TPMCafe || Hurricane Protection Budget Cuts Exact a Big Price

TPM Cafe has the complete article that appeared in the New Orleans Times-Picayune on June 8th, 2004 on federal budget cuts that practically halted all work on fortifying the levees around the city. Meanwhile we are hemorraging money for a war that is at best a grotesque mistake.


TPMCafe || Hurricane Protection Budget Cuts Exact a Big Price

Getting Agnostic About 9/11 - Los Angeles Times

Interview with David Ray Griffin, author of "The 9/11 Commission: Omissions and Distortions" -- a book I highly recommend, it is a reasoned, detailed account raising serious questions.
Getting Agnostic About 9/11

Twenty Things We Now Know after 9/11

Twenty Things We Now Know Four Years After 9/11

The New York Review of Books: Iraq: Bush's Islamic Republic

The New York Review of Books: Iraq: Bush's Islamic Republic

Talk of exit stategy

How to Win in Iraq

David Brooks on winning in Iraq

Answer to David Brooks in Letters to the Editor

Military Families May Once Again Lead Us Out of War

Military Families May Once Again Lead Us Out of War:

"'You bet your goddamn dollar I'm bitter. It's people like us who give up our sons for the country,' said a firefighter whose son was killed in action. 'Let's face it: if you have a lot of money, or if you have the right connections, you don't end up on a firing line over there. I think we ought to win that war or pull out. What the hell else should we do -- sit and bleed ourselves to death, year after year?' His wife jumps in to add, 'My husband and I can't help but thinking that our son gave his life for nothing, nothing at all.'"

 

Internet Public Library: Native American Authors

Internet Public Library: Native American Authors

SUV City

Small QT Movie

HALL OF FAME

I'm number one in something!

HALL OF FAME

The Stakeholder:: Waxman on Halliburton & Greenhouse

The Stakeholder:: Waxman on Halliburton & Greenhouse

TIME.com: The Invasion of the Chinese Cyberspies (And the Man Who Tried to Stop Them) -- Sep. 05, 2005 -- Page 1

TIME.com: The Invasion of the Chinese Cyberspies

>>>>the DOSSIER - the War on Terrorism Exposed. Oil - Gas - Terrorism<<<<

Comprehensive resource on why we went to war in Iraq:

the War on Terrorism Exposed. Oil - Gas - Terrorism

Alaska Gyrl in Crawford

Lots of photos from Camp Casey:

Alaska Gyrl in Crawford

Army official who questioned Halliburton deal reported demoted - Yahoo! News

Army official who questioned Halliburton deal reported demoted - Yahoo! News

Martin Sheen speaks out at Camp Casey

Clueless. 'Nuff Said. 

Informed Comment

As we drove back from an attempt on Sheep Mountain, near Pikes Peak, we too heard the strange Darth Vader-like transmission from the prez over Sirius Satellite Radio. Very Weird. Ethereal.... This after we had suffered through an hour of "Revenge of the Sith" yesterday at the "dollar theater" before we walked out in sheer boredom... I hate Star Wars!!


Informed Comment:



"I just heard Bush's audio on CNN concerning the situation in Iraq. I don't know if all the news programs had the same bad feed, but the poor quality of the transmission made Bush sound like Darth Vader, with a faint electronic echo. Sounding like a science fiction villain did not help the credibility of his typically panglossian screed on Iraq.
"

~~ MrWong's Soup'Partments ~~ The Original! ~~ Get Your Apartment Today! TERMINATED! ~~ Thx Roman

~~ MrWong's Soup'Partments ~~ The Original! ~~ Get Your Apartment Today! TERMINATED! ~~ Thx Roman

Aaron Jasinski

Extraordinary musak:

Aaron Jasinski

Return of the Fallen

The Pentagon releases hundreds more "fallen soldiers" after a FOIA request:

Return of the Fallen

Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth

Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth

You already know Christmas trees and Easter eggs were originally Pagan, and you probably know the traditional mid-winter and spring timing of the two holidays was Pagan too. Mildly interesting. Not what you'll find here.

