October 31, 2003

'You can fly a jet, but you can't out-fly the Net'
"If the Bushies can't be honest about a two-word banner, the trip through all the rest of those words is going to take quite a while." - - from an editorial in the Oregonian.

The Corner Unleashed
Excerpt:

Derbyshire: Batman was cooler, goddamnit!

Goldberg: No way! Green Lantern could fly! And ooh, ooh, his only weakness? The color yellow!

Derbyshire: That's a stupid weakness!

Goldberg: It's metaphor! Cowardice! Only cowardice on the part of the liberals can stop George Bush!

- - The Mighty Reason Man.

The Bush failure to help prevent the California fires
The Bush misadministration took six months to evaluate Gov. Gray Davis' emergency request last spring for $430 million to clear dead trees from fire-prone areas of Southern California.

The request was finally denied Oct. 24, only hours before wildfires roared out of control in what has become the largest fire disaster in California history.

Grandma went out huntin' for a reindeer...
Share the Christmas spirit with the NRA holiday ornament! Start your collection today!

Headline of the day
Sent in by ScottB: Clay Rams Rod on Chart.

Runner-up: Rumsfeld Doesn't Know if He's Lost His Mojo.

The Incredible Lying BushCo
This just in: More irrefutable proof that Dubya's is the slimiest administration in 100 years.

"Bush's urgent call back in March to bomb the living crap out of pissant Iraq because Saddam had irrefutably cranked up his nuke arsenal and might possibly bomb weak depressed New York at any minute and wipe out all the Starbucks and ruin Monday Night Football was not only completely bogus and impossible, it was shockingly dangerous, and unprecedented, and even borderline treasonous." - - Mark Morford.

Halloween true horror story
GOP boytoy and former comedian Dennis 'yes, Karl' Miller is set to host a prime-time, hour-long cable talk show scheduled to debut in January on CNBC. He will also serve as executive producer.

"With all that's going on in the world today, it's nice to have a nightly platform to air my opinions. I'm happy to be back in the NBC family," said Miller.

Yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

'See, it IS my economy! It's mine, mine, MINE!'
Blithering sap-head Snippy McTitleist claimed credit for third-quarter economic growth, but Democratic critics said it does not make up for the weak job market.

"I think every single American is far more interested in J-O-B than G-N-P," said the charming yet lily-livered Tom 'Isadora' Daschle.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said the strong economic growth has yet to "filter down" to many working families, and he said the jobless situation remains serious. "Companies are hiring workers, but they're hiring workers overseas," he said.

"President Bush has compiled the worst economic record since the Great Depression, and it is going to take a lot more than one quarter of growth to clean it up," said Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean in a statement. "The real measure of a strong economy is when average Americans see real benefits and the people who lost their jobs under President Bush are working again."

Report: Iraq contracts reek of cronyism
"The rest of the world is now questioning not just the morals of the U.S. occupation, but also its method."

Many of the U.S. firms doing billions of dollars of work in Iraq and Afghanistan are huuuuuuge donors to and the rethugs, a report on Thursday said.

The report by the watchdog group the Center for Public Integrity, said most of the 70 firms and individuals getting up to $8 billion in contracts for post-war Iraq and Afghanistan donated more to 's presidential campaign than any other candidate in the past decade.

"There is a stench of political favoritism and cronyism surrounding the contracting process in both Iraq and Afghanistan," said Charles Lewis, executive director of the group, which investigates public service and ethics issues. One of the biggest contracts for Iraq went to Halliburton, the firm "formerly" run by Dick 'Chicanery' Cheney.



Happy Halloween!


Things are goin' great!
"The United States is groping to counter the hostility stirred by its occupation."

American troops clashed with rioters carrying Saddam's picture Friday in a Baghdad suburb, and a heavy smoke billowed from the mayor's office in a city west of the capital following a strong explosion.

In Fallujah, a strong explosion on Friday shook the center of the city, and thick black smoke billowed from the mayor's office, witnesses said. The blast was heard about 1:35 p.m., and Iraqi police blocked off the roads leading there. More details were not immediately available.

A melee at Abu Ghraib, some 10 miles west of Baghdad, apparently broke out when coalition forces tried to open up a road that had been partly blocked by market stalls.

A roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. foot patrol on the outskirts of the northern city of Mosul and unidentified gunmen sprayed the city hall with automatic fire, officers said Friday. Nobody was injured in the attacks. - - link

Hundreds of families who lost their homes to post-war rent hikes are bracing for the freezing winter season, haunted by the fear of another expulsion from their dilapidated shacks along Baghdad's notoriously violent airport road.

Meanwhile, the US is 'glumly accepting' the withdrawal of UN and aid workers from Iraq, despite personal appeals to stay from US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

October 30, 2003

Perspectives
"First, this number (7.2 percent annual GDP growth rate in the third quarter) sounds too good to be true. Of course, it comes from the Commerce Department, which is part of the Executive Branch reporting to the Bush Administration. Given Bush's track record with veracity and facts, you have to wonder if there is some creative accounting going on that will be quietly revised in a couple of weeks.

