"The trick for the Israelis it seems, is keeping Hezbollah in the right frame of mind. Keep them thinking that they might just beat the Israelis this time. Keep them right up next to the border.

"Oh what heroes we will be for fighting the Zionists.
Come a little closer now...
"Oh how we will be praised in the capitals of Islam
Come on…
"We’ve got them on the run Ali, we only need to push them a little bit harder
Come on sucker, just a little bit more…

"Then SNAP! The Israeli trap is slammed shut like the worlds biggest rat trap."

He sold out or lost his way, it doesn't matter which.

It's like Ronald Reagan's transformation from good union man to union buster and Keystone Kop Konservative. People change, and not surprisingly the change is often in the direction of returning the favors of powerful interests. They slowly mythologize their past and rationalize their present.

In the Shakesperean sense of a befuddled old douche ambling around offering his kingdom for a horse, Lieberman is tragic.

But, he's still a douchebag.

This Blackwell political gaffe was exacerbated when his political mouthpiece, Carlo LoParo, said this to the Dayton Daily News: “... If Ted Strickland wants to highlight the fact that he lives paycheck to paycheck on a congressman’s salary, that’s his right. My understanding is he doesn’t have any investment income and it’s a pretty simple return."

Specter's bill will have three troubling consequences if it becomes
law. First, it makes lawbreaking legal. When the New York Times
revealed last December that the Bush administration has been
eavesdropping without judicial approval for the past four years, it
meant that the president has been systematically violating a law that
makes such eavesdropping a crime punishable by up to five years in
prison. If laws are to have any meaning, then elected officials cannot
simply violate them with impunity. Specter's bill not only virtually
guarantees there would be no consequences for this deliberate, ongoing
criminality, but rewards and endorses the president's lawbreaking by
changing the law to conform to the president's conduct.

But there are persistent signs that the US is egging Israel on to bring the war to Damascus.

Here's a clip from the end of an article today in the Jerusalem Post ...

[Israeli]Defense officials told the Post last week that
they were receiving indications from the United States that the US
would be interested in seeing Israel attack Syria.

"I don't hate God. I'm not against America and apple pie," Willis said.
"We just have to protect what's left for commercial development."

Knight says the local Meade newspaper is trying to put him out of business and was frustrated when it ran an article about the flag and did not even bother to contact him regarding why he put it up. In fact, most people we spoke to in Meade said they didn’t even know what the flag meant until the article ran. But once word got around, the reaction was harsh.

Knight says the radio station has called him threatening to remove the restaurant’s commercials if he does not remove the flag. A local pastor stopped by said it was equivalent to hanging women’s panties on a flag pole. When Knight jokingly said he might consider that – the preacher said he would have him arrested.

His business has suffered - down to only a few local customers. The folks in Meade who've boycotted say it's too offensive for them to eat there.

Local resident, Keith Klassen says the flag is a slap in the face to the conservative community of Meade. “To me it’s just like running up a Nazi flag in a Jewish neighborhood. I can’t walk into that establishment with that flag flying because to me that’s saying that I support what the flag stands for and I don’t,” says Klassen.

Knight says it’s not meant to be a gay pride symbol but he doesn’t mind if that’s how it’s taken.
"Any gay or lesbian people that do stop by will be treated with the best service I can give you,” says Knight.

"I love my father dearly. I do not condone his actions or behavior, and I am deeply disturbed by what I have learned. He clearly has some issues that need to be dealt with, and I will encourage him to seek the necessary help."

Q: Today the United States is fighting two wars, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, and is now threatening to launch a third one on Iran. What is it going to take to stop the Bush onslaught?

Vidal: Economic collapse. We are too deeply in debt. We can’t service the debt, or so my financial friends tell me, that’s paying the interest on the Treasury bonds, particularly to the foreign countries that have been financing us. I think the Chinese will say the hell with you and pull their money out of the United States. That’s the end of our wars.

Q: You’re a veteran of World War II, the so-called good war. Would you recommend to a young person a career in the armed forces in the United States?

Vidal: No, but I would suggest Canada or New Zealand as a possible place to go until we are rid of our warmongers. We’ve never had a government like this. The United States has done wicked things in the past to other countries but never on such a scale and never in such an existentialist way. It’s as though we are evil. We strike first. We’ll destroy you. This is an eternal war against terrorism. It’s like a war against dandruff. There’s no such thing as a war against terrorism. It’s idiotic. These are slogans. These are lies. It’s advertising, which is the only art form we ever invented and developed.