What you'll discover here is that Christianity inherited everything from the Pagans. The core of Christianity -- the worship of a dying Godman who is resurrected, ascends into heaven and brings salvation to mankind -- was also the core of a number of ancient Pagan religions that began in the Near East two thousand years before Jesus.

Subway Life

Subway Life

Experts Warn Debt May Threaten Economy - Yahoo! News

Experts Warn Debt May Threaten Economy

You owe $145,000. And the bill is rising every day. That's how much it would cost every American man, woman and child to pay the tab for the long-term promises the U.S. government has made to creditors, retirees, veterans and the poor.

Matthew R. Simmons "Twilight in the Desert"

"Twilight in the Desert"

Long read, but worth it.... The end of oil and the ramifications....

An excerpt:

MATT: So we have actually now created a pending domestic embargo, and we’re going to be lucky to get through the Summer without some periodic shortages. We probably will, but the odds are probably as high we will have some shortages, and then if we get through the Summer we have a fabulous respite from Labor Day to Thanksgiving, until we hunker to try to figure out how the world gets through the Winter of 2005 and 2006 because oil demand globally could easily go to 86-88 million bpd during the Winter, and that could easily exceed supply by 2-5 million bpd.

JIM: If that was to happen we would almost be looking at $75-80 oil, I suspect.

MATT: No, no, no. Oil prices could easily go up 5-10 times.

The Blog | Justin Frank: Pedaling as Fast as He Can | The Huffington Post

The president is a dry drunk and a moron. He can't help it. That's just the way it is. We're stuck with him. He's "uncurious" and his handlers want to keep him that way. "George, go on vacation. Get out of the way." There is nobody in charge. Maybe Dick Cheney, I guess... Who knows anymore...

The Blog | Justin Frank: Pedaling as Fast as He Can | The Huffington Post

Trekking through war-torn Nepal

Nepal on the brink

The Onion | Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory

The Onion | Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory

Bill Moyer, 73, wears a "Bullshit Protector" flap over his ear while President George W. Bush addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac) 

AlterNet: MediaCulture: The 'Big Lie' on Bush's Nightstand

AlterNet: MediaCulture: The 'Big Lie' on Bush's Nightstand:

"The idea that the President reads anything at all -- much less scholarly tomes -- shows how much contempt his handlers have for the public."

Why Can't I Own a Canadian?

Why Can't I Own a Canadian?:

"Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance."

Good as new, SB accepts an award for 4th in the 50-54 age group, with his 5 hour 15 minute finish. 

Stumbles in... later succumbs to nausea and proceeds to evict all the water he drank for the last two hours of the race.... 

The end. SB rolls in... 

Next day, bright and early and ready for the marathon. 

Looking toward the peak from near Garden of the Gods about 4 P.M. Colorado Springs was swamped with thunder storms and flooding as well. 

It took me a good half an hour to maneuver my Accord up the snowy incline. 

We barely escaped the storm atop the peak, leaving on the last van off the summit. We were forced to wait at Devil's Playground 3 miles down until the Forest Service was able to plow the road... 

Here is the exciting finish for the 1st and 2nd place women... Cindy O'Neill, a local favorite, couldn't quite reel in the winner. 

The clouds roll in... Rebekka nears the finish line.... 

Here comes Rebekka en route to a 4:16 finish. 

Kees Guijt, a good friend of mine, runs to a 2:32 and 6th place finish. 

Ryan Hafer, 19, runs to a 2:21 first-place finish. 

Scott Elliot, 8-time winner of the Ascent, was a reluctant spectator this year on account of a leg injury... 

SB waiting up top. 

Racing for the summit. 

Rebekka before the Pikes Peak Ascent, August 20th. 

Adventure Capitalism and more follies

Adventure Capitalism - The Hidden 2001 Plan to Carve-up Iraq

War on Iraq: Bush's Other Iraq Invasion


Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA)

Welcome to Salt Lake, George

The end of oil -- The Breaking Point By Peter Maass; The New York Times Sunday Magazine

Bush's Watergate?