"Remember, this is the same administration that told the EPA to lie about air quality around the WTC and redact their reports about global warming, the same administration that is censoring 9/11 intelligence investigations, the same administration that is stonewalling the Justice Department on energy industry sweetheart deals and intelligence leaks, the same administration that played loose with the facts justifing war with Iraq and is now spinning the situation over there, and so on.

"Second, where are the jobs?" - - props to SK Bubba.

New novella
Darkness at Sunset and Vine, by blogpal Ginger Mayerson at The Hackenblog. Billed as 'very political and very violent,' it was 'written in a fury after bush's "Give me $87 billion so I can start to clean up my mess that never had to happen" speech.'

Rebels attack; int'l groups bolt Baghdad
Insurgents blasted a freight train west of Baghdad on Thursday and exploded a bomb near a convoy in a northern city, injuring a U.S. soldier, as international organizations continued their exodus from the capital. Meanwhile, an explosion shook Baghdad's old quarter late Thursday, triggering a large fire. Gunfire broke out in the area as U.S. helicopters flew overhead.

Also, in Baghdad, police said a motorist was arrested after trying to throw a hand grenade into a police station on the edge the capital's "green zone," the heavily guarded headquarters of the U.S. occupation.

The UN said Wednesday it was temporarily pulling its remaining international staff out of Baghdad, joining other organizations in withdrawing after Monday's deadly suicide car bombing.

The Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders were also pulling workers out of Baghdad.

Bush's desperate spin
"With each passing day, the administration's claims that the Iraq attacks are signs of 'desperation' sound increasingly, well ... " - - Eric Boehlert presents the timeline of yet another stupid WH talking point, in Salon.

America's shame
Here's the pic.

George Bush: Jesus helped me stop drinking, getting abortions for girlfriends, doing coke, getting DUIs...
Unfortunately, Jesus didn't help with the 'incompetent, powerhungry numbskull and virulant liar' part.

The Kennebunkport Kowpie stopped Wednesday night at a Christian youth center in Dallas, to promote his "compassion agenda" on his way to his bogus ranch, the Lazy W.

Hopalong Hop-head will stay at Rancho el Bunco through the Halloween weekend, with a day trip to Ohio, scheduled for Thursday and campaigning in Kentucky and Mississippi on Saturday.

Fun Fact: Fratboy McFoto-op spoke with banners over each shoulder, one saying "King of Kings" and the other "Lord of Lords." Jeezus K. ****.

Repukes to quietly remove Cuba-travel provisions to avoid embarassing veto for Bush
Legislation that would relax the ban on travel to Cuba is headed for failure even though it passed both the House and Senate.

Lawmakers said Wednesday that chickensh*t repug leaders probably would strip the provision from a transportation funding bill during House and Senate negotiations so the Chimp-in-Chief would not have to veto an important appropriations bill. - - Miami Herald.

You know, this never happened when Clinton was President....

Wesley Clark rips Bush for 9-11 intel failures, demands CIA's 8-6-01 briefing
Hero/patriot Wesley Clark is blaming miserable failure and indolent fratboy Smirky McAwol for the intelligence failures that contributed to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

'There is no way this administration can walk away from its responsibility for 9-11,' Clark said. 'You can't blame something like this on lower level intelligence officers, however badly they communicated memos with each other. ... The buck rests with the commander in chief, right on George W. Bush's desk.'

Clark called on Buckeroo Bonehead to release the details of an intelligence briefing he received from CIA Director George Tenet in August 2001.

Clark argued that Bush has manipulated facts, stifled dissent, retaliated against detractors, shown disdain for allies and started a war without just cause. He said Bush put Americans at risk by pursuing war in Iraq instead of hunting for Osama bin Laden and other terrorists, pulling a 'bait-and-switch' by going after Saddam Hussein instead of al Qaeda terrorists. Word.

qWagmire: nations retreat from troop commitments
Belgium quietly snickering at Crossfire's Fuc Tucker Carlson.

'Coalition' members say f*ck this sh*t, go home.

USA Today is reporting that several nations which had indicated they might send troops to Iraq have decided against the idea. Bangladesh and Portugal, two countries that the US had been pressing to send troops, said they would not send any. At one point Bangladesh had said it might send as many as 5000 troops, but now Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia will not even ask Parliament to vote on a motion for deployment. Portugal, which has 120 policemen already in Iraq, had said it would consider sending a limited number of troops once the UN resolution authorizing a force was passed. But the recent violence in Iraq has convinced the Lisbon government not to send any combat force. South Korea is also equivocating on an offer of 5000 troops for Iraq. Meanwhile, an MSNBC report quotes Iraq's foreign minister as saying it was increasingly unlikely Turkey would send troops, since the new provisional Iraqi government has strongly objected to the idea. - - CS Monitor.

