Crap.
'Hawaii Five-O' Co-Star Kam Fong Dead at 84

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Reuters) - Kam Fong Chun, the man TV viewers around the world knew as Detective Chin Ho Kelly in the hit crime series "Hawaii Five-O," died in Honolulu after a long fight against cancer, his family said on Wednesday. He was 84.

Chun, who died on Oct. 18, suffered from inoperable lung cancer, said his elder son, Dennis Chun. Family members did not announce the actor's death until Wednesday because they said they wanted some private time after having shared him with the public for so many years.

Working under the stage name Kam Fong, the Honolulu native appeared on "Hawaii Five-O" from its debut in 1968 to 1978, two years before the series was canceled. He was the trusted, tough detective working alongside the show's main character, Steve McGarrett, who was played by Jack Lord. Lord died in January 1998.

GOP, RIGHT-WING MEDIA HONOR BOOING, BOOERS OF SENATOR
Rush Limbaugh Cheers Man Who Led The Jeers

Blame Object Of Booing For Arrogance, Disdain

Standing Up For Good Manners And Family Values

Some of the people in the huge arena, packed with 20,000 mourners, were angry when they caught a glimpse of the Senator. Disgust overcame them. They booed lustily, some of them shouting, "We don't want you here," and some shouting epithets.

And for the next few days, the GOP and right-wing pundits had a field day -- supporting the booers, saying that they spoke the truth, and that the Senator deserved all that was dished out and more.

Rush Limbaugh led the right-wing boo fest by having the man who led the booing on his program as Dittohead Hero Of The Day.

Newsmax, Matt Drudge Neal Boortz, Kathleen Parker, and GOP radio talk show hosts nationwide cheered on the booers, and attacked the Senator they booed.

What's wrong with this picture? Well nothing -- because the Senator being booed wasn't Trent Lott -- it was Hillary Clinton, about a year ago, at Madison Square Garden. at a huge concert honoring the heroic policemen and firefighters who gave their lives on September 11, 2001.

It seems that some of those in the audience thought that this upbeat yet solemn occasion should -- gasp! -- be an occasion for politics.

Hear! hear! said Rush and his clones, who booed right along with them.

So you see, folks, it's not the boos that matter to these right-wing thugs. It's who's getting booed. If it's Trent Lott being booed, it's a travesty. If it's Hillary Clinton being booed, it's an act of patriotism.

These people have no shame, no principles, no morals. They just want power. And will say anything, do anything to get it.

- - From Media Whores Online.

Psycho Chickens, qu'est-ce que c'est?
UNITED NATIONS ( AP ) - The U.S. demand for speedy U.N. action on Iraq has run into strong opposition from Russia, France and China, who want the Warmongering Wonderchimp and his merry band of chickenhawks to change a draft resolution and eliminate any license for the United States to attack Baghdad on its own.

The three veto-holding Security Council members want to ensure that Iraq is given a chance to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors before any military action is authorized, and they're now waiting to see what the United States and Britain are going to do to address their concerns.

U.S. and British diplomats said the views of the council will now be studied carefully, ministers will continue talking, and there will be a response - but when it will come and whether it will meet Russian, French and Chinese demands remains to be seen.

"Don't expect any immediate action," said Britain's U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock. "There is going to be no precipitate rush to a conclusion."

Quotes of the Day
"Too many of them are so cowed by Bush you can almost hear them moo." - Paul Begala on the repub-lite party pink tutu'd lapdogs spineless pussies Democrats, in the BuzzFlash interview.

"As for Vin Weber and the other shrieking Republicans, their conduct during the Clinton years offered no hint of the delicate sensibilities they now display. Their tantrum is undignified and silly, too. Inappropriate remarks are a hazard of unscripted wakes and memorials, as anybody who has attended a few of them probably knows. In fact, with the human emotions arising from this tragedy, and the tensions surrounding the upcoming election, it's fortunate that nothing worse happened in front of TV cameras and 20,000 people. The opportunism of Rush Limbaugh and the other whiners was entirely predictable. No complaints need be entertained from the ghouls who have exploited so many deaths for political reasons, from Vince Foster to the children of Susan Smith." - Joe Conason, on the repukes' hypocritical hissyfit after the Wellstone memorial.




Shot by a hog and you're to blame...
A man was fatally shot Saturday in a hog butchering accident, the Becker County (Minnesota) Sheriff's Office said. Authorities said the hog was shot with a .22-caliber rifle by one of the men doing the butchering on a farm near Frazee. The animal fell backward but then jumped forward, knocking the shooter down and causing the rifle to discharge. The bullet struck John Matson, 55, of Frazee. He died at MeritCare Hospital in Fargo. The shooting was ruled an accident.





Busted!
The NY Times gets called - and spanked - on their "coverage" of the Washington anti-war rally, in Editor and Publisher:

Did 'New York Times' Blow Coverage of Antiwar March?
The story in The New York Times looked about right: top of the page, a five-column head, and a huge photo of marchers outside the White House. After all, as the story made clear, the demonstration in Washington, D.C. had far exceeded everyone's estimates, with turnout at least 100,000, or more, making it probably the biggest antiwar protest in the nation's capital since the height of the Vietnam war. No wonder it got major play.

There was just one problem: The march took place last Saturday and the story did not run until today.

The story, on A17, by Kate Zernicke, had "make-up article" written all over it, possibly in response to many organized protest letters sent to the Times since the paper's weak, and inaccurate, initial article about the march on Sunday.

That much-briefer Sunday piece had observed, "Fewer people attended than organizers had said they hoped for...Participants said the shootings in and aournd the city in the last three weeks had kept people from planning to visit Washington."

In today's article, however, the Times disclosed that the marchers formed a "two-mile wall" outside the White House, that march organizers had taken out a permit for just 20,000 attendees (and five times that many came) and expected just 30 buses loaded with marchers (and 650 buses showed up). The article, showing further evidence of "make-up" mentioned other demonstrations last week, and those planned for the future around the country, quoted several antiwar activists, and described numerous other anti-war efforts, including vote referendums and online petitions.

Death Licks Dick Cheney's Skull, Cringes
The family of Sen. Paul Wellstone asked the wan deathly flower-wilting visage of Vice President Dick Cheney to stay away from Tuesday night's memorial for the late senator, in part to spare mourners from excessive security screenings, but also mostly because Cheney is a sniveling sickly GOP snake who most likely openly hated the very liberal and outspoken Wellstone and hence Cheney's presence within a 500 mile radius of the gravesite would undoubtedly cause the senator's frustrated ghost much dis-ease and would undoubtedly cause the surrounding hollow corpses and malevolent spirits if not the spectre of Death itself to sense the presence of one of their own and want to reach up out of the wormy soil and grab Cheney's thick pale veiny alien ankles as he stood there snickering like a constipated hyena by the gravesite and try to drag him back down to the steaming reeking hellpit from whence he and Lynney spawned, which would have undoubtedly totally disrupted the Wellstone funeral proceedings and really annoyed the caterers. - Mark Morford, SF Gate Morning Fix, via email.

Thanks, Ellen!



"Have you been a naughty elf? This leatherclad orc wants to punish you with spankings!"
*rolls dice*

What's your sexual perversion?

Created by ptocheia




*looks at the current world's population* You must have a lot of frustration then.

What pisses you off?

Created by ptocheia

Get Your War On by David Rees is now available in book form! Reviews at the Village Voice and Newsweek.




And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools...
Lyrics: 'Radio Radio' by Elvis Costello.

Some of my friends sit around every evening
and they worry about the times ahead
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference
and the promise of an early bed

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Shannon O'Brien has notched a slim lead over GOP rival and Utah carpetbagger Mitt Romney, a new Boston Herald poll shows. O'Brien leads Romney 44% to 38%, narrowly outside the poll's margin of error. For other races, see here and here. Snips below:

CA: Davis 48%, Simon 37%
NJ: Lautenberg 51%, Forrester 40%
Missouri: Carnahan 50%, Talent 47%
Minnesota: Mondale 47%, Coleman 39%
Fla: Bush 52%, McBride 45%
Texas: Kirk 40%, Cornyn 43%

What's on the line: Social Security reform, disability rights, Title IX, funding for family planning, the environment, programs to prevent violence against women, job training and childcare for working parents, reproduction rights, the economy, not going to war, prescription drug costs, not giving tax breaks to the rich, the Constitution, your basic rights...