National Geographic

Hundreds of "petrified hippos," as conservationist J. Michael Fay calls them, throng what's left of a river in Tanzania's Katavi National Park in October of last year. Released this week, the aerial photo is evidence of the increasing human "footprint" that Fay witnessed during the "Megaflyover" -- his seven-month aerial survey of Africa (see map). 

t r u t h o u t - Environmentalists Declare Victory over Wolf Decision

t r u t h o u t - Environmentalists Declare Victory over Wolf Decision

"The wolves are howlin'" in celebration, said Patrick Parenteau, director of the environmental law clinic at Vermont Law School.

The Trillion-Dollar War - New York Times

The Trillion-Dollar War What are we fighting for? Is it worth the money?

Computer experts to review voting machines

Ohio News Now: Computer experts to review voting machines

WAPost: A Boy in his Bubble

In Australia, a headline taunted, "Awkward facts intruding on the Bush 'bubble.' " In India, a newspaper called Sheehan "the Rosa Parks of the anti-war movement." On ABC's "Good Morning America," George Stephanopoulos said that "a lot of Republicans would say . . . that this is the president's Swift boat moment," a reference to Sen. John F. Kerry's tardiness in responding to attacks on his war record during last year's presidential campaign.

Refusal to See Sheehan Is Second-Guessed

Skeptic's Annotated Bible / Quran (Koran) / Book of Mormon

Skeptic's Annotated Bible / Quran (Koran) / Book of Mormon

Whiskey Bar: Slouching Towards the Islamic Republic

Whiskey Bar: Slouching Towards the Islamic Republic

Juan Cole too on the "rule of Sharia" in Iraq:
Prospect of Islamic law in Iraq

And the president's remarks on Iraqi women's rights:

The advance of freedom in the greater Middle East has given new rights and new hopes to women. And America will do its part to continue the spread of liberty.

George W. Bush
Remarks on women's rights
March 12, 2005

Frank Rich: The Swift Boating of Cindy Sheehan

The Swift Boating of Cindy Sheehan - New York Times

One of the worst album covers of all time.... 

San Diego and Diebold voting machines

Happily we have some forthright citizens who are working to expose the fraud of the Diebold voting chicanery. Beginning with the fraudulent 2000 elections, continuing with the scandal of the elections of 2002 in Georgia, and unbelievably, still obviously evident in the 2004 presidential elections, the Diebold scandal has managed to float below the radar--thanks to an absent MSM.

Citizens Request Recount in San Diego Mayoral Race

 

Nobody is home 

Message I sent to Laura Bush

Hi Laura,

I have a good feeling about you. A good friend of mine is a librarian who has met with you and with your husband. He is an apointee of the administration.

I am a career Air Force officer with more than 23 years of service. I am concerned about our course of action and national strategy. I can't help but agree with Gen Barry McAffrey that "the wheels have come off" our project to establish democracy in Iraq. It seems that we are in a bad stink of throwing good men after bad. Let's stop this nonsense. Please have a heart-to-heart with GW. We have to get out of Iraq.

Sincerely,

Maj Steve Bremner
USAF

Limbaugh loses it

Limbaugh baselessly compared Cindy Sheehan to Bill Burkett: "Her story is nothing more than forged documents" [Media Matters]

Pork butt speaker of the house, Dennis Hastert consorts with his dry drunk pal, GWB. 

Is Bush Out of Control?

Is Bush Out of Control?

Buy beleaguered, overworked White House aides enough drinks and they tell a sordid tale of an administration under siege, beset by bitter staff infighting and led by a man whose mood swings suggest paranoia bordering on schizophrenia.

They describe a President whose public persona masks an angry, obscenity-spouting man who berates staff, unleashes tirades against those who disagree with him and ends meetings in the Oval Office with “get out of here!”

In fact, George W. Bush’s mood swings have become so drastic that White House emails often contain “weather reports” to warn of the President’s demeanor. “Calm seas” means Bush is calm while “tornado alert” is a warning that he is pissed at the world.

Decreasing job approval ratings and increased criticism within his own party drives the President’s paranoia even higher. Bush, in a meeting with senior advisors, called Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist a “god-damned traitor” for opposing him on stem-cell research.

“There’s real concern in the West Wing that the President is losing it,” a high-level aide told me recently.