But our media has collapsed. They’ve questioned no one. One of the reasons Bush and Cheney are so daring is that they know there’s nobody to stop them. Nobody is going to write a story that says this is not a war, only Congress can declare war. And you can only have a war with another country. You can’t have a war with bad temper or a war against paranoids. Nothing makes any sense, and the people are getting very confused. The people are not stupid, but they are totally misinformed.

The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told 7NEWS that they're required to submit at least one report a month. If they don't, there's no raise, no bonus, no awards and no special assignments.

"Innocent passengers are being entered into an international intelligence database as suspicious persons, acting in a suspicious manner on an aircraft... and they did nothing wrong," said one federal air marshal.

[...]

A second management memo, also dated July 2004, said, "There may come an occasion when you just don't see anything out of the ordinary for a month at a time, but I'm sure that if you are looking for it, you'll see something."

[...]

One example, according to air marshals, occurred on one flight leaving Las Vegas, when an unknowing passenger, most likely a tourist, was identified in an SDR for doing nothing more than taking a photo of the Las Vegas skyline as his plane rolled down the runway.

"You're saying that was not an accurate portrayal of a potential terrorist activity?" Kovaleski asked.

"No, it was not," an air marshal said.

"It was a marshal trying to meet a quota ..." Kovaleski said.

"Yes, he was," the air marshal replied.

As some readers may have heard, in January my
battalion was issued substandard equipment for our deployment to
Afghanistan. Originally, we were issued M-16s rather than M-4 carbines,
rifles with shorter barrels and collapsible butt stocks. As a
politically active member of the battalion, I began to get in touch
with Representative DeLauro and Representative Simmons, who both
responded quickly and enthusiastically. Senator Dodd also responded
quickly and gave me prompts on how to further validate my request for
weapons.

However, I did not receive a response from Senator
Lieberman's office. I continued to leave messages for both him and his
military aide, now senior counselor, Fred Downey, who represented Sen.
Lieberman at the Battalion's send off ceremony on Jan. 4. After several
messages, I finally received a return phone call. However, I was not
met with the same enthusiasms expressed by other legislators; I was
immediately confronted with an inquisition that seemed to have the
purpose of dispelling the belief that the battalion was ill equipped.
Rather than listen to our specific concerns, the "benefits" of the M16
were highlighted and the advantages of the M4 were downplayed.

Lieberman's
office left the impression that they believed we had the equipment we
needed, despite the contrasting beliefs of soldiers in my battalion,
some who have been on as many as five deployments. The others in
Washington were not so quick to abandon us.

I’m not sure I’d characterize my exchange with Boxer as a meltdown on her part. I do think, though, that she’s taken on Joe Lieberman’s imperious tone and approach to this primary.

[ snip ]

Call me crazy, but with all the criticism Boxer has gotten on FDL and DailyKos about Lieberman and the "short ride" comment, I thought she’d actually want to take the question. If she took the time to listen to our concerns and then had a real exchange about it (rather than shutting us down and rushing away) she might have earned a lot of respect from people who are wondering why she is doing what she is doing. Instead she was peeved and dismissive and essentially told us to shut our traps and do what NARAL and Planned Parenthood tell us to do.

Senator Boxer is one of the best Democrats in the Senate and one of our strongest women voices in Congress. She’s so much more progressive than just about everyone else in the Senate, and her support for Lieberman does not erase all the good that she has done or nullify her status as a great leader.

“We know there was a corrupt regime in Saddam, but a regime should be removed by surgery, not by butchering,” he said during a speech at a United Nations-sponsored conference on transitional justice. “The U.S. occupation is butcher’s work under the slogan of democracy and human rights and justice.”

Gonzalez, who accused her husband of verbal abuse and threatening to report her to immigration authorities, acknowledged being in the country illegally.

"I hate the immigration laws that we have, but I think the bailiff could take you to the immigration services and send you to Mexico," the judge responded, according to a court transcript. "Is that what you guys want?"

Fink later warned Gonzalez that he was going to count to 20 and expected her to disappear by the time he was finished.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. When I get to 20, she gets arrested and goes to Mexico," Fink said, according to the transcript.

Gonzalez left the courtroom and Fink dismissed the case.

She moved into a domestic violence shelter last month, and could not be reached for comment.

