inquiry Into Leak of Domestic Spying - New York TimesTime to go after the whistle blowers, apparently. It didn't work for Blair, let's see how far they get with that here.

Zeta Sets A New Record For Named Storms

My Way News:
"Zeta, the 27th storm of the season, formed Friday about 1,000 miles south-southwest of the Azores islands, according to an advisory posted on the National Hurricane Center's Web site. It posed no immediate threat to land."

The Doomsday Scenario At DOD -- d-u-m

firedoglake: 12/01/2005 - 12/31/2005:

Nothing like rewarding your cronies for telling you just what you want to hear, rather than rewarding military leadership who tell you the hard truths about things, now is there?

Nothing like devaluing the opinions and advice of the people with the real world, military experience when you are making decisions about life and death situations for our troops.

I love RedHedd. She rocks!

Daily Kos: British torture memos

Daily Kos: British torture memos kos nails another one. Read it.

Iraq wants a non-partisan, unbiased opinion on election

My Way News:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An international team has agreed to review Iraq's parliamentary elections, announcing Thursday that members would travel to Iraq in response to protests by Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups that the polls were tainted by fraud.

The announcement came after the Sunni and secular Shiite groups refused to open discussions with the Shiite religious bloc leading in the elections without a full review of the contested results, despite a U.N. observer's endorsement of the Dec. 15 vote. The official, Craig Jenness, said Wednesday his U.N.-led international election assistance team found the elections to be fair - remarks that represented crucial support for Iraqi election commission officials, who refused opposition demands to step down.

Iraq's leading Sunni Arab group, the Iraqi Accordance Front, welcomed the review.

Fraud in a U.S. sponsored democratic election? Unthinkable! (snrk!) Who do they think they are? US?

CBS News | Ex-Enron Accountant Pleads Guilty |

CBS News | Ex-Enron Accountant Pleads Guilty | December 28, 2005 17:07:46:
"(CBS/AP) Former top Enron Corp. accountant Richard Causey pleaded guilty to securities fraud Wednesday and agreed to help pursue convictions against Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling. "
Ouch! That's gotta hurt. Bwah-ha-ha-ha!

Daily Kos: 10,000 Kurds In Iraqi Army Ready To Fight In Civil War

Daily Kos: 10,000 Kurds In Iraqi Army Ready To Fight In Civil War:

by georgia10
Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 08:26:47 AM PDT

From Knight Ridder News Service, this sad and disturbing news:

KIRKUK, Iraq - Kurdish leaders have inserted more than 10,000 of their militia members into Iraqi army divisions in northern Iraq to lay the groundwork to swarm south, seize the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and possibly half of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, and secure the borders of an independent Kurdistan.

Five days of interviews with Kurdish leaders and troops in the region suggest that U.S. plans to bring unity to Iraq before withdrawing American troops by training and equipping a national army aren't gaining traction. Instead, some troops who are formally under U.S. and Iraqi national command are preparing to protect territory and ethnic and religious interests in the event of Iraq's fragmentation, which many of them think is inevitable.

The soldiers said that while they wore Iraqi army uniforms they still considered themselves members of the Peshmerga -- the Kurdish militia -- and were awaiting orders from Kurdish leaders to break ranks. Many said they wouldn't hesitate to kill their Iraqi army comrades, especially Arabs, if a fight for an independent Kurdistan erupted.

My friend, Anton Saurian, is convinced that Iraq will disintegrate and in the process set off World War III. This report, regretably, supports his hypothesis. Will we come to regret Bush's zealotry even more than we ever thought possible?

Political Wire: Quote of the Day

Political Wire: Quote of the Day:

Quote of the Day
"Yeah, but I don't think it should actually be part of the curriculum, to be honest with you. And people have different points of view and they can be discussed at school, but it does not need to be in the curriculum.''

-- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), when asked by the Miami Herald whether he believes in Darwin's theory of evolution.

I have nothing to add on this one other than to say it's like watching a rerun of a bad All In The Family.

Democrats & Liberals:: Bush's Lewinsky Moment

Democrats & Liberals:: Bush's Lewinsky Moment:

December 27, 2005
Bush's Lewinsky Moment

While the claim that “Bush lied” has been overused, here is one you can take to the bank:

Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires...a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking about getting a court order before we do so.

President Bush, April 20, 2004

Gee, you don't see this reported in the MSM. Darn librul media can't even keep up with reality.

Pensito Review » GOP Investigated Pres. Clinton’s Cat But Only Plans ‘Oversight’ on Pres. Bush’s Admitted Illegal Spying

Pensito Review » GOP Investigated Pres. Clinton’s Cat But Only Plans ‘Oversight’ on Pres. Bush’s Admitted Illegal Spying Via firedoglake
The article says it all. It's time to jail the jailers, but where to find a fair trial? Hmmmm...Iraq?

UPI - Bush was denied wiretaps, bypassed them

United Press International - NewsTrack - Bush was denied wiretaps, bypassed them
Ah! So that's why he grabbed the reins. Hey, Bozo! The horses are raising their tails! You better get out of the driver's seat!

Daily Kos: Welcome To ScAlito World: Abortion

Daily Kos: Welcome To ScAlito World: Abortion
This is very important reading for anybody interested in either Alito or women's rights, which would seem to be diametrically opposed.

Huh?

My Way News:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith has an unusual bedfellow in the Supreme Court fight over her late husband's fortune: the Bush administration.

The administration's top Supreme Court lawyer filed arguments on Smith's behalf and wants to take part when the case is argued before the justices.

This bunch will do anything for the rich. I wonder if they would have cared had the money not come from big oil?

DeLay Appeals To Cronies

My Way News:

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - In a last-ditch effort to secure a speedy trial, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's attorneys asked Friday for the state's highest criminal court to dismiss charges against him or order a lower court to try him immediately.

The money laundering and conspiracy case against the Republican congressman has been on hold while prosecutors appeal a judge's dismissal of some of the charges.

DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin took the case to the all-GOP Texas Court of Criminal Appeals a day after a lower appeals court denied his request that the case be sent back to the trial court or expedited through the appeals process.

Where else can a money-laundering sycophant go for help these day?

Big Brother Is Watching -- The World!

My Way News:

U.S. President George W. Bush and his aides have said his executive order allowing eavesdropping without warrants was limited to monitoring international phone and e-mail communications linked to people with connections to al-Qaeda. What has not been acknowledged, according to the Times, is that NSA technicians combed large amounts of phone and Internet traffic seeking patterns pointing to terrorism suspects.

Some officials described the program as a large data mining operation, the Times said, and described it as much larger than the White House has acknowledged.

Several officials said senior government officials went to the nation's big telecommunications companies to get access to switches that act as gateways between U.S. and international communications.

Many calls going from one foreign country to another are routed through U.S. switches and a communications expert who once worked at the NSA said in recent years government officials have been encouraging the telecommunications industry to bring more international traffic through U.S.-based switches.

Not that they can't watch outside the U.S. Wait, isn't that what they're supposed to do?