Live from Crawford

Live from Crawford Ranch (sort of)

How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later

The greatest Science Fiction writer of all time:

How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later

Philip K. Dick, 1978

Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful. A few years ago, no college or university would ever have considered inviting one of us to speak. We were mercifully confined to lurid pulp magazines, impressing no one. In those days, friends would say me, "But are you writing anything serious?" meaning "Are you writing anything other than science fiction?" We longed to be accepted. We yearned to be noticed. Then, suddenly, the academic world noticed us, we were invited to give speeches and appear on panels — and immediately we made idiots of ourselves. The problem is simply this: What does a science fiction writer know about? On what topic is he an authority?

It reminds me of a headline that appeared in a California newspaper just before I flew here. SCIENTISTS SAY THAT MICE CANNOT BE MADE TO LOOK LIKE HUMAN BEINGS. It was a federally funded research program, I suppose. Just think: Someone in this world is an authority on the topic of whether mice can or cannot put on two-tone shoes, derby hats, pinstriped shirts, and Dacron pants, and pass as humans.

Well, I will tell you what interests me, what I consider important. I can't claim to be an authority on anything, but I can honestly say that certain matters absolutely fascinate me, and that I write about them all the time. The two basic topics which fascinate me are "What is reality?" and "What constitutes the authentic human being?"

Did the U.S. Help Saddam Acquire Biological Weapons?

Senator Robert Byrd is a great statesman. Here he makes history in 2002 on the Senate floor. History will show who was right and who was wrong.....:

Did the U.S. Help Saddam Acquire Biological Weapons?

t r u t h o u t - Cartoonists Back Cindy, Slam Bush

t r u t h o u t - Cartoonists Back Cindy, Slam Bush

t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | Cindy's Victory

Cindy's Victory

"This thing, the wheels are coming off it."

- Gen. Barry McCaffrey, after returning from an inspection of Iraq, 08/12/2005.

They are sunburned and storm-lashed. They sleep in tents that sit along the muddy earth of drainage ditches by the side of the road. They have been heckled by "counter-demonstrators" who chanted "We don't care!" during a rendition of "God Bless America." They have been attacked by fire ants and hassled by local health inspectors. On Thursday morning, at about 5:30am, they were blasted awake by a fourteen-car convoy of Secret Service SUVs which roared through the camp at high speed while leaning on their horns the whole time.

They have been jolted with fear when a local resident fired his weapon into the air several times to make them go away. When the shooter, one Larry Mattlage, was asked why he was firing his gun, he said, "We're going to start doing our war and it's going to be underneath the law. We're going to do whatever it takes." It is safe to say, therefore, that their lives have been threatened.

The thing is, they've already won.

Cindy Sheehan and her ever-growing band of supporters intend to stay in those ditches outside Bush's Crawford "ranch" until he comes out to talk or until August 31st, whichever comes first. If he does not come out by the end of the month, she intends to follow him to Washington and camp out in front of the White House. She and the others have been there for more than a week now, garnering more and more attention from the national and international press. Yes, they are tired. Yes, they are uncomfortable. Yes, they have already won.

PREDICTION

A retired Army Colonel hits the nail on the head with this prediction. Chicago Tribune | PREDICTION

U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq

U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq

t r u t h o u t - Frank Rich | Someone Tell the President the War Is Over

Frank Rich is back from vacation:

Someone Tell the President the War Is Over

identity theory | we make it up as we go along.

Very cool blog:

identity theory | we make it up as we go along.

SB on the summit of 13,908' Casco Peak, with Mt Elbert, after we had climbed it that morning, in backdrop. 

The grand traverse taken from the summit of Casco Peak: Elbert is on the extreme left of the photo. Bull Hill is in the crook of the right angle. 

SB on Bull Hill with Casco in backdrop. 

Rebekka reaching the summit of Bull Hill, about halfway on our traverse from Elbert's summit to Casco Peak (the high point in the extreme right of the photo). 

North Halfmoon Creek valley with Colorado's 2nd highest point, 14,421' Mt Massive just above the shadow on the right side of the photo. 

Rebekka and SB on the summit of 14,433' Mount Elbert. This was SB's sixth ascent of Colorado's highest point and fourth ascent by the West Face route. Casco Peak, the last mountain of this day's work is in the backdrop in between us... 

Rebekka on the ascent. 