They say you better listen to the voice of reason
But they don't give you any choice
'cause they think that it's treason.
So you had better do as you are told -
You better listen to the radio...

Six days before Election Day, the White House greeted talk radio hosts, in an invitation-only North Lawn circle-jerk that gave rightwingnut propagandists direct access to Bush misadministration officials.

Democrats complained that the event favored conservative radio programs and was just the latest example of Bunnypants' willingness to use every "tool" at his disposal to influence next Tuesday's elections by getting out the conservative vote, then went back to sleep.

About 50 radio talk shows and news programs participated in "Radio Day." Saying the timing was mere coincidence, the White House denied any political motive. Taylor Gross, the staffer who organized the event, said it was long in the making and designed to give access where it is rarely granted.

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri found the White House explanation lacking. "I don't find that believable. It's clear that the White House's Radio Day is a thinly veiled get-out-the-vote effort," she said. ''It reeks of an inappropriate mix of politics and official business.''

Though a few regular White House radio news correspondents were in the mix, the Bush administration was not allowing reporters access to the event until late afternoon.

Those participating included Oliver North and Sean Hannity; the John Boy and Billy show out of Charlotte, N.C.; WTMJ in Wisconsin and KERN in Bakersfield, Calif.; and Nashville host Steve Gill. Rush Limbaugh was invited but declined. Must've been a sale on pork rinds somewhere.

I wanna bite the hand that feeds me.
I wanna bite that hand so badly.
I want to make them wish they'd never seen me.


The BF opened up my 401(k) statement last night, and yelled "hey - you're even less close to retiring than you were four months ago!"

In a related story...

One week before Smirky McGolfcart's infamous sale of stock in Harken Energy Corp. in 1990, Harken was warned by its lawyers that Bush and other members of the troubled oil company's board faced possible insider trading risks if they unloaded their shares.

The memo lays out the potential for insider-trading violations by Bush and other members of the Harken board, and its existence raises questions about how thoroughly Poppy's SEC investigated Dim Son's unloading of $848,000 of his Harken stake to a buyer whose name has not been made public.

The SEC cleared Bunnypants after looking into whether he had insider knowledge of an upcoming quarterly loss at Harken. But the SEC investigation apparently never examined a key issue raised in the memo: whether Bush's insider knowledge of a plan to rescue the company from financial collapse by spinning off two troubled units was a factor in his decision to sell.

The nine-page memo, dated June 15, 1990, was titled ''Liability for Insider Trading and Short-Term Swing Profits'' and addressed the possibility that Harken board members might know more about the spinoff plan, which included a stock rights offering, than the general public did. The memo did not instruct the board members whether to sell. One week after the memo was written, Bush sold his stock. And the Harken memo went to the SEC after the probe.

Cynical, Pissy Edition


I'm not saying anything about tinfoil hats. In today's America, it's become pretty damn easy to believe that something like this could be arranged. Hey, if they could look the other way when the 9/11 attacks were going down, why the hell not? They'll do anything to stay in power.

From The Possible Assassination of Paul Wellstone, by Ted Rall:
George W. Bush's Legacy of Cynicism and Contempt

George W. Bush and his henchmen stole the presidency. They threw thousands of innocent people into prison without even charging them with a crime. They're gearing up to invade Iraq without bothering to come up with a substantial justification. Now some Democrats and progressive Americans are asking the unthinkable about an administration they increasingly believe to be ruled by thugs and renegades. Did government gangsters murder the United States' most liberal legislator?



Hypocrisy Meter Explodes as Repugs throw Tantrum Over Memorial Service
Compassionate conservatives show us what honor and dignity truly mean. Republicans decry Wellstone service as partisan, demand 'equal time' on TV, allege deaths were used 'for political gain.' Poor Trent Lott - his panties were in such a twist that he walked out of the service. Oh - when asked what KSTP-TV might do to address complaints, the news director said the station probably wouldn't worry as much about over-covering a reported visit from Dumbya on Sunday to garner support for Coleman.

N.J. To Dig Up Graves For Turnpike Construction - More Than 3,000 Bodies May Be Buried There
TRENTON, N.J. - The New Jersey Turnpike Authority will spend nearly $4 million to remove thousands of bodies from a five-acre grave site in Hudson County and rebury them at another location.

An archaeologist, osteologist and mortician were hired Monday to help unearth the remains from a potter's field. The work, which is needed to make way for a new turnpike interchange in Secaucus, will cost $3.89 million. They still expect to complete the project in 2004.

The cemetery was used by Hudson County's former poorhouse, mental hospital and penitentiary, and officials believe that more than 3,500 bodies may be buried at the site. Details about the grave site remain sketchy, but records suggest that the bodies were buried there sometime between the 1860s and 1950. An unknown number of remains were disinterred and relocated when the Turnpike was built in the 1950s.

Another piece of history lost.

We've had a lot of searches for it, so here it is:

"Chicanery" Cheney Told Don't Bother
A Democrat involved with planning the Wellstone memorial service at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena here said the family did not want the event overwhelmed by the additional security, logistical challenges and potential protesters that would accompany the vice president. But the family was also uncomfortable at the prospect of attendance by Mr. Cheney, who helped to push Norm Coleman into the race against Mr. Wellstone and to guide the Republican's aggressive campaign before Friday's fatal plane crash.

President Clinton, who gave the eulogy at a similar memorial in Missouri two years ago after Gov. Mel Carnahan died in a fatal plane crash, is planning to attend, along with former Vice President Al Gore and at least half the United States Senate.

pReznit Pinhead is expected to visit Minnesota over the weekend to pump up Mr. Coleman, the former mayor of St. Paul, in the truncated campaign.

The case against Harvey Pitt.
Sebastian Mallaby writes "In his bungled effort to implement the post-Enron accounting reform, Pitt has not merely been incompetent. He has not merely bowed to the accounting lobbyists whom he is meant to regulate. He has been very nearly dishonest.

"Pitt himself declared on Friday that John Biggs, the head of a big pension fund, had excellent credentials. But he claimed that William H. Webster, the ex FBI and CIA chief whom he eventually backed, was even better. This is just not credible. Under the law, the chairman of the new audit overseer is supposed to understand accounting and the role of auditors. Though he is extremely distinguished, Webster has only a general grasp of these issues -- so general in fact that one SEC commissioner speculated that his appointment might provoke a legal challenge.

"Given that Pitt's explanation of his actions makes no sense, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the accounting lobby, operating through the House Republican caucus, did indeed sway his decision."

Gee, ya think??

In a related story, consumer confidence sank to its lowest level in nine years this past month, to 79.4.

War on Iraq Will Heighten Risk of Further al-Qaida Attacks, Nuclear Conflict
Oh goody.

A U.S.-led war on Iraq would heighten the risk of regional conflict and increase support for the al-Qaida terror network, researchers warned Monday.

The independent Oxford Research Group said conventional war would kill 10,000 civilians in Iraq, and could trigger a desperate and destructive response from Saddam Hussein.

The Baghdad regime is bent on survival at any cost and would retaliate using "all available military means," including chemical and biological weapons, which could in turn trigger a nuclear response from the United States and Britain, the group warned in a new report.

In a related story, clueless boob King George the Liar has again gone totally delusional:

"The message from America is this," pResident Evil told a Republican political rally. "If the United Nations doesn't have the will or the courage to disarm Saddam Hussein and Saddam Hussein will not disarm ... the United States will lead a coalition and disarm Saddam Hussein."

Are we on the same planet??

The NWS is forecasting 1 - 5 inches of snow for us tonight!



"The White House says it's pushing back the attack on Iraq until after January 1. It's hard to get Bush to focus on anything until after Santa has come." - Conan O'Brian.




Earth to Mr Fleischer...
"The time has come for people to raise their hands and cast their vote." - White House spokes-tool Ari "the Liar" Fleischer, conveniently forgetting all about the massive antiwar protests this past weekend.

"There is something odd about a White House that thinks misleading people about sex is a crime, but misleading us about war is good public policy." - Paul Begala, on world-class liars Ari 'n' Dumbya.




Captain Cowpat has hissyfit, kicks Vicente out of secret club
The Washingtoon comPost bemoans "a virtual dialogue of the deaf" between the 2 'ranch guys' during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. While Vicente Fox talked about immigration and trade, Bunnypants focused like a squirrel with a peanut on Iraq, and on noodging Mexico into voting for the U.S. bombing-for-poll-numbers resolution against Baghdad.