'Vote republican? Over my dead body! Oh, wait...'
"No wonder morale is low. No wonder the American soldiers I meet on the streets of Baghdad and other Iraqi cities don't mince their words about their own government. US troops have been given orders not to bad-mouth their President or Secretary of Defence in front of Iraqis or reporters (who have about the same status in the eyes of the occupation authorities). But when I suggested to a group of US military police near Abu Ghurayb they would be voting Republican at the next election, they fell about laughing.

"We shouldn't be here and we should never have been sent here," one of them told me with astonishing candour. "And maybe you can tell me: why were we sent here?" - - Robert Fisk.

Claim vs. Fact: presidential press conference, 10/28/03
'Credibility'?? Not bloody likely!

CLAIM: “The world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership.”

FACT: According to Amnesty International’s 2003 annual report “The world has become more dangerous, and governments more repressive, since the effort to fight terrorism began after the 9/11, attacks on the United States.” For the U.S. specifically, “Since March, 353 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq, including 229 in hostile fire.”

The Center for American Progress breaks down the smirking phony's deplorable lies in his latest nooze conference with the WH steno pool.



No aurora borealis last night, but we did have a roaring bearealis. A bear came through the yard around 11 PM and woke up every dog in the neighborhood. The guy down the road lit up some firecrackers to try to drive it off. Our dogs, it turned out, were too busy raiding the kitchen garbage to care.




Bush remarks on "mission accomplished" banner embarrass White House
“White House officials say that a variety of people, including the president, came up with the Mission Accomplished idea, and that Mr. Sforza embedded himself on the carrier to make preparations days before Mr. Bush's landing in a flight suit and his early evening speech…aides had choreographed every aspect of the event."

Senate Minority Leader and prima ballerina Tom 'Isadora' Daschle, asked by reporters about the incident, called it "one of the most significant embarrassments of the entire Iraq experience so far.

"We've lost more lives since (Bush) declared victory than we lost prior to the time we declared victory. And this latest fabrication is yet another illustration of their (the Republican administration's) unwillingness to except reality."

"Now if you'll excuse me, Karl says I'm late for my obsequious snivelling refresher course."

October 29, 2003

Blogger being sued by self-admitted stalker
For alleging he was stalking Paul Krugman. The wanker is one Don Luskin, known in some circles as 'leatherboy' and in others, 'leatherbitch,' when he's not being called a 'crybaby hung-like-a-gerbil-stalker.' - - Eschaton .


Unspeakable, smeg-encrusted, slimy fascist jerkoff
Believe me, you really do NOT want to know what I think of Zell Miller.

Boo-la-paloola

  • The 100 scariest movie scenes of all time.
  • A Halloween book quiz.
  • "Alien" returns in an updated version: Alien: The Director's Cut digitally restores the images, enhances the audio and sound effects, trims a few shots to tighten transitions and adds about five minutes of deleted footage.




  • Quote of the day
    "I think it is outrageous. He blamed the sailors for that and it is something -- an event -- that his advance team staged. I guess that next thing we are going to hear is that the sailors told him to wear the flight suit and prance around on the aircraft carrier. This is a president who does not want to take accountability." - - Gen. Wesley Clark.

    Judge refuses to release Tommy Chong from jail
    A federal judge ruled that Tommy Chong's prison sentence for conspiracy to sell bongs would likely stand and refused to release him from jail pending an appeal. Prosecutors said Chong grew wealthy by glamorizing drug use and trivializing law enforcement in his films, and gosh, that's just plain wrong.

    Meanwhile...

    Rush Limbaugh to keynote Churchill Dinner on 11/21
    "The Claremont Institute is proud to give nationally syndicated talk-show host and political commentator Rush Limbaugh its Statesmanship Award at the annual Churchill Dinner in Los Angeles on Friday, November 21. Limbaugh will be the keynote speaker; fellow radio commentator Hugh Hewitt will serve as master of ceremonies."

    In other news

  • Gen. Boykin: some of my best friends are false idol worshippers

  • Bush says he'll veto National Meritocracy Day

  • Record deficit blamed for red ink shortage

  • 'No Crony Left Behind' a success, says White House

  • Viagra challenged by Levitra
    Levitra challenged by Staminix, Phallactin, Erectra, Woodypropin, Hardenol, Risamax, Staypitor, and Bonadryl.

  • Huge solar flare briefly disrupts satellite communications
    For nearly twenty-three minutes, Fox News is fair and balanced.

    - - IronicTimes.com.

  • WH raises value of Iraq oil repair work
    Keeping it in the family - the Bush/Cheney cartel crime family.

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Wednesday it was raising the maximum value of two contracts to repair Iraq's oil industry.

    The Army Corps said the value of the work in the southern portion of the country could now go as high as $1.2 billion and the work in the north of Iraq could be as high as $800 million. Previously both contracts had a $500 million maximum value.