The two west ridges leading to Elbert's summit. We took the left hand ridge, after we traversed too far to the left and unnecessarily across a boulder field. 

Rebekka ascends Elbert's steep west slopes. 

Thistle and Shamrock on Elbert's west slopes. 

Casco Peak and French Mountain, two of Colorado's highest 100 peaks, from the slopes of Mt Elbert, Colorado's highest point. 

Rebekka ascending Mt Elbert's west slopes on Aug 13th. 

Free Documentaries, Download Fahrenheit 911 And Other Movies

Free Documentaries, Download Fahrenheit 911 And Other Movies

Waterkeeper Alliance: Part 2: Public Officials Endangering the Public Trust

RFK, Jr's most excellent environmental magazine, Waterkeepers, has this rundown on the worst environmental president in history and other criminals:

Public Officials Endangering the Public Trust an excerpt:

"In the 6th century the Roman Empire codified the rights of citizens to shared resources including air, flowing water, and wildlife. These 'public trust' rights descended to the people of the United States following the American Revolution. Throughout history, however, tyrants have broken the public trust to deliver these commons to private hands. The extent of this tyranny in 2005 is, perhaps, at an all time high:


1. President George W. Bush: Worst environmental president in U.S. History. "

OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues

Excellent web site where with one easy click you can find out where politicians stand on many issues:

OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues

t r u t h o u t - Bob Herbert | No End in Sight in Iraq

t r u t h o u t - Bob Herbert | No End in Sight in Iraq:

" Writing about Vietnam in the foreword to David Halberstam's book 'The Best and the Brightest,' Senator John McCain said:

'It was a shameful thing to ask men to suffer and die, to persevere through god-awful afflictions and heartache, to endure the dehumanizing experiences that are unavoidable in combat, for a cause that the country wouldn't support over time and that our leaders so wrongly believed could be achieved at a smaller cost than our enemy was prepared to make us pay.'"

The Huffington Post

Wow. The Huffingtonpost is all about Cindy Sheehan:

The Huffington Post

The Raw Story | Senate Intelligence chairman quietly 'fixed' intelligence, and diverted blame from White House over Iraq

MUST Read. This is compelling journalism. Carefully lays out the timeline and the manner in which this secretive administration rushed into a grotesque mistake. Why haven't we seen anything like this in the MSM?

The Raw Story | Senate Intelligence chairman quietly 'fixed' intelligence, and diverted blame from White House over Iraq

"Bush Knew - An American Requiem"

Take Back The Media! Flash Animation "Bush Knew - An American Requiem"

Famous Dead Nontheists

Famous Dead Nontheists: "A list of famous dead people who have rejected God and religion. These are people throughout history who have advocated living life without deference to a transcendent power. The list is in order of birth date.

The purposes of this list are to combat the pervasive myth that atheists are terrible, immoral people and to convince the undecided that it is OK to be an atheist. Just like any other large group of people, some of these people lived exemplary lives and others did not. The point is not that these people are all heroes, but simply to notice that there are more nontheists out there than most people realize."

Shortages Stifle a Boom Time for the Solar Industry - New York Times

Shortages Stifle a Boom Time for the Solar Industry - New York Times: "Executives of American solar manufacturers and industry groups say the global solar market has grown roughly 40 percent annually in the last five years, driven in large part by Germany. Under an incentive program championed by that country's Green Party, German businesses and individuals with solar equipment can sell power they create to utilities at above-market rates. The utilities pass the excess cost on to their customers.

'It's giving Germans a solid 15 to 20 percent return on equity,' said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, the trade group for the American solar industry. 'You're seeing a lot of companies in Germany start venture capital units based on solar farm development. People are even putting panels up on barns.'

Germany consumes 39 percent of all solar panels in the world, with Japan next at 30 percent and the United States a distant third at 9 percent.

Germany installed nearly 400 megawatts of solar power last year, Mr. Resch said, while Japan, whose government subsidizes solar energy consumption, installed nearly 300 megawatts. Americans, with far less in subsidies, installed 90 megawatts, most of it in California."