"A lot of people run from controversy," Fink said. "It doesn't bother me. Remember, I was doing this as a volunteer."

"I did not want this woman deported," Fink said. "Now I understand that the court does not get involved in immigration status as long as it is not thrust upon it."

First up, Dr. Freud for a quick consultation on the mindset of the eternal narcissist.

As always with Clinton, this is all about Bill.

And in stumping for Lieberman he's playing out his personal psychodrama, his hunger for redemption, his longing to work through the shame of his past. The narcissist is always in desperate need of love and admiration -- and what could be more fulfilling than earning the gratitude of the man who took to the Senate floor to express his "deep disappointment and personal anger" at Clinton for his Oval Office blow job?

Bill Clinton seems to want nothing more than to win the love of those who have judged him most harshly.

The cynic might say that Bill Clinton is going to Connecticut, despite being trashed by Lieberman during the impeachment saga, to protect a fellow member of the elitist establishment's insider's club. They may say that the DLC called in the biggest favor it can offer Lieberman (its patron saint) -- a visit by a former popular president. They may try to find a tortured explanation of why this helps Hillary.

B. Clinton's visit may have been arranged by the DLC (didn't they have some sort of "anual conference" this past weekend? Did anyone care?), but what it tells me is that Bill is a far bigger man than Lieberman ever was or can be.

Despite being on the withering receiving end of Lieberman's sanctimonious public screeds during the impeachment saga, on the floor of the Senate AND in television studios all over the place, Clinton is willing to come to the senator's aid. He could've held a grudge and none would think less of him.

Instead, he repays Lieberman's backstabbing with kindness.

So I actually respect Bill for doing this one event for Lieberman. In a funny way it makes Lieberman look even smaller, pettier, and pathetic than he already does.

Other neocons, who are even greater true believers, are upset that the president is not pushing for a new and expanded war (which, I might add, our military cannot easily conduct, given its current commitments). Angry at having to let go of their grandiose, world-historical fantasies, they have taken to calling into question the president’s convictions, treating him now as one of those little men that is buffeted by history. Last night I watched (with satisfaction, I must admit) as Frank Gaffney and others on CNN questioned whether Bush was turning into a wimp. After seeing so many sensible and serious Americans thus tarnished over the past six years of partisan bitterness, the schadenfreude was delicious. What happens when you lie down with dogs and all that.

Twenty-five years ago I stared into the eyes of Michael Berman, chief operative for his congressman-brother, Howard Berman. I was a neophyte running for the California Assembly in a district that the Bermans claimed belonged to them.

“I represent the Israeli defense forces,” Michael said. I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. Michael seemed to imagine himself the gatekeeper protecting Los Angeles’ Westside for Israel’s political interests, and those of the famous Berman-Waxman machine. Since Jews represented one-third of the Democratic district’s primary voters, Berman held a balance of power.

[ snip ]

[Berman] and his brother were privately leaning toward an upcoming young prosecutor named Adam Schiff, who later became the congressman from Pasadena. But they calculated that Schiff couldn’t win without name recognition, so they were considering “renting” me the Assembly seat, Berman said. But there was one condition: that I always be a “good friend of Israel.”

[ snip ]

I can offer my real-life experience to the present discussion about the existence and power of an “Israel lobby.” It is not as monolithic as some argue, but it is far more than just another interest group in a pluralist political world. In recognizing its diversity, distinctions must be drawn between voters and elites, between Reform and Orthodox tendencies, between the less observant and the more observant. During my ultimate 18 years in office, I received most of my Jewish support from the ranks of the liberal and less observant voters. But I also received support from conservative Jews who saw themselves as excluded by a Jewish (and Democratic) establishment.

However, all these rank-and-file constituencies were attuned to the question of Israel, even in local and state elections, and would never vote for a candidate perceived as anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian. I had to be certified “kosher,” not once but over and over again.

The certifiers were the elites, beginning with rabbis and heads of the multiple mainstream Jewish organizations, especially each city’s Jewish Federation. An important vetting role was held as well by the American-Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC), a group closely associated with official parties in Israel. When necessary, Israeli ambassadors, counsels general and other officials would intervene with statements declaring someone a “friend of Israel.”

Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has been a vocal advocate of cracking down on the homeless in city parks, dismissed questions about how marshals, who patrol city parks, will identify the homeless in order to enforce the ordinance, the violation of which would be a misdemeanor.