    Award of the work, replacing a no-competition contract given to Dick 'Chicanery' Cheney's "former" company Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root in March, is expected to occur in the next 30 to 60 days, the Army Corps said.

    U.S. position in Iraq seen as pretty damn dicey
    In the international online press, the U.S. presence in Iraq is seen as increasingly perilous. Even supporters of the U.S. role express fear of a deteriorating situation.

    "Occupation forces are sinking in the quicksands of Iraq and drowning in a bloody swamp," said Jordan's Al-Arab Al-Yom daily . . . The attacks, blamed on loyalists of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and anti-U.S. Islamic fundamentalists, 'are turning into a wearing war of attrition for the U.S. administration,' it said. Another Jordanian newspaper, Al-Dustur, asked whether U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and "the others realise that this is only the beginning."

    In India, the editors of the Dehli-based Hindustan Times said former Hussein loyalists "have realised that the U.S. will not get much help from outside because of its decision to start the war after snubbing the U.N."

    "Let's face it, the US is f*cked." - - from the PentagonPost. Mostly.




    Two GIs killed when tank attacked in Iraq
    U.S. postwar death toll hits new milestone.

    Wednesday October 29, 2003 10:46 AM - BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Two American soldiers were killed when their Abrams battle tank was damaged by resistance fighters, and seven Ukrainian troops were wounded in the first ambush of a multinational unit in the Polish sector south of Baghdad. - - link.

    Someone's been dipping into the pretzals again...
    "The vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice." - - Certifiable stupe George W. Bush, miserable failure, 10/28/03.

    Cranky twerp Camille Paglia comments on the "delusional narcissists" in the White House who led an 'out-of-his-depth president into a disastrous war,' in Salon.


    Image from Fark

    'Things are goin' great!'
    "If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens. You’re dealing with insane suicide bombers who are killing our people, and we need to be very aggressive in taking them out.” - - Sen. Trent Lott (R-Wackjob).



    Must read! "Mission Accomplished": Anatomy of a Deadly Lie
    BuzzFlash dissects another Bush whopper:

    "The 'Mission Accomplished' sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished," Bush said yesterday. "I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff - they weren't that ingenious, by the way."

    Oh really?

    'Mr. Sforza embedded himself on the carrier to make preparations days before Mr. Bush's landing in a flight suit. Media strategists noted afterward that Mr. Sforza and his aides had choreographed every aspect of the event, even down to the members of the Lincoln crew arrayed in coordinated shirt colors over Mr. Bush's right shoulder and the "Mission Accomplished" banner placed to perfectly capture the president and the celebratory two words in a single shot. The speech was specifically timed for what image makers call "magic hour light," which cast a golden glow on Mr. Bush.' - - CNN.

    Read the whole thing here.




    PSM
    Bush Wars breaks down yesterday's speech:

  • Iraq/Iraqis - 60 mentions
  • terrorists - 29 mentions
  • terror - 17 mentions
  • terrorism - 1 mention
  • "September the 11th" - 4 mentions
  • Saddam Hussein – 14 mentions
  • Taliban - 1 mention
  • Osama bin Laden - zero mentions
  • accountability - zero mentions
  • 87 billion dollars - zero mentions
  • Donald Rumsfeld - zero mentions
  • America/American/Americans - 23 mentions, mostly in his opening remarks.





  • CBS rethinks 'The Reagans'
    Under pressure from hysterical repukes, supine CBS president Les 'chickensh*t toady' Moonves says the network will retool the script of its upcoming miniseries on Saint Ronnie of Reagan and his harpy wife to present a "more balanced view." Wonder how big they'll make the damn halo.



    October 28, 2003

    PSM
    George W. Bush, miserable failure.

    GOP rep's wife says he wants a divorce after admitting to D.C. affair
    Why am I posting this? Because the repuke party is one of family values and morality, the party of honor, integrity, and marriage-preservation-week proclamations. And harping on Bill Clinton's personal life. Well, they can all eat it, the f*cking hypocrites.

    The wife of Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) said Monday that her husband of 21 years has asked her for a divorce after admitting he is involved with another woman, a Washington lobbyist.

    “He called me on Friday and said he wants a divorce,” Susan LaTourette said.

    {Turns out he lies about a lot of things. When first elected, he said he would stay for four terms at most. He recently told GOP leaders that he would serve no more than 10 years, but he has announced that he will run for a sixth two-year term in 2004.}

    Susan LaTourette, 49, said the congressman “called [her] a few weeks ago to tell [her] he had a girlfriend and wanted a divorce.”

    Great - over the phone, yet. What a classy guy.
    Asswipe.

    Follow-up
    ...to the Chimp-in-Chief's we-had-nothin'-to-do-with-it! comments today regarding the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner:

  • General Wesley Clark responds to President Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' Remarks:

    "Today, President Bush backtracked on his May 1 political photo op on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln by blaming the troops on the aircraft carrier for the declaration of 'mission accomplished' in Iraq. This is wrong, this is irresponsible and this is not leadership. Politicizing the mission of those troops in the first place was bad theater, and diminished the office of Commander in Chief -- but to now turn his comments on those very troops is outrageous. Instead of trying to blame the sailors and soldiers, the President owes our troops in harm's way and the American people a plan to bring peace to Iraq and stability to the region."

