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' .
October 27, 2003
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."
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.
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.
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
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.