Pending Fitzgerald indictments? Part Deux

Articles, government corruption, freedom of speech, truth: "Sherman Skolnick, a long time Chicago ‘judge buster’ with a 40 year history of investigating judicial criminality, today confirmed his sources claim U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is in Chicago looking for a way to “prevent a national catastrophe” by mediating the dilemma caused by the recent grand jury indictments against President Bush and other high-level officials."

: "SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean man who played computer games for 50 hours almost non-stop died of heart failure minutes after finishing his mammoth session in an Internet cafe, authorities said on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old man, identified only by his family name Lee, had been playing on-line battle simulation games at the cybercafe in the southeastern city of Taegu, police said.

Lee had planted himself in front of a computer monitor to play on-line games on August 3. He only left the spot over the next three days to go to the toilet and take brief naps on a makeshift bed, they said.

'We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion,' a Taegu provincial police official said by telephone.

Lee had recently quit his job to spend more time playing games, the daily JoongAng Ilbo reported after interviewing former work colleagues and staff at the Internet cafe.

After he failed to return home, Lee's mother asked his former colleagues to find him. When they reached the cafe, Lee said he would finish the game and then go home, the paper reported.

He died a few minutes later, it said.

South Korea, one of the most wired countries in the world, has a large and highly developed game industry.

"

One Mother in Crawford - New York Times

One Mother in Crawford - New York Times: "Summertime often produces unexpected media figures, and this is Cindy Sheehan's season. Ms. Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq last year, is camping out near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Tex., and says she won't leave until Mr. Bush agrees to meet with her to discuss the war. There are many reasons for the flood of media attention she is attracting: she has a poignant personal story and she is articulate - and, let's face it, August is a slow news month. But most of all, she is tapping into a growing popular feeling that the Bush administration is out of touch with the realities, and the costs, of the Iraq war."

TomDispatch - Tomgram: Michael Klare on Entering the Age of Resource Wars

Michael Klare on Entering the Age of Resource Wars:

"The Chevron ad began: 'It took us 125 years to use the first trillion barrels of oil. We'll use the next trillion in 30. Energy will be one of the defining issues of this century. One thing is clear: the era of easy oil is over...'"

Bush's loyalty raises doubts about his political judgment

There's a pattern here....

KR Washington Bureau | 08/04/2005: "when news of Palmeiro's positive drug test and 10-day suspension by Major League Baseball became public, Bush almost instantly backed the ballplayer, saying Palmeiro spoke truthfully on March 17 when he wagged his finger at the House Government Reform Committee and emphatically denied ever using steroids.

Bush's fondness for Palmeiro - who recently became only the fourth major league player to slam more than 500 home runs and 3,000 base hits - dates back to when Palmeiro played for the Rangers under Bush's ownership.

'Rafael Palmeiro is a friend. He testified in public and I believe him,' Bush said Monday. 'He's the kind of person that's going to stand up in front of the klieg lights and say he didn't use steroids, and I believe him. Still do.'"

Orion Magazine > July | August 2005 > David James Duncan > What Fundamentalists Need

Orion Magazine is wonderful. Each issue includes thoughtful, reflective essays from the likes of Rick Bass and Terry Tempest Williams. I discovered it through Utne Reader. Take a look at this gem:

What Fundamentalists Needan excerpt:

"The gulf between" ... "open-hearted evangelism and the aims of modern fundamentalism is vast. Most of the famed leaders of the new 'Bible-based' American political alliances share a conviction that their causes and agendas are approved of, and directly inspired, by no less a being than God. This enviable conviction is less enviably arrived at by accepting on faith, hence as fact, that the Christian Bible pared down into American TV English is God's 'word' to humankind, that this same Bible is His only word to humankind, and that the politicized apocalyptic fundamentalists' unprecedentedly selective slant on this Bible is the one true slant."

MeetWithCindy.org | You owe her an explanation, Mr. President

MeetWithCindy.org

I Used To Be a Neocon

Check it out. I expect there will be more and more recovering dittoheads as people recover from their drunken stupor. First comes the dreaded hangover. Then the raw truth:

I Used To Be a Neocon by Drew O'Neill: "Two years ago I was a neocon. I supported Bush’s war on Iraq and I called everyone who didn’t a liberal Kool-aid drinker. I voted for Bush in 2000 and I listened to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and just about any right-winger on the radio that I could get a four-word talking point from to use against liberals. I would say things such as 'liberals won’t defend America,' 'shut up and sing,' 'freedom is on the march,' and 'you’re a great American.' I supported the war at first because I bought into the lies and propaganda.