  • MSNBC's Buchanan and Press...

    BILL PRESS: Bush said...the crew of the ship put that sign up. Now we find out the White House has just confirmed, we just got this handed to us...Senior Navy officials now confirm the sign was in fact produced by the White House.

  • Deputy mayor of Baghdad assassinated
    Unknown gunmen assassinated a deputy mayor of Baghdad in an apparent hit-run shooting, the U.S. occupation authority reported.

    Tom Basile, a Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman, said he had no details on the killing, other than that it occurred in Baghdad, and "we believe he was shot in a hit-and-run incident."

    Doesn't f*cking us over count?
    Lying warmonger Dick 'liar' Cheney should be censured: the WaComPo.

    At the very least.

    "Oh, gosh, well..."
    Snippy the Chimp's 10/28/03 press con with his adoring throng of enablers:

    Q: Thank you, Mr. "President." You recently put Condoleezza Rice, your National Security Advisor, in charge of the management of the administration's Iraq policy. What has effectively changed since she's been in charge? And the second question, can you promise a year from now that you will have reduced the number of troops in Iraq?

    Napoleon Bonehead: The second question is a trick question, so I won't answer it. The first question was Condoleezza Rice. Her job is to coordinate interagency. She's doing a fine job of coordinating interagency. She's doing -- the role of the National Security Advisor is to not only provide good advice to the President, which she does on a regular basis -- I value her judgment and her intelligence -- but her job is also to deal interagency and to help unstick things that may get stuck, is the best way to put it. She's an unsticker. And -- is she listening? Okay, well, she's doing a fine job.

    Consumer confidence up - if you're rich to begin with
    Affluent Americans are increasingly optimistic on the U.S. economic outlook, yet are not spending more and expanding their investments only slowly, a survey reported on Monday.

    "Gains in the stock market, the recent tax cuts and job increases in September have all contributed to affluent Americans' growing optimism about the economy," said Brad Turner, Senior Managing Director of McDonald Financial Group.

    "However, when it comes to spending and investing their own money, they do not seem to display that same level of confidence," he added. - - link.

    Severely f*cked-up news
    In a Rose Garden news conference, Bush told reporters that Saddam's followers, whom he called "suiciders," want to create "chaos and fear" because they won't have the same privileges in a free Iraq that they had under Saddam.

    THEY'RE SUICIDE BOMBERS. THEY'RE DEAD.

    Jeebus K....

    {......}

    PSM

  • Severe solar activity today
    'One of the most powerful solar flares in years, a remarkable X17-category explosion, erupted from sunspot 486 this morning at approximately 1110 UT. A strong solar radiation storm is in progress. (Click here to learn about the effects of such storms.) The explosion hurled a coronal mass ejection almost directly toward Earth. When it left the sun, the cloud was traveling 2125 km/s (more than 4 million mph). The CME could trigger bright auroras when it sweeps past Earth perhaps as early as tonight.' - - from Spaceweather.com.

  • Beautiful but deadly - CA wildfire pic.

  • The misadministration's presstitutes
    Asleep at the wheel, or sleeping with Karl?

  • 'I think these forces have unbalanced the relationship between this White House and the press. Frankly, even if we had tried it in LBJ's time, we wouldn't have gotten away with the kind of press conference President Bush conducted on the eve of the invasion of Iraq -- the one that even the President admitted was wholly scripted, with reporters raising their hands and posing so as to appear spontaneous. Matt Taibbi wrote in The New York Press at the time that it was like a mini-Alamo for American journalism. I'd say it was more a collective Jonestown-like suicide. At least the defenders of the Alamo put up a fight.' - - Bill Moyers, in a BuzzFlash interview.

  • 'In Europe, on two out of three occasions, fascist governments came to power in the 20th century using the established democratic process. Through street violence and physical threats, and, just as importantly, through radio and newspaper propaganda, they rode to power on a wave of ugly emotions. They also needed the silence of good people who knew better. There are similarities.' - - Ed Bishop, St Louis Journalism Review.

  • 'Look at this White House press corps; it's just abdicated all responsibility.'




  • Slow start today. They're making me work.

    Car bomb kills six in Fallujah, Iraq
    Police officers said a small car driven by one man exploded 100 meters (yards) from the main police station in the town west of Baghdad, outside a secondary school for boys. Things must really be goin' great! - - link.

    Later Tuesday, eight massive explosions were heard after sundown in Fallujah, coming from the southern area of the city. U.S. officials in Baghdad said they were unaware of the explosions, which residents described as "deafening."

    "Basically what they're trying to do is cause people to run...That's what terrorists do," blithering nitwit Smirky McSimpleton told a Rose Garden "news conference" Tuesday (transcript not yet available).