"Certain truths are self-evident," Goodman said. "You know who's homeless."

[...]

"The marshals will get specialized training on enforcement," Wolfson said. "If you bought a couple of burgers and wanted to give them out, you technically would be in violation, but you wouldn't be cited."

The unpleasant truths of this political moment are:

1. Renewable portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) seem increasingly likely to die in the Congress this session.

2. Recent Supreme Court decisions indicate the court is inclined to “interpret” permanent provisions of the Voting Rights Act into meaninglessness.

3. Democrats in the US. House and Senate seem disinclined to fight very hard for the voting rights of blacks, and;

4. With no superpower rival on the international scene and the domestic mass movement disbanded and sent home a generation ago, the powers that be face little or no meaningful consequences at home or abroad for killing the VRA.

[ snip ]

A key external factor behind a portion of the US elite’s embrace of the cause of black voting rights was the presence on the international scene of a superpower rival to the US, the Soviet Union. The USSR was a global competitor of the US, and the persistent denial of black civil and voting rights placed the US at a severe disadvantage, especially with Asian and African people who had their own all too recent and bitter memories of racist exploitation and colonialism at the hands of European powers. Ending Jim Crow, for a piece of the US elite, was a Cold War priority.

supermarket blues


yesterday i went to buy some stuff for the house.


all the shelves are empty.




in the fridge there is three bottles of milk.
"exp 13/07/06?"

Kauzlarich, now a battalion commanding officer at Fort Riley in Kansas,
further suggested the Tillman family's unhappiness with the findings of
past investigations might be because of the absence of a Christian
faith in their lives.

Homes in southern Lebanon received taped phone calls in Arabic warning that they needed to evacuate because strikes would hit house by house. The recording ended by saying it came from the Israeli Army. The Israelis also used a radio station near the border to broadcast warnings into southern Lebanon for residents to leave.

[I]t can be dispiriting and tiresome to debate Middle Eastern conflicts between Israel and its enemies because extremists almost always tend to dominate the discussions. Israel is either the angelic victim surrounded by pure evil, or else is pure evil itself sadistically inflicting violence on its poor, angelic neighbors. In general, those who become most knowledgeable about these conflicts do so because they zealously believe in one Manichean view or the other, rendering it quite difficult to sort out competing claims.

From: J
Date: Jul 17, 2006 11:08 AM
Subject: Your Resume
To: BigD

BigD -
       We are in receipt of your resume and would like to set up a 15 minute
initial phone interview with our General Counsel, D-- C---.  Can you let me
know your availability?
       Thank you.  J.

===

From: BigD
Date: Jul 17, 2006 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: Your Resume
To: J

Ms. J,

Thank you for your reply.  Unfortunately, I am out of town for much of
this week.  Would Friday afternoon be a good time for Mr. C---?  Perhaps 2pm?

Best regards,
BigD

===

From: J
Date: Jul 17, 2006 12:16 PM
Subject: Re: Your Resume
To: BigD

BigD,
      I made a mistake.  D-- would not like to set up a 15 minute
interview.  I misunderstood.  My apologies.  J.

How do you see this playing out?

Some interesting things are going on in Israel, and we ought to take note of it. The first thing, the current prime minister in Israel [Ehud Olmert] is a very capable guy. And he is a realist. … But he isn’t Ariel Sharon. He’s not a warrior. He has a genetic mistrust of the uses of bombs and airplanes to conduct foreign policy.

But when you are attacked you respond, and he did. And he has been very clearly signaling that there are limits here. While Condi Rice and George Bush talk about Syria and Iran, Olmert has taken Syria and Iran off the table, put them back on, and then taken them back off.

When Hezbollah attacked Haifa Thursday, first Hezbollah said, “We didn’t do it.” Then they said, “We didn’t target Haifa.” No one picked up on it. Here’s what they meant to say: “We understand hitting Haifia is a major escalation, and we didn’t mean to do that.”…

Olmert responded, “You get Haifa, we’ll take down Beirut,” and he went after Beirut. So far as I can tell, since then, Haifa has been off limits.

Now so far as I can tell, there are rules here. And the rules are, you take down our major cities and we’ll make life very uncomfortable for you. And Olmert put Damascus back on the table as a clear warning. And I think [Syrian president Bashar al-] Assaad probably called Hezbollah -- over which he doesn’t have too much influence -- and said, “Did you hear that signal or not?” And they got it.