Bush, said a Mexican official, is a different person than he was when he met with Fox in 2001. The man who once made Mexicans feel relaxed and welcome now makes them nervous and often irritated. The Mexicans find Bush, once easygoing and open, now tough and single-minded. Don't forget crabby.

During a brief question-and-answer session with President Fox, Bush broke protocol by cutting off the interpreter trying to provide the English version of Fox's answer for viewers around the world. "I know what he said," snapped Bush, whose aides say he is not fluent in Spanish.

Mexico, like most thinking American voters, believes he has broken virtually every promise he ever made. Not only that, they are amazed at the misadministration's inability to pay attention to more than one foreign policy issue at a time. But here's the laugher: Bunnypants' nursemaids wonder why Mexico "cannot be more understanding of the international and domestic pressures Bush is under, and the enormous security concerns he has to deal with. Why, they ask, can't Mexico be more patient in its knowledge that, in his heart, Bush is a genuine 'ranch guy' who will prove in due time that he is still Fox's true compañero?" Gawd.

Somewhere, Tweety is on his knees. Praying, this time. That there'll always be photo-ops of the Cretin of Crawford in cowboy duds. Yuck.

All the news that gives you fits
'Certainly, the [antiwar] demonstration [this past weekend] proved that opposition to the war on Iraq is broad and deep in America, though the mainstream media did a shamefully inadequate job of reporting on it. A small New York Times article merely said there were "thousands" of demonstrators, adding, "Fewer people attended than organizers had hoped for."

'That's misleading -- while the group that called the rally, the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, probably exaggerated by saying that 200,000 people turned out, the crowd was indeed massive, at least in the tens of thousands. And the D.C. Metro Police chief suggested to the Washington Post that it might have been the biggest anti-war protest since the Vietnam era. Add that to the estimated 42,000 people who marched in San Francisco, the 2,000 who converged on Donald Rumsfeld's house in New Mexico, and the thousands of other people who protested nationwide, in Europe, Mexico and Japan, and it's clear that the new peace movement has a demonstrable momentum.' (From Salon)

I'll substitute Ari Fleischer for #6, please
Top Ten People America Wants To Kick In the Balls

Daddy's Widdle Dumbass makes it in as #8 !: "He's daddie's little boy, a presidential puppet of big business and the conservative right wing sector. The man with a silver spoon in his mouth bigger then the state he failed to govern properly. Less then stellar marks in school combined with failed business dealings and Dubya's liberal use of alcohol and cocaine are all overlooked because he's oh so sorry and so damned charismatic. Groomed from birth to give the wealthiest 1% of the tax bracket half the expected surplus, this rich failure of a man is long overdue for a kick to the scrotum. Many ballots to boot Bush in the balls came from the African American community of Dade and Broward counties with the usual addition "at least this vote will count.""

God, I really am a geek!

What
cartoon dog are you?

Brought to you by the good folks at sacwriters.com.

Hint hint!
Forget Dilbert and The Men of Enron '03, you can now order "They Misunderestimated Me - the Very Curious Language of George W Bush" Desk Calendar for 2003, now at Borders and Barnes 'n' Noble (link). Pretzals extra.

I love 'em, but my God, do the Jets suck.



Which lesser-known Simpsons character are you? Find out here.

I should've known -

What
lesser-known Simpsons character are you?

Brought to you by the good folks at sacwriters.com.

Blah3 and Eschaton have some great pics of the very different war rallies in Washingtoon. Explain these, Ari.

Mars needs wimmen! Chapel Perilous takes us to a site that shows us Absolute Proof of a Martian Colony: walls, roads, manufacturing plants, and a giant statue that resembles Snoop Dog.

New link: Body and Soul.

Shoot, one of the dogs has gas.

Must be something in the water
There is definately some kind of pattern to this past week's Google searches.
6 for Columba+Bush+pics
6 for Noelle+Bush+pics
2 for tinfoil+hats
and 1 each for farmwhores, buttsniffers, wife+cheat+adultery+stories, and toxic+houseplants.

Temper, temper, Emperor Snippy...
What a world-class douchebag.

LOS CABOS, Mexico, Oct. 26 (the Washingtoon Post) -- U.S. efforts to lead multilateral coalitions against Iraq and North Korea flagged today, as administration officials seemed increasingly resigned to the possibility of abandoning U.N. negotiations over Iraq, and Asian leaders meeting here with President Poopypants declined an offer to take a harsh stand against Pyongyang.

Bush has little patience with ceremony and has always kept his visits to international gatherings as brief as possible. With other leaders not rushing to embrace his plans, he did not conceal his testiness today. The only time he spoke to reporters was during a photo session with Fox, and he glowered during Fox's windup and looked annoyed at the unruliness of the camera crews. The last straw was when a cell phone went off, which infuriates Bush, even when the violator is a member of his staff. In a breach of protocol, Bush cut off the translator before Fox's answers could be rendered in English, and the White House transcript ignored Fox's words, saying simply, "Answered in Spanish."

Spent yesterday in a Nyquil-induced state of catatonia, sort of watching college football games. College refs suck.


Thousands Rally Around World Against Iraq War
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters marched on the White House Saturday to express opposition to a possible U.S. attack on Iraq, some chanting slogans accusing the Noocyooler Nitwit of planning genocide. Thousands more people took part in anti-war demonstrations in San Francisco, Berlin, Amsterdam and other cities.

The protesters brandished signs reading: "No Proof, No War," "Bush Sucks" and "Pre-emptive Impeachment." Some protesters carried Iraqi flags. "No war, no way," shouted a protester wearing a mask of Bush with horns and a pitchfork. "George Bush, you can't hide. We charge you with genocide!" chanted the demonstrators, who were escorted by mounted U.S. Park Police and watched by 600 police officers along the route in the heart of the nation's capital.

Police did not give an official estimate of the size of the crowd in Washington. Tony Murphy, an organizer of the event, told Reuters 150,000 people participated.

In San Francisco, known for its liberal politics and history of activism, a crowd that police estimated at about 42,000 marched near the city's historic Ferry Building to its Civic Center.

In Germany, demonstrations were staged in about 70 towns and cities. The largest was in Berlin, where almost 10,000 people marched. In Amsterdam, some 4,000 people rallied in heavy rain to protest against U.S. policy.

It's not easy being orange.

Nooze U Can Use
TBogg comments on the similarities between the sniper and the new terralert.

Eschaton teaches us a foreign language. Learn what the word 'jeb' means in Polish, and you'll never look at those JEB! signs the same way again.

Counterspin Central has a link to a parody of a GOP ad - or is it??! Do NOT watch this with your mouth full!

Some fun pics at uggabugga.

Shot by your dog, and you're to blame - you give guns a bad name...
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (AP) - Another future Darwin Award winner story.

Michael Murray, 42, was pheasant hunting in western South Dakota on the first day of the season last Saturday. He said he was lining up a photo of the seven birds his hunting party shot in the first hour. The loaded 12-gauge shotgun lay on the ground near Sonny, his year-old English setter pup, who stepped on it, causing it to fire and strike Murray in the leg.

His brother-in-law, Chuck Knutson of Woodbury, quickly tied a tourniquet above Murray's right boot. The third member of the hunting party was Murray's father, also Michael, of New Richmond, Wis. The three men climbed into their truck and drove to a relative's house. A half-hour later an ambulance took Murray to a nearby hospital.

Murray admits there is a certain amount of notoriety that goes along with getting shot by your dog. "That's the hard part, talking to people, because you feel like such a fool," he said. "Shoot, damn varmint couldn't hit the side of a barn!"

That's what you think
In another round of fundraising, this time in Colorado Springs, Dick 'dick' Cheney and Senate candidates Wayne Allard and Tom Strickland all cheerleaded for the oil Iraqi war, saying Americans are "united" behind the misadministration's threats to invade Iraq.

They were met, however, with a series of anti-war protests.

"Neither of these candidates are in opposition to the war on Iraq, and that's not acceptable," said Jean Ferguson, an activist with the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission. "They don't represent many Americans."