    Arabs blame US for Baghdad bloodbath
    Winning hearts and minds

    Most Arab media on Tuesday blamed the US failure to provide security in Baghdad for the latest suicide bombings in the Iraqi capital. "Occupation forces are directly responsible for this because of the instability they created in Iraq," wrote the daily al-Khaleej. Whatever.

    October 27, 2003

    Coolapaloola

  • Another free make-your-own (sort of) logo site.

  • The Dennis Miller action figure. No guarantee you'll know what it's talking about. Pull its string and it pontificates; applies lotion, mayo for Karl Rove doll. Doubles as a toilet plunger.

  • This week's national best-sellers, from National Lampoon, via The Hamster.

  • The worst romance novel covers.

  • Scariest moments ever: the top 20 horrors from film and TV as decided by viewers.

  • In honor of Halloween, the damned spooky haunted painting.

  • History and hauntings: the American Ghost Society site.


  • Win a full-frontal massage from Dick Cheney!
    Oh, sorry, you already got one.

    Search in Iraq fails to find nuclear threat - no evidence uncovered of any reconstituted program.

    None. Zip. Nada. It is now clear that Saddam had no active program to build a nuclear weapon, produce its key materials or obtain the technology he needed for either. - - More at the WaPo.


    PSM
    Jesus' fave-rit golfing chimp has proclamed Oct. 26 through Nov. 2, 2003 as 'Protection From Pornography Week'. Does that mean we get a break from watching Alan 'Fingerpuppet' Colmes blow Sean Hannity? Cool!


    Tony Snow heads to repug hate-radio
    After seven years as host of Jesus Loves Repub Faux Nooze Sunday, Tony Snow is leaving for Fox radio.

    Although Fux News executives say Snow did a solid job as a Sunday morning host, moving him to the radio was chairman Roger Ailes' way of "easing Snow out at a time when he believes that the program needs a jump-start," sources at the network said.

    That came as a surprise to Snow. "After all I've done for him? Well, if he thinks I'm going to return those kneepads, he better guess again."

    Congressman: revoke CBS' license if they go forward with TV movie about Reagan
    Reboob rep. Eric Cantor (R-VApidpusbucket) went on Buchanan & Press and suggested that CBS should have its license revoked if it went ahead with the alleged warts-and-all movie, Reagan: What a Dipshit!

    "I'm just saying I think as a representative of the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia and as a member of Congress we have a duty to make sure that licenses at the federal level are not abused...and abuse means using those licenses to advance a political agenda." said Cantor.

    Faux Nooze was too busy laughing to comment.

    And from the 'We will find these people and we will bring them to justice' department:

    Bush ordered officials tracking al Qaeda to switch focus to Iraq
    "By early March, 2002, a former White House official told me, it was understood by many in the White House that the Resident had decided, in his own mind, to go to war. The undeclared decision had a devastating impact on the continuing struggle against terrorism. The Bush Administration took many intelligence operations that had been aimed at Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups around the world and redirected them to the Persian Gulf. Linguists and special operatives were abruptly reassigned, and several ongoing anti-terrorism intelligence programs were curtailed." - - from Part V of Seymour Hersh's 'The Stovepipe' .

    Bush: desperation spurred attacks
    Oh for God's sake...

    Yep, it's the ol' 'they hate freedom' speech.

    Blithering sap-head Squinty McNumbnuts said Monday that U.S. progress in Iraq is making insurgents more "desperate" and spurring attacks such as the bombings at the international Red Cross headquarters and the police stations that killed dozens of people.

    "The more progress we make on the ground, the more free the Iraqis become, the more electricity that's available, the more jobs are available, the more kids that are going to school, the more desperate these killers become," the vacuous boob told the presstitutes at the White House.

    The more things go great, the worse they get, huh?

    He said those who are continuing to engage in violence "can't stand the thought of a free society. They hate freedom. They love terror. They love to try to create fear and chaos."

    "The vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. We will find these people and we will bring them to justice," he intoned.

    Yeah, just like he did with Osama bin Laden. Blah blah blah. Yawn.

    Fox News threatened to sue Fox Television for Simpsons parody
    Morans.

    Lisa: Principal Skinner, you're just stealing.
    Skinner: Welcome to Dick Cheney's America.


    No, not that. This:

    POINTLESS NEWS CRAWLS UP 37 PERCENT ... DO DEMOCRATS CAUSE CANCER? FIND OUT AT FOXNEWS.COM ... RUPERT MURDOCH: TERRIFIC DANCER ... DOW DOWN 5000 POINTS ... STUDY: 92 PERCENT OF DEMOCRATS ARE GAY ... JFK POSTHUMOUSLY JOINS REPUBLICAN PARTY ... OIL SLICKS FOUND TO KEEP SEALS YOUNG, SUPPLE ... DAN QUALYE: AWESOME ... ASHCROFT DECLARES BREAST OF CHICKEN SANDWICH "OBSCENE" ... HILLARY CLINTON EMBARRASSES SELF, NATION ... BIBLE SAYS JESUS FAVORED CAPITAL-GAINS CUT ... STAY TUNED FOR HANNITY AND IDIOT ... ONLY DORKS WATCH CNN ... JIMMY CARTER: OLD, WRINKLY, USELESS ... BRAD PITT + ALBERT EINSTEIN = DICK CHENEY ... RIGHT WING OF CHICKEN [cuts off here]: newscrawl on The Simpsons.