So now we’re in a game. … I expect we’ll see an escalation here over the next two days, but what I would expect to find after that is that both sides climb down off the ladder.

“I did insult him, it’s true, but I categorically did not call him a terrorist,” Materazzi said. “I’m not cultured and I don’t even know what an Islamic terrorist is."

DEVASTATED French fans rallied around their flawed football hero Zinedine Zidane as evidence emerged that he was insulted as "the son of a terrorist whore" before he headbutted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the dramatic World Cup final.

[ snip ]

But lip-reading experts called in by media outlets including The Times of London, The Daily Mail and The Guardian, along with outlets in Brazil, confirmed that the 34-year-old rammed Materazzi in the chest after the Italian player called him the "son of a terrorist whore", and then told him to "f... off".

Other versions included insults to Zidane's sister and references to him as a "dirty Muslim" and one of the "dregs".

Zizou, as he is known in France, is the son of Algerian migrants. He was raised in the gritty suburbs of Marseilles and calls himself a non-practising Muslim. He has played in Italy and speaks Italian fluently.

The alleged insult to his mother was described as especially explosive because she had been taken to hospital gravely ill on the day of the Cup final, and yesterday Zidane rushed back to Marseilles to be at her bedside. Zidane's agent said the star was provoked by Materazzi and would explain what happened in a few days.

We don't know with iron certainty what Materazzi said, but if it turns out to be more of the anti-Black, anti-Muslim, garbage that has infected soccer like a virus, the Italian team should forfeit the cup. They should voluntarily give the greatest trophy of them all back to FIFA as a statement that some things in this world are more important than sports. Racism will be the death of soccer if things don't change. Italy can set the sport back on course, with one simple, stunning gesture. Give the damn thing back.

I'm pro life, but sweet Jesus you're an idiot. For your next post, how about a passionate speech on the need to immediately free Prince Albert from the can?
Boo | 07.08.06 - 12:24 am | #

Because it's the way things go
> What do you mean?
There are just things that happen the way they do
> What?
There are many things that happen & we don't have control over them, that's just the way it is
> An abortion is just killing a child at an early age right?
Right
> And that's ok with you?
Might be
> "Ok, let me pose this scenario to you, let's say there's a woman standing in front of you. Her young daughter is yanking at her dress pulling on it saying "mama" over & over, let's say she's a real pest.
Ok
> Then, suddenly, her mother reaches down & strangles that child to death. Is that okay with you?
Might be

---
About this time I have goose bumps & for one of those many moments in my life I'm really scared of another human being. [emphasis added]
---

Word is that Materazzi called Zidane's father as "harki," "the Arabic term for Algerians who fought for France against Algeria during the occupation. It's beyond all insults, the ultimate traitor." Hence the headbutt. Zidane, remember, is of Algerian ancestry, though he grew up in France.

Italy defender Marco Materazzi has strenuously denied reports that he called Zinedine Zidane a 'dirty terrorist'.

The 32-year-old was responding to suggestions made by the Paris-based anti-racism group SOS Racism that he apparently used the phrase seconds before the France captain head-butted Materazzi in the chest in extra time.

Zidane was sent off as a result of his actions before the Azzurri went on to defeat Les Bleus 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 extra-time draw in Sunday's World Cup final in Berlin.

SOS Racism claim well informed sources told them of what Materazzi allegedly said to the now-retired Zidane, but the Internazionale player denies making any such statement to the former Real Madrid man.

"It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist," Materazzi told Italian news agency Ansa.

"I'm ignorant. I don't even know what the word means.

"The whole world saw what happened on live TV."

Brutality and corruption are rampant in Iraq's police force, with abuses including the rape of female prisoners, the release of terrorism suspects in exchange for bribes, assassinations of police officers and participation in insurgent bombings, according to confidential Iraqi government documents detailing more than 400 police corruption investigations.

High took off her jacket, picked up the pump and said, “You have been told by the defense this pump is broken.

“Well it is not broken,” she said, and she took off her jacket and put the end of the plastic cylinder that allegedly had contained Thompson’s penis to her arm.

High squeezed the handle of the pump and the vacuum created began to suck the skin of her arm into the plastic chamber.

She dramatically dropped the pump handle device, demonstrating the vacuum was strong enough that it clung to her arm.

“See folks, it really does work,” she said.

Several spectators in the gallery made audible gasps as the pump dangled from her arm.