"A ranch visit is a treasured gift for a foreign leader..."
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - Emperor Snippy and Chinese President Jiang Zemin discussed ways to pressure North Korea into blaming Bill Clinton for their nooculer to give up its nuclear weapons program in talks on Friday at Bunnypants' pseudo-ranch, the Lazy W.

As Bush, Mrs. Bush and Colin Powell waited outside a ranch house for Jiang's arrival, pResident Evil jokingly checked his watch and announced, "We could be fishing."

Earlier he pissed off the little woman when he told reporters she was home sweepin' off the front porch in anticipation of the visit.

Idiot.

Sen. Wellstone Dies in Minnesota Plane Crash
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - A plane carrying Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone and seven other people crashed in northern Minnesota on Friday, killing the two-term Democrat less than two weeks before the congressional election, a Senate aide said. Wellstone, his wife Sheila and daughter Marcia were killed along with three staffers and two pilots when his small chartered plane crashed near an airport runway in northeastern Minnesota. All aboard were killed.

Ancient Stone Casket May Be Oldest Link to Jesus
An ancient limestone box once used to hold bones in Jerusalem could contain the earliest known reference to Jesus outside of the Bible, according to newly published research.

An article in the November/December issue of the journal Biblical Archaeology Review said the ossuary, a box once used to hold bones for burial and dated to about the year 63 A.D., is etched with an inscription in Aramaic reading "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."

It also said it was unusual for an ossuary to have the name of a brother, an indication that Jesus was a well-known figure. The article said the Geological Survey of Israel performed laboratory tests that confirmed that it was made of limestone from the Jerusalem area.

Ellen! It's Sound Effects for Your Cat!

Another martini, Mr Lay?
The enforcement unit (ooooohhhh!) of the Securities and Exchange Commission plans to recommend filing securities fraud charges against Martha Stewart, Democrat, over her sale of ImClone Systems stock. The move by the SEC comes a week after former ImClone CEO Samuel Waksal, a friend of Stewart, pleaded guilty to some insider trading charges.

''The real question is not whether the SEC will bring a case, but whether there will be criminal charges. Typically, criminal and civil charges are filed at the same time,'' says lawyer Jacob Frenkel. "I mean after all, it's not like she's a big republican donor or anything."

Actually had to scrape my windshield this morning.



Bill Clinton's Penis Used Veterans', Senior Citizens' Accounts to Pay for N Korea's Nuke Program: headline we're bound to see any day now.




Which leg, sir?
Dana Milbank of the Washingtoon comPost whores around the fact that W is a flaming, out-and-out liar. Whereas Al Gore had a "knack for distortions and exaggerations", Condi's Widdle Cokehead has "flights of fancy" or "off-the-cuff mistakes." Good article to read just before going out to split logs.


Shot in the ass and you're to blame - you give guns a bad name.*
Another future Darwin Award winner. A woman was airlifted to the hospital Sunday afternoon, after her gun fell into the commode and shot her in the buttocks. The woman heard something outside her home and reached over the toilet to raise the window and the gun fell in. The woman was injured when the 9 mm handgun discharged into the toilet bowl, reports say.
*With apologies to Jon Bon Jovi and TBogg.


Nurse, another sedative for the vice president, please...
"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." - the Oaf of Office, April 23, 2002.

WH Flip-Flops on Iraq 'Policy'
King George the Waffler said Monday that the United States was trying diplomacy "one more time" to disarm Saddam "peacefully" and suggested that if the Iraqi leader complied with every United Nations mandate it would "signal the regime has changed." Nursemaids to Bunnypants shooed reporters away before they could ask follow-up questions.
Afterwards, the White House said that Mr. Bush was not backing away from his past insistence that Mr. Hussein must leave office.
Must've been another one of those off-the-cuff mistakes.

QUICKIES
Don't miss this week's Top Ten Conservative Idiots, First Election Countdown Edition, at DemoUnderground.

But I repeat myself: Repug candidate's family won't be voting for him - family believes he's "corrupt" and "self-serving." Testify! has the link.

Cool 'toon at Counterspin Central.

The Media Horse is back, and includes a handy pocket guide comparing the economic plans of the Democrats and the republicans. Oh, and Jeb! gets absolutely spanked.

Maru's Garden...of Death


SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER, Part %@#$
How the WH and their bought-off whores in the media conspire to tell you what they want you to know, in the NY Times:

"...the White House and the [Sunday morning talk] shows are in something of a joint conspiracy to fabricate news Sunday mornings..."



SPEAKING OF WHORES...
"It would be easier for Bush to be patient with the liars in Pyongyang and contemptuous of the liars in Baghdad if he hadn't set himself up as being morally allergic to deals with the devil. But the Administration has long seen distinctions among the evils in its axis," argue Washington bureau chief Michael Duffy and editor-at-large Nancy Gibbs. "Whatever happens, they can - and probably will - argue that their hard line is working and that messages sent in one direction are being heard in another." - from Time.

Just because.

QUICKIES
I don't know if Ellen at AMCGltd.com has seen this yet. YogaKitty: "Our goal is to present a practical, step by step guide for humans & their cats to activate their fullest potential, allowing man, woman, & feline to dwell in the ecstasy of physical, mental, & spiritual health. Higher Consciousness...It's Not Just For Humans Anymore."

Is anyone else having trouble getting to Testify!?

What the republicans do best, at Seeing The Forest. Besides being hypocritical clueless corporate sleazebags.

How the democrats could win big this election, and why they probably won't, by skippy. Good stuff.

Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't. Harvey Pitt gets the ol' never-mind from his buddy King Snippy the Chimp.TBogg has the goods.

BeerMary at Rant-O-Rama has great pics of her St. Bernard puppy Moose's first playdate!

Cool! Chapel Perilous has a link to How to Make Your Own Lava Lamps! I'm so there.

Brought in the rest of the houseplants last night, and just in time. The frost finally came right up to the front of the house. Now they can spend a nice quiet winter being crapped on by the cats.


Now I've done it. The cold has turned into bronchitis, advanced turbomucosia, and pseudonarcolepsy. I may even be hallucinating. Last night I dreamt that a buff, shirtless Ari Fleisher was hiding me in a tower room, protecting me from my psycho ex-husband who was trying to kill me. At one point I think we were fighting over who was going to get the Michigan Wolverines tshirt.


...YOU LITTLE PEOPLE CAN GO TO HELL, THOUGH
U.S. senators warned of al Qaeda snipers on golf courses.

I'm sorry, but that just strikes me as funny for some reason. I just can't picture it.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. senators were warned earlier this week that those who play golf may be targets of al Qaeda snipers on golf courses and were given tips on how to protect themselves, a U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman said. Meanwhile, if you're an average Amurkin citizen, unless you read cnn's website, or one like this, you'd be completely in the dark.


"This is where I'll be - you know what to do, boys."

AND I'LL CRY A RIVER OVER YOU
Mike Thomas at The Orlando Sentinal rips into deadbeat parents Jeb! and Columba Bush.

"Noelle only made the front page when Jeb brought her up in a tearful, public speech when the media was present. He did so again in a tearful campaign appearance at the Hispanic Christian Church Association of Central Florida, also attended by the media. This week, he talked about her on the Today show. It looks like he wants the media to back off when the news is embarrassing while he reserves the right to bring up Noelle when it portrays him in the sympathetic light of a grieving parent. When he does that, he has to expect the question: Well, then, where were you yesterday?"

YEAH, BUT SADDAM HAS OIL! AND HE TRIED TO KILL MY DAD!
"Colin Powell said that the North Koreans have 'some explaining to do.' But so does Powell and the president." - Joe Conason, in Salon.

"North Korea has demonstrated to the world that Bush's martial bombast, his with-us-or-against-us us rhetoric for war in Iraq, has no basis in any moral absolute. North Korea has the bad weapons for sure, and is not threatened, while Iraq has no confirmed possession of those weapons, and faces threats of war. Bush's black-and-white has been washed gray, and two despots from Pyongyang and Baghdad have tied him in knots." - William Rivers Pitt.

"The nation needs your help. This is a time of warmongering and bitterness and semi-literate Texas cowboy wanna-bes who want nothing more than to careen us down the path of perpetual violence and isolationism and dread." - Ten sticky and nicely blasphemous things true patriots can do right now to help keep America free, by Mark Morford.

Halloween's almost here - I have to post some weird stuff.