    'The Fox News Network did back down on its threat, although it has told the Simpsons creators that in the future, the cartoon series will not be allowed to include a "news crawl" along the bottom of the screen, which might "confuse the viewers."'


    Fox news: Wholly without merit.

    Mr. President, we're not your court stenographers
    'We are not the "patriotic press" plugging a war in the style of Fox News.

    'When Bush says news is being "filtered," his complaint really is that reporters refuse to be good court stenographers. Bush's "filter" is merely a matter of contextual reporting, and holding the government accountable.' - - from an editorial in the Austin American-Statesman.




    'Things are goin' great!'
    "Every place in Baghdad is dangerous now that the Americans are here."

  • Paul Wolfowitz celebrates Ramadan by getting bombed.
    Sun Oct 26 - The U.S. occupation authority retreated from its headquarters Sunday after Iraqi insurgents attacked the heavily guarded hotel with a missile barrage that killed an American colonel, wounded 18 other people and sent visiting deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz scurrying for safety.

    More than 15 hours after the rocket fire, two explosions went off in the same downtown area. An Iraqi policeman said an assailant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. convoy next to the al-Mansour Hotel. There were no casualties.

  • Monday October 27 - Three American soldiers were killed and four wounded in two separate attacks in Iraq, the U.S. military said Monday.

    Two soldiers were killed and two others wounded Sunday in Baghdad after their patrol was targeted by a roadside bomb. In Abu Ghraib, on the western edge of Baghdad, one soldier was killed and two wounded Sunday after an attack on their Military Police unit.

  • Monday October 27 - Up to 18 people were feared dead today after bombers targeted the Baghdad headquarters of the International Red Cross, and in attacks on four police stations, another 27 people were killed in a spree of destruction that terrorized the Iraqi capital .

  • Cover story, this week's Newsweek: 'Bush's $87 billion mess - waste, chaos, and cronyism: the real cost of rebuilding Iraq.'

  • October 25, 2003

    Bush came, but Hu conquered, paper says
    Chinese president impresses Australians

    The Chinese leader was gregarious; the American "president" aloof.

    Bush left after 21 hours in Australia, stuck to the capital, and was whisked around in motorcades on routes swept clear of ordinary people. He declined to hold a news conference and was criticized in the usually pro-American press here for offering little beyond a pledge to get the outline of a free trade agreement with Australia completed soon.

    Hu is lingering for three days. He took the traditional outing for visiting dignitaries -- a cruise on Sydney's splendid harbor. He met with Australian business executives at a working lunch, and, in an unusual move for a Chinese leader, held a news conference, albeit a fairly scripted affair.

    "Bush came, Hu conquered," headlined the Financial Review, the conservative, business newspaper.

    URBs: Unexplained Resting Boulders
    Unexplained tree-top boulders found in forest.

    In a remote area of a 23,000-acre forest, a hunter discovered a large boulder in the top of an 80-foot-tall tree. Hikers have found at least two more giant sandstone boulders sitting in the top limbs of two sycamores. One boulder is nearly 45 feet off the ground and both rocks appear to weigh about 200 pounds.

    I just get squirrels.

    City to Bush: Pay up for cops
    You deadbeat!

    The city of Portland will ask the indolent, partying fratboy to pay the overtime bill that police ran up during his campaign visit to the Rose City last summer.

    Mayor Vera Katz says she will send a bill to Bush-Cheney '04, the unelected fraud's "re-election" committee, for $116,756. Most of it is for police overtime, but a portion would pay for increased employee benefits incurred because of the overtime, said Scott Farris, the mayor's spokesman.

    "This will be an ongoing policy in this administration to bill for any kind of overtime costs associated with political fund-raising events that are not open to the general public, that are clearly not part of an official's official duties."

    Talk about whiners! Here's one cut NPR can afford to make
    "Dworkin and other members of the NPR hierarchy are so rattled by criticism from right-wing media pundits that they now criticize the network's own presenters for not treating conservative-leaning guests with kid gloves.

    "The last thing America needs is another broadcast network that refuses to ask tough questions and instead practices stenography to the famous and powerful."

    C.I.A. disputes accusations that its prewar conclusions were flawed
    "The review is expected to form the basis of a public report that Republicans who control the committee hope to issue later this year.

    "But Congressional officials said the timing and nature of the conclusions may be affected by opposition from Democrats. The Democrats say the committee still has not been able to review evidence that might shed light on the possible misuse of intelligence by Bush administration officials, as opposed to errors made by intelligence analysts."