Ancient Tombs in Timeless Landscapes
The guidebook stated "that there were more than 500 dolmens in Lot alone, dating from 2500 to 1500 B.C. A little more poking turned up a staggering claim: the limestone plateaus, or causses, of southern France and nearby river valleys are home to the greatest concentration of dolmens in Europe. Forget the standing stones at Carnac in Brittany, or the grandeur of Stonehenge; for sheer numbers, this was the place to be, With 800 dolmens documented in Quercy and 1,000 in Rouergue, the lure of prehistory was too great to ignore..."


Edinburgh's Ghosts
Fresh light is to be shed on one of Edinburgh's darkest secrets with plans to turn a "haunted" lane into a tourist attraction.

The ghosts of 17th century plague victims are said to inhabit Mary King's Close. According to legend, the entrances to the street were sealed up to prevent the spread of the disease - leaving those inside to perish.

Last year scientists monitored the close and Edinburgh Castle's dungeons in an attempt to establish whether there were any ghostly goings-on. The investigation was led by Dr Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire, who said he was encouraged by the findings. Volunteers reported apparitions and physical contact during the 10-day investigation.

NO, YOU SUCK!
"I can't find a success story in this administration to date, and I think that is something that this administration is going to have to explain, not only in the next two weeks but in the next two years," Tom 'Isadora' Daschle told reporters.

Bush "came to Washington promising to change the tone, and he did: It's worse. He promised compassionate conservatism and the only thing we've seen is compassion for conservatives."

In international affairs, Daschle said Bush has only recently realized that unilateralism wasn't working. "I don't know if we have ever seen a more precipitous drop in international stature and public opinion with regard to this country as we have the last two years."

He said that while Americans "like the president personally they are becoming increasingly concerned about the direction he is taking the country."

BTW, my 401(k) and retirement statements came yesterday, and not in a good way. The BF told me in no uncertain terms, "do NOT open your _____ statement."

"You really have to wonder whether Jerry Falwell gets up every morning and sticks his head in a microwave oven at full power for about 20 minutes - just to make sure he's really good and stupid for the rest of the day." - Chewgababy, in the BuzzFlash mailbag.


QUICKIES
North Korea: axis of not-as-evil-as-oilrich-Iraq. U.S. hypocrisy revealed, by Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange.

Blue astroturf??? For a football game??? It's unamerican, dammit! Counterspin Central has a pic of the eyesore.

Big gloves - big d*ck. Our friends at AMCGltd.com led us to this helpful article at yahoo news: Index Finger Length Can Predict Penis Size.

Chapel Perilous has a link to a cool Personality Test. Mine seems to be right on the money: "You are sharp, a quick thinker and good at puzzles. However these are your only good traits. You screw small animals and love picking your nose. You always have snot on your clothes."

QUICKIES, Part 1
Paul Krugman is right on the money as usual with Springtime for Hitler.

Jeb! in trouble again? Florida Gov. and parental failure Jeb Bush has been forced to release documents showing a serious lobbying campaign by his office on behalf of a major Republican donor, which included efforts to get political appointees of King George the Squatter to overrule career employees at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: link here.

In a related story, Judicial Watch is suing Jeb! over 'records concerning Cuba; Cuban-Americans and/or Florida's population of Cuban-Americans; Cuban-American and/or Hispanic voting patterns; Cuba-U.S. trade policy and procedures; Fidel Castro; Elian Gonzalez. It also asked for communications and documents between the governor's office and the President and/or The White House.' and records relating to Florida's ironically-named child welfare agency.

Sites added: see links section!

GOOGLE SEARCHES
Was there a full moon last night?!

Katie+Couric+colonoscopy+pics won again, with 6. Now stop it!
sex+traffic+cone, our story from Scotland, got second place with 3.
steps+on+handjobbing+a+guy only "came" in at 1. Sorry, fellas.

DUMB AND DUMBER
Squinty the Chimp helps fight the evildoers by fundraising for his brother in Florida.

Was this piece in the Washingtoon Post intentionally a laugher? You make the call:

'Al Cardenas, the Florida GOP chairman, said the race will not be decided on any specific issue but "on qualities like leadership, integrity and courage," and he said the president's presence reinforces that message.'

Jeb! harangued "millionaire McBride," on the same day he and pReznit Privilege 'motorcaded* to a Daytona Beach mansion to meet with 100 donors who had given an average of $10,000 each, bringing the White House's fundraising for Florida Republicans this year to at least $6 million.'

"I know his heart, I know his strength of conviction, I know his vision," Smirky McDumbass told the group of filthy rich donors. Yeah - just ask his poor daughter, Noelle.

And this: the Bush brothers stood in front of a backdrop that repeated the phrase "Reading First" more than 200 times.

No, it's "Reading: First, Hold the Book Rightside-Up."

*by limosine

THIS DICTATOR STUFF IS COOL!
Hi, I'm Dick Cheney, and I'm above the law.

A federal judge yesterday ordered the Bush administration to turn over key documents about its energy task force for a second time, while government lawyers gave notice that they plan to take their case to an appeals court before complying.

"You have to produce the non-privileged documents and assert the [executive] privilege for those that are," Judge Sullivan told the WH criminals' attorney Coffin. "You refuse to assert the privilege and won't respond to court orders."

When Coffin said government attorneys might need even more time because "we haven't done a document review of the office of the vice president," Sullivan interrupted.

"That is a startling revelation!" the judge said twice. "How can you be asserting this is privileged information if you haven't looked at it?"

"We haven't completed the review," Coffin said. "We've done enough to know our arguments" are correct, he said. "I misspoke."

"How could you misspeak on something as significant as that?" Sullivan shot back.

Joining in, Larry Klayman, chairman of Judicial Watch, said, "He made a plain statement, and now he's backing off it because it's bad press."

QUICKIES
Ampersand at Alas, a blog is an uncle to 'a healthy boy' today! Congratulations!

Hesiod at Counterspin Central does some nice, bipartisan bitchslapping over our esteemed reprehensibles representatives' reaction to N Korea's nukes.

IssuesGuy at Seeing the Forest reminds us why it's so important to vote this November, even though the Democrats suck.

TBOGG has a new contest, and shares with us some details of Rusty Yates' brave new life. As a gigolo, it sounds like.

Wacky headline of the day: "Vatican Won't Bless U.S. Bishops' Pedophilia Plan" (you can see it here).




Guess you've all heard the latest chapter in republican family values: neither Columba or Jeb! could bother to stand with their crackhead daughter Noelle during her court appearance today.

Of course, she was sentenced to only 10 days in jail - and that for violating the terms of her drug treatment program, not for the rock of crack cocaine that was found on her person while in rehab. I guess fundraising with his older, stupider brother was more important for Florida's hanky mascot and next loser. As for Mrs Jeb!, who knows - maybe she was out drinking. Heavily.

AWOL A$$WIPE TO AUSSIES: 'UH...'
Bushies' Failure to Warn Australia about Indonesia Attack Causes Firestorm

It has now come to light that the CIA knew two weeks before the Bali blast that such an attack was impending - yet did not warn Australian intelligence, whose citizens were the primary victims. The warning was passed on to the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia - but not Australia. The Aussies are stunned by this revelation. "It would be an unthinkable and unforgiveable failure of the intelligence network," said Warren Reed, a former head of the Indonesian desk of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. "If the Americans had this information," he insists," they would have passed it directly to us and others in the intelligence club." Yet, says Prime Minister John Howard, Australia never received any warning. Just like the travel warnings never issued before 9/11. - - From the Sydney Morning Herald , via democrats.com.

UN TO BFEE: 'FU'
The Bush administration's push for an early war against Iraq drew broad opposition yesterday in an unusual open debate in the Security Council. Many countries backed weapons inspections, and Arab states said they would not support an attack without United Nations endorsement, considering an attack only as a last resort.

His Royal Heinous argued that time was wasting, and his press secretary, WH spokes-tool Ari 'the Liar' Fleischer, said later that resident Evil was only willing to wait a few more weeks for the United Nations to end its deliberations. (link)

But today, facing strong opposition from dozens of nations, the United States Chickenhawks have backed down from their demand that a new U.N. resolution must authorize military force if Baghdad fails to cooperate with weapons inspectors.

Instead, the Bushies are now floating a compromise which would give inspectors a chance to test Iraq's will to cooperate on the ground. If Iraq then failed to disarm, the misadministration would agree to return to the Security Council for further debate and possibly another resolution authorizing action.

The new compromise also drops tough wording explicitly threatening Iraq upfront, although the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a threat of consequences will be implied. (link)

'Let me guess - you're a republican.'
Went back to work today, hacking up goobers and sneezing red slime. Spent most of the day trying to deal with all my emails. Helpless squabs - can't anyone do anything right?? I should've asked them if they had a roll of TP, or did they expect me to wipe their asses, too. Idiots.

The BF's on a business trip to Edinburgh - he's already picked up some single malt at Cadenhead's, and a couple o' cans of haggis for me! Now if I could just get him to bring back some good cigars....


CHIMP and 'CHICANERY' CHENEY JUST TOO CHICKEN
WASHINGTON (AP) - Tearful relatives of Sept. 11 victims urged White House officials Wednesday not to block Congress' plans to create an independent commission to investigate the attacks, but were unsuccessful.

The main sticking points continue to be provisions governing the commission's subpoena power and leadership, which the White House fears could lead to partisan squabbling and finger-pointing. Bush objects to a provision that would allow five members of the 10-person commission, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, to issue a subpoena.

The administration also wants its only member on the commission to be the sole chairperson, instead of being co-chair with a Democratic appointee.

Repeat after me: honor...integrity...responsibility...compassionate conservatism... Maybe that just works for rich donors to the RNC.

MyDogSpot at DU* posts a hilarious snip from Ari and I: White House Press Briefing with Ari Fleischer, by Russell Mokhiber:

Mokhiber: You have said the President wants regime change in Iraq, by which I take it to mean the President wants to overthrow the government in Iraq. Why don't you just say the President wants to overthrow the government in Iraq?

Ari Fleischer: Russell, I think you need to address your question to the hundreds of members of Congress who in 1998 voted for regime change as America's policy under President Clinton, who signed it into law.

Mokhiber: If I could follow up, Ari.

Fleischer: Go ahead.

Mokhiber: You use the term regime change. Why don't you just say, we want to overthrow the government of Iraq?

- - The rest is here!
*Democratic Underground, not Ducks Unlimited.

News You Won't See on TV
The WSWS reports that police are seeking a man “affiliated with militia and white supremacist groups” for questioning in the sniper attacks.

Quickies
Lots of new flash movies at stranger's Blah3.com. I just can't keep up with this guy!

Hesiod at Counterspin Central has a link to a story that Lincoln Chafee (R-Rhode Island) may go Independant, depending on the outcome of the midterm elections. The same link also shows us, once again, what a sleazy piece of headcheese Mickey Kaus is.

William Burton tells us how Jeb! got rich.

AMCGLTD.com reminds us how hard the Bali blast devastated Australia.

The Nooculer Nincompoop just signed the congressional resolution giving him authority to wage war against Iraq "if needed" and said Baghdad would be unwise to test U.S. resolve. Bush said the resolution "symbolizes the united purpose of our nation." Is he talking about us??

The Best Page in the Universe reviews Crappy Children's Art.

Utah resident Mitt Romney may be tanking in Massachusetts governor's race.

Anti War Rage Spilling Through Media Blackout
From David Cogswell's HeadBlast:

"There is, however, anti war sentiment bubbling up in the land, overflowing its boundaries. The silence in the media about the demonstrations of antiwar sentiment is so pervasive it is startling. The stillness is colossal. It is striking how completely the major media black out these events that are so topical, that are of major significance even if only from the standpoint that they are an aspect of war, which is one of the most significant of all human events, the breakdown of civilization, of all law and civility.

[...] "Antiwar energy is circulating like a bolt of lightning through the body politic via the macro nervous system of telecommunications and the Internet. Now people who have anguished in solitude about the hijacking of America by oil pirates are starting to meet each other on the street. Their virtual allies whom they have encountered on the Internet are appearing to them in the flesh. The potential power latent in that vast antiwar population is enough to make any nuclear explosion seem microscopic in comparison. The Bush puppeteers are well aware of all of this, but no one, not even they can predict how this will play out. The future is being created by our actions now.

"So make some noise! Don't let your so-called representatives get away with whoring for special interests instead of representing you and the vast majority who opposes this stupid, dishonorable war. It is time to create an alternative future to what Bush and the oil thugs have in mind for us."

Other Headlines
Bush Uncertain How to Wrap Iraq for Father's Day Gift

"Die America! Charities" Suspected of Funding Terrorism

NRA: Sniper Protesting 5-Day Wait Period

Rumsfeld Congratulates Carter on Winning "Nobel Wuss Prize"

Bush Angered by Iraq's Plans to Fight Back
WASHINGTON (DPI) - The Bush administration expressed shock at recent news that Iraq will fight back, and perhaps even lash out in panic, if attacked. "To think those cowards might shoot back at our airplanes, or shoot missiles at our allies, is very disturbing," said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. "Our decision to overthrow their government is no excuse for such drastic and heartless action." The military is now revising its initial plan of being carried triumphantly through the desert on the backs of grateful villagers before chasing Saddam Hussein through the streets of Baghdad while cheering onlookers pelt him with rotten fruit.

- - The Daily Probe.

L is for the way you look at me...
Scotland - Some nut rolled about on the ground having sex with a traffic cone as stunned youths watched in disbelief, a court heard yesterday.

Ross Watt, 33, said it was only because he couldn’t get his hands on his favoured sex object - a pair of sneakers. Watt had gone round teenager drivers gathered at an Edinburgh beauty spot asking if they would sell him their trainers.

Watt then started rubbing his genitals up and down the traffic cone. The incident carried on for about 15 or 20 minutes. Police were alerted and arrived to find Watt replacing a traffic cone by a gatepost.

Watt was found guilty of acting in a disorderly manner by simulating sexual intercourse with a traffic cone and placing members of the public in a state of fear and alarm on 3 September at Calton Hill and committing a breach of the peace.

Quote of the Morning
"I don't know where these guys are living, but it must be somewhere within the neighborhood of oblivious" - -Tom Daschle, on the misadministration's cheerleading over the economy.

Must-See TV
Friday, November 15: Al Gore will give Barbara Walters his first formal televised interview since the 2000 presidential selection. Mr. Gore promises to address a wide range of issues, including that election and the Florida recount, his reflections since leaving office, his future political plans and criticisms of Bush's foreign policy and economic platform, and his new book on the transformation of the American family. - ABCNews.

Instead of a drinking game, let's do a variation - after the broadcast:
How many times will he be "dismissed" as "irrelevant"?
How many mentions will the color of his suit get?
Will the words "fat" and/or "wedding ring" be deemed important enough to rate a line in an article?

Iraq war? Economy in the crapper? Terrist Attacks? Snipers? Anthrax?
F*ck that! pReznit Pinhead's got more important things to do: goin' to war against the Democrats!

The White House refused to discuss Bush's travel plans, but Republican sources said he's planning to storm through 16 states beginning next week - including an upstate New York rally for Gov. Pataki and another visit to New Jersey for senatorial candidate Douglas Forrester.

"'No President in history has campaigned this aggressively for as sustained a period,' a senior Bush official said. 'He's been relentless - and it's entirely appropriate given the punishment the Senate Democrats have visited on him. Bush has told friends he's absolutely determined to become the rare President who actually picks up House seats in a midterm election."

Punishment - from the pink tutu'd Dems?? Are we living on the same planet?? And that this idiotic, clueless fratboy is 'relentless' in his fundraising, of all things, is absolutely mindboggling.

I saw the headline "Largest Meat Recall in US History" and had this picture of Chimp, Cheney, Rummy, and the rest of the misadministration being led off in handcuffs.

Grrrrrrrr...
The vice president blocks an independent commission to investigate 9-11.

I know this is yesterday's news, but I just read it again in Newsweek and it pissed me off all over again. Dick 'Chicanery' Cheney killed an agreement to create an independent commission to investigate the 9-11 attacks. Last month the White House endorsed the formation of the panel. But on Thursday, hours after congressional negotiators hailed a final deal over it's scope and powers, Cheney called House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Porter Goss - after which Goss told the committee he couldn’t accept the deal, citing instructions from “above my pay grade.”