    Administration faces subpoenas from 9/11 panel
    Oct. 25 — The chairman of the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks said that the White House was continuing to withhold several highly classified intelligence documents from the panel and that he was prepared to subpoena the documents if they were not turned over within weeks.

    "Any document that has to do with this investigation cannot be beyond our reach," chairman Thomas Kean said on Friday. This was his first explicit public warning to the White House that it risked a subpoena and a politically damaging courtroom showdown with the commission over access to the documents, including Oval Office intelligence reports that reached pResident Bush's desk in the weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks.

    "I will not stand for it," he said.

    The man who would be king
    "With regard to history, Bush's record with regard to foreign relations, the environment, the economy, concern for the average citizen ... I can't think of any accomplishment that will put him anywhere else than in last place historically as a president. Of all the presidents in the history of the United States, it's hard to think that there's anything other than public relations -- getting people to swallow huge lies so you can get your dirty work done -- that this president will be considered remarkable for." - - from Salon's interview with Viggo Mortensen.

    Black Hawk down in Iraq, one U.S. soldier wounded
    Iraqi guerrillas fired rocket-propelled grenades at a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter which came down near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit about 30 minutes ago, wounding one American soldier. - - Link, with pics.

    Conservative local talk show host being investigated by police
    Repug family values and morality.

    Rethug radio talk show host Jon Matthews is off the air and it's been learned that Sugar Land, Texas police are investigating him after an allegation of indecency with a child.

    Smells like more Rovian propaganda from the Bush/Cheney Cartel
    The head of Dick 'dick' Cheney's "former" company, Halliburton, is asking employees to contact newspapers and lawmakers to counter Democratic criticism of the company's no-bid contract in Iraq.

    Dave Lesar, Halliburton president and CEO, said: "Now I'm asking you to help by writing a letter to the editor of your newspaper." He listed "some facts that you can use to help deliver your letter." The e-mail also included suggestions for making the letter effective, telling employees to "write from the heart and use your own words and, where possible, use firsthand stories."

    "Oh, just don't mention that bit about us overcharging to bring oil into Iraq."


    US hawk Wolfowitz tours Saddam's hometown as Iraq sees more violence
    'US troop death toll mounts and innocent Iraqi civilians are increasingly the target of attack'

    BAGHDAD, Oct 25 (AFP) - Members of a Kurdish martial arms team were wounded in an attack Saturday near the northern oil centre of Kirkuk as visiting US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz hailed US efforts to build a strong Iraqi security force in a country still plagued with daily bloodshed.

    Four blasts shook the US military in what police described as a mortar attack. US forces returned fire, but it was not clear if there were casualties.

    A bomb also exploded outside Kirkuk province's main government office, while police found an arms cache inside an amusement park adjoining a police station.

    In Baghdad, three US soldiers were wounded in an improvised explosive attack Saturday morning, a military spokesman said.

    Yeah, things are going splendidly over there!

    PSMs

  • I rented LOTR: The Two Towers last night, so if I disappear for a while you'll know what happened.


  • Damn Blogger. WTF is fooked up again. It looks so squished today. I've gone into the template settings and adjusted the table and margin widths, but nothing seems to be working. If anyone has any clues, please let me know!

  • GOP lowers '04 Senate expectations
    "We're f*cked," Maru wishes anonymous rethug had said.

    From CBS News: When Republicans took a look at the 2004 Senate races, they were drooling at the prospects of significantly boosting their 51-49 advantage. However, several rejections from possible high-profile GOP candidates have forced the party to temper its high hopes.

    "This has to be considered nothing but a disastrous recruiting period for Senate Republicans," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse said.

    Maybe so, but it doesn't look any better for Democrats, unfortunately.

    Dems, intel officials get Viagra delivered in discreet packaging
    The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Friday the Republican chairman was trying to lay all the blame for flaws in pre-war intelligence about Iraq solely on the doorstep of U.S. spy agencies without looking at any White House role.

    The push by the senior Democrat, Sen. John Rockefeller, for a broader inquiry has been rebuffed by the Republican chairman, Sen. Pat Roberts. "It is my belief ... that what he wants to do is to put all of this, lay all of this off on the intelligence community and never get to any other branches of government, in particular the White House and associated high and visible government agencies," Rockefeller told reporters.

    Meanwhile, the Bush misadministration's exposure of a clandestine CIA operative was part of a campaign aimed at discrediting US intelligence agencies for their failure to support White House claims that Saddam was reconstituting Iraq 's nuclear weapons program, former agency officials said on Friday.

    In a rare hearing called by Senate Democratic leaders, the officials said that the White House engaged in pressure and intimidation aimed at generating intelligence evidence to support the decision to make war on Iraq.

    'Massive space storms'
    Pics and info on solar flares.

    Was anyone affected by yesterday's? Our TV fuzzed out a few times, is all.