Cheney, trying to make us believe the misadministration really doesn't have anything to hide - really - says it's just that he's strongly opposed to the idea of any independent body’s poking into the White House’s conduct. His stand is based on “principle,” dammit, not fear of embarrassments. And evidently he's not embarrassed at all by the fact that he's being perceived as trying to cover up his misadministration's involvement - or lack of - in the events of and leading up to the 9/11 attacks.

He has repeatedly objected to efforts by a separate joint-intelligence-committee inquiry to obtain documents and interview key witnesses, including an FBI informant who lived with two of the 9-11 hijackers. Gee, if Saddam or Al-Qaida could attack us at any minute, wouldn't information like this be important?

Then there's me.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Redheads may actually have another trait that makes them stand out -- sensitivity to pain, specialists reported on Tuesday.

People with natural red hair need about 20 percent more anesthesia than people with other hair colors, they told a meeting of anesthesiologists. The unexpected finding not only suggests that redheads are more sensitive to pain, but offers insights into how anesthesia works in people.

Dr. Edwin Liem of the University of Louisville in Kentucky said "In a nutshell, redheads are likely to experience more pain from a given stimulus and therefore require more anesthesia to alleviate that pain."

In my case, I think the pain receptors were connected to bullshit circuits . Either that or my 'given stimulus' = CNN.

Fun Fact:
A few years ago I had surgery done in my nose to scrape out a bunch of polyps (under local anaesthesia!) that were making it impossible to breathe. After the operation, my mom drove me to the pharmacy to pick up my pain meds, and while I waited in the car for her I suddenly felt sick. The combination of the stress, the local, and all the blood and mucus running down my throat caused me to violently hurl buckets of gory slime in the parking lot - right across from the huge picture windows of the dining area of the neighborhood IHOP.

I've never been so proud of myself as I was that moment.

From the party that promised to bring Honor and Dignity, Integrity and Responsibility back to DC:

The Denver Post reported that a White House intern "mistakenly" forwarded to dozens of Hispanic leaders an e-mail that described the Senate's senior Democrat as "doddering old Bob Byrd, the senile senator from West Virginia" and was highly critical of the Hispanic members of Congress who voted against the Iraq war resolution.

The message not only criticized Byrd, who led opposition to the Iraq resolution in the Senate, it also took to task Democratic Hispanic members of the House who voted against the resolution giving the president the authority to use military force to topple Saddam Hussein. "If they have a defense for their actions, they should deliver it to the kids in uniform that could one day have their ___ shot off to protect these ninnies!" the e-mail said.

The e-mail went to dozens of Hispanic leaders across the country, some of whom were stunned that a White House official would send such a critical message to a group that included many Democrats.

A White House spokeswoman, Jeanie Mamo, said the e-mail was written by "an activist" and "does not represent" the views of the president. Yeah, right. Don't tell me it was an unfortunate accident. In a WH that's more tightly controlled than Lindsay Graham's sphincter at a Village People concert? It just managed to slip past Karl Rove? Give me a f*cking break.

'President' seems unable to bear the sight or sound of dissent, Robyn Blumner writes in St. Petersburg Times:

"President Bush seems to think bullying is the only way to deal with dissent. Bush has so much trouble articulating a defense for his own policies, so little capacity to formulate a reasoned response, that he resorts to shibboleths, name-calling or worse, using authorities to shut down his critics. [...]

"In town after town where Bush has come to raise money or make a speech, his venue and the route leading up to it have been purged of protesters. This is accomplished through the combined efforts of local policing agencies and the secret service, which scour the crowd for any hint of opposition. Anyone with an anti-Bush sign is relegated into what is euphemistically called a Free Speech or Demonstration Zone -- a swath of land usually off the main thoroughfare and chained off so as to make it virtually impossible for the targets of the protest to read the signs or hear the chants. Those with pro-Bush signs are often treated very differently. They are free to cheerlead the president as he rides toward his engagement, which typically is further sanitized by being invitation-only.

"This kind of censorship is indicative of a leader who lacks confidence in his own powers of persuasion and the legitimacy of his course. Why else would Bush be so interested in hiding evidence of dissent within the American populace? [...]

Peter Buckley, a 45-year-old Democratic candidate for Congress in Oregon, was part of a group of people who had turned out to protest Bush's economic policies. They were herded into a dirt compound surrounded by a six-foot cyclone fence, 200 yards from the arena where Bush spoke to 5,000 invited guests.

""We were not allowed anywhere near any kind of position where the president, or the media which follows him, would see or hear us," he wrote. "What is happening everywhere Mr. Bush goes is wrong. The effort being made to hide political opposition in this country is more than cowardly. It's un-American."

"In Tampa, three people, including two grandmothers, were arrested last year at a Bush rally when they held up opposition signs outside the far-flung demonstration zone. Once again, people with supportive signs went unmolested. The charges against the three were later dropped as baseless, and a civil rights suit is expected to be filed within weeks against the Tampa Police Department.

"In the past, courts have ruled protest pens invalid. Americans have a right to address grievances to their president when he appears in public, even if that ruins a particular "photo op." My advice to Bush is to thicken his skin and work on the sagacity of his arguments."

LOL
Yeah, Amurka's speaking with one voice, alright.

MIDDLEBURY, Vermont - WH spokes-tool and propaganda reichsfuhrer Ari 'the Liar' Fleischer was welcomed back to Middlebury College Sunday by large and loud protests outside.

Fleischer’s presence on campus sparked a protest march through downtown Middlebury that brought opponents of the Bush administration’s policy on Iraq from all over Vermont and beyond. By a sideline count, about 880 people wended their way along Main Street and up the hill to Mead Chapel, Middlebury College’s largest gathering space.

Ben Gore, a Middlebury College junior who has been active in the local group, United for Peace, said his group’s count of the people outside Mead Chapel reached 1,500.

“We were expecting maybe 500, which I thought was optimistic,” Gore said. “This is beyond belief.”

There, they were joined by hundreds of college students to form a crowd that sang and chanted and shouted slogans before, during and after Fleischer’s award and speech.

IN OTHER NEWS
U.S. Plans Military Government In Iraq
Much like our own.

Bush Initiated Off-the-Books Harken Deal to Hide Debt, Inflate Stock
But White House explains that Saddam could attack us at any moment.

Congress Passes Pledge of Allegiance Bill
God, flag easier to uphold than Constitution.

Supreme Court Refuses to Rule in New Jersey Senate Controversy
Not a constitutional issue unless Democrat wins, they say.

- - from IronicTimes.

WATERFORD, Mich., Oct. 14 — The Court-Appointed Cokehead broke away from his tireless fundraising efforts to jump to conclusions. "The attack in Bali appears to be an Al Qaeda-type terrorist - definitely a terrorist attack, whether it's Al Qaeda-related, or not, I would assume it is. And therefore, it does look like a pattern of attacks that the enemy, albeit on the run, is trying to once again frighten and uhhhhhhh kill freedom-loving people."

Yeah, whatever.

Remember last week when that oily piece of repug smegma, Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times, moaned thru his alligator tears "Anyone seen any Democrats lately?" Maybe he should wipe the brown stuff off his nose and read Censoring The Opposition, by Jim Hightower:

If a press conference is held and the media doesn't cover it ... does it make a sound?

O.K., most Washington press conferences aren't anything more than self-serving noise that's not worth covering, but this one was an exception. Nineteen Democrats in Congress pulled themselves together and stood tall in a press conference to say something that millions of Americans -- indeed, an American majority -- have been desperate to hear: "Wait one damned minute, Mr. Bush, we don't agree with your rush to attack Iraq."

Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Gang have been ceaselessly pounding the war drums, and the media has covered every nano-second of the administration's self-serving beat. Yet, most Americans are asking basic questions like: What's the rush? Why now? Who'll die? What'll be the result? And, one important question: "Where the hell are the Democrats?"

Sadly, the loyal opposition has been M.I.A., offering no flag of protest for war-wary Americans to rally behind. So, when Marcy Kaptur, Jim McDermott, Bob Filner, Barbara Lee, Bernie Sanders, Lynn Woolsey, Dennis Kucinich, and other stalwart members of Congress had the guts to step forward in opposition, it was an important moment for We the People.

Only, we didn't hear or see them, for the establishment media essentially ignored their stand and refused to cover their message. The New York Times, for example, ran only a brief item, burying it inside the Saturday paper and denigrating the 19 members as being "outside the mainstream." Well, in 1776, the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were outside the mainstream, too, but they were right, and they built a new nation on such democratic principles as having the right to dissent from the ruling dogma.

But on the Sunday talk shows after their press conference, none of the dissenters were invited to talk, even though the war was the featured topic on all networks. The sound of protest was censored, and the propaganda persists that there's no important opposition to Bush's Iraq Attack.

I'm sort of back. Some kind of virulent cold germ has been passing itself around at work, and on friday it was my turn. I've spent the past 2 - 3 days sleeping. When I called in today I found out except for my boss, who's on vacation, my entire department is out sick.

It's almost time for a bowl of chickarina soup, some scotch, and another nap.



"America speaks with one voice," says the Ignorant Impotus. Oh really. "On the streets of America, nothing could be further from the truth," says ABCNews.

Across the nation, in city after city, ABCNEWS found voices of opposition, and many of them were from military towns. In addition to concern over timing and unilateral pre-emptive action, people question the president's motives. Many people told ABCNEWS they thought it was a "diversion from the faltering economy."

Debra Cassens, a businesswoman from San Diego, said it was about revenge: "Bush is trying to settle a score that began with his father," she said.

John Schneider, also from San Diego, said, "I think the president wants to take action to enhance his own position. The war powers resolution was timed to benefit those running for election this November."

And from Eric Margolis in The Toronto Sun:

The United States Congress has spoken. Not with a roar, but with a whimper, handing President George W. Bush a blank cheque to go to war against Iraq because of the "imminent threat" it supposedly poses to America. One is reminded of the revolting spectacle of Roman senators groveling at the feet of emperor Tiberius.

The notion of Iraq, a demolished nation of 22.3 million posing an "imminent threat" to the United States, a nation of 281 million, is ludicrous. In fact, anti-Saddam Kurds and southern Shia Muslims comprise 17.7 million, or 79%, of Iraq's population, leaving only 4.6 million Sunnis who more or less support the regime. That's about the population of Hong Kong.

But a steady drumbeat of bellicose propaganda, pressure from powerful special interests thirsting to destroy Iraq, and election year politics have combined to stampede Congress and many Americans into believing this grotesque, Orwellian fiction.

Illustrating war fever in Washington and the growing irrationality of the White House, President Bush last week compared his impending jihad against Iraq to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, and himself to John F. Kennedy. I was in Washington during the Cuban crisis and vividly recall its drama and dangers. The Soviets had nuclear-tipped missiles ready to strike the U.S. What the U.S. faces with Iraq - which has no long-range missiles or other delivery systems for bulky chemical munitions or highly complex systems for dispensing germs - is nothing comparable. And George W. Bush is no John F. Kennedy.

"..the director of the CIA admitted that the only reason Saddam would use WMDs against the United States was if he was backed into a corner -- due to a strike by the American military -- and realised he was about to fall. Saddam, Tenet was saying, would only become the nightmare that Bush envisaged, if Bush attacked him first."

Yep. The news you can only get from our friends in the international media. Read "Why the CIA thinks Bush is wrong" in Glasgow's Sunday Herald.

MADRID (Reuters) - pResident Evil's moves toward possible war against Iraq are a ruse to distract attention from corporate scandals, Ralph Nader was quoted as saying on Sunday.

"Iraq is a distraction strategy by the Bush administration to avoid being implicated in some of these scandals," Nader was quoted as saying in an interview with the Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo.

"The president still goes to various election-funding events with the people of the corporate world, and he doesn't want a judicial witch hunt to be unleashed against his corporate friends," he added.

Thanks, Ralph. But chimpy is not 'the president', and you're still an asshole.

Bush blames Bali Bomb on 'Terrists'.

Gee, and here I thought a group of nuns were responsible.

The explosions at a nightclub strip was packed with young foreigners. The explosions happened just before midnight last night.

As he was leaving church today in Washington, Bunnypants was asked whether he prayed for the victims of the blast, which killed at least 182 people and injured hundreds more. "Every day," Bush replied.

Now watch this drive.....

We're watching you, Bunnypants..


'The voice of America' - Simon Tisdale from The Guardian: "Slowly, inconsistently but palpably, ordinary Americans are making their voices heard."

"Each time Bush ups the ante, makes another, ever more far-fetched, fearsome claim about the Baghdad bogeyman, domestic support wavers or slips. It certainly does not rise, as this week's Pew Center survey confirms. Far from uniting his nation, as he claims, Bush's demagoguery is discernibly exposing and deepening its divisions not just on Iraq but along the deep, still heaving faultlines of the 2000 election. More and more of the 76% of voters who did not support him then (he won 47% of the popular vote on a 51% turnout) find their judgment vindicated now. "The public is deeply split," says the Pew survey.

"That the anti-Bush, silenced majority feels it is being ignored by politicians and the mainstream media is abundantly clear from unsolicited American responses to a critique of this week's Cincinnati national address by Bush published on the Guardian's website* and on US links. This random sample also indicates rapidly rising anxiety, frustration and anger about Iraq, and Bush himself. Here, perhaps, the authentic voice of America may be heard.

"I have never seen so much bullshit thrown at the American public in my lifetime, with too many people thinking it may be true if the president says it," emails a 77-year-old from Manchester, New Hampshire.

"We are being rail roaded into war over here. I am astounded by our president and his tactics utilising fear," says one writer.

"When I voted for Bush I had no idea what he would unleash," says another.

An Arizonan believes that Bush is "a complete and pathetic idiot ... I think enough Americans are beginning to see that the real regime change needs to take place at the White House".

"The Bush presidency should have been nipped in the bud by the supreme court," writes an Illinois resident. "We've been bamboozled and Congress doesn't seem to know what to do."

From Maryland comes the cry: "As an American I am totally speechless at whatever emanates from Bush's mouth - I mean, my 12-year-old son would make a better president."

In New York, some feel the same way. "To attack with so little proof is ghastly ... As someone who smelled the World Trade Center and its human occupants burn every day for three months, I do not wish that fate on the long-suffering Iraqi people."

An emailer from Bush's Texas believes "all he is trying to do is divert attention from his failure as a leader ... under Bush we are giving up all our civil rights in the name of fighting the war on terror. If we do not agree with him, we are anti-American."

A Californian agrees: "The American media shows complete indifference to ... the opinions of many if not most Americans (of whom) a majority are against this stupid adventure."

"As an older American who loves her country, I am terrified," writes Katie Redd. "Younger Americans just do not seem to realise the dangers of this arrogant, stupid little man. I pray God will help us - because our main press glorifies him and few congressmen oppose him."

A resident of lower Manhattan says Bush is beginning to sound like a "movie trailer for Creatures with an Atom Brain".

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Egon says it's time to go to bed, but first I have to finish my review of Tom 'Isadora' Daschle's splendid, moving performance in Ode to a Pink Jellyfish.

ANCIENT LONDON PLAQUE UNEARTHED
LONDON (Reuters) - Archaeologists excavating an ancient site in London say they have unearthed the oldest known plaque inscribed with the city's Roman name.

"This is hugely important," Francis Grew, curator of archaeology at the Museum of London told reporters on Friday. "It is the first real monumental inscription with the word Londinium on it.

The Italian marble plaque, found in the Southwark area of London at the junction of three key Roman roads, is dedicated to the Roman emperors and the god Mars from London-based merchant Tiberinius Celerianus. It refers to "Londiniensium" which Grew said could either be a variant of the more usual "Londinium" or, more likely, a reference to Tiberinius as being "of the people of Londinium".

Gary Brown of Pre-Construct Archaeology which is carrying out the major dig on the one hectare site on the southern banks of the River Thames said the plaque was found in a pit near the remains of two large Roman brick buildings. Grew said the plaque probably dated from between 50 and 150 AD and would have been placed prominently either on a building or in a shrine.

"The whole purpose of this was to advertise the importance of the man who by his name was from northern Gaul, probably in the Champagne region of Rheims, and who in Rome would have been treated as a yokel but who had made it in London," he said.

The site is on the river at the junction of Watling Street bringing people and goods up from the port of Dover and Stane Street coming up from the garrison town of Chichester to the south west. As Southwark lies on the other side of the river from the walled Roman city of Londinium, there is another main road connecting Watling and Stane streets to the city proper.

"I can't stress how important this site is. We have already gone back to the pre-historic occupation of the site and we have found vast quantities of artefacts," Brown said.

Cool!