I no longer do. I’m a recovering neocon."

Cindy Sheehan in Crawford

I understand the stupids, the Repuglican radical right, the Brush Lintballs, the ditto heads, the Sludge/Drudge are attempting to slime the messenger, Cindy Sheehan, grieving mother, whose son sacrificed his life over a year ago for an ignoble cause. Here is the original article that Sludge misquoted and took out of context in his slime attack: Bush, Sheehans share moments

Read it and decide for yourself if Cindy Sheehan is (1) consistent in her opposition to the quagmire or (2) a disingenuous flip-flopper controlled by socialist/radical leftwingers.

This is too much....

Judith Miller's Dirty Little Secret - Media Monitors Network (MMN)

Judith Miller's Dirty Little Secret: An excerpt:

"So, the question of the hour is what does everyone in Washington know as of today? They know the administration lied about WMDs with the help of media operatives like Judith Miller. They know that there was no “intelligence failure” and that Joseph Wilson was punished for exposing the post-war cover-up. They also know that the administration and its media partners in crime continue to twist the facts about the situation in Iraq. Add to the mix the recent indictments of AIPAC officials in the Pentagon spy case, which might expose the culprits as the very same senior administration officials who outed Valerie Plame."

More on Cindy Sheehan

The normally lame Wolf Blitzer interviews Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier who died last year in Iraq and who is camping out near the president's home in Crawford awaiting the chance to ask him, "How is this war a noble cause?"

Steam Generator left behind from years ago at Oil Creek Mine. 

Runners on the Elk Park Trail early this morning. 

Oil Creek Tunnel. It goes back some 3/4 of a mile. 

Cabin ruins at Oil Creek Mine, about 2 miles up the Elk Park Trail. 

Elk Park Trail Head at 12,000' on the Pikes Peak Toll Road. 

Columbine 

Cabin Ruin left from the mining days--Bottomless Pit. 

Approaching Bottomless Pit. Colorado Springs in extreme backdrop (hazy). 

The approach to Bottomless Pit.... 

View down from the high point of my ascent up from Bottomless Pit in my attempt to "validate" my memory from some five years ago. I seemed to recall the creek gushing straight out of the mountain. I think it must have been earlier in the season when I visited before...during the heavy snow melt. 

View towards the cirque above bottomless pit. 

Rebekka returns from Bottomless Pit, some 12 miles into our 20 mile run today... all above 10,000' elevation....We left Elk Park at 12,000' elevation 12 miles up the Pikes Peak Tool road about 7:30 this morning, ran six miles to Barr Camp, another four miles to Bottomless Pit, then retraced our steps back to the trailhead. I ran one more mile out of the way up to the Oil Creek Tunnel...

Five years ago when I visited Oil Creek Tunnel I hauled out as much old tin cans as I could manage. What I couldn't manage I dumped by the side of the trail hoping to return later to retrieve or if that didn't happen hopefully someone else would haul it out. Today I found just where I'd left if five years ago.... 

WHATREALLYHAPPENED.COM

Interesting take on the news... slightly "tin foil hat", but has an interesting perspective....

WHATREALLYHAPPENED.COM

Inside Higher Ed :: 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' Reconsidered

After I read this book about five years ago I found it one of the most insightful treatises on human histories. I still do. With the advent of the PBS series on this seminal work a controversy has ensued. Let the discussion commence!

Inside Higher Ed :: 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' Reconsidered:

"Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies has had the kind of impact that most scholarly authors can only dream about for their works. First published by W.W. Norton in 1997, the book won a Pulitzer Prize the next year for its author, Jared Diamond, a professor of geography at the University of California at Los Angeles."

An American in Chile Finds Conservation a Hard Slog - New York Times

An American in Chile Finds Conservation a Hard Slog - New York Times: "By LARRY ROHTER
Published: August 7, 2005

REIHUE, Chile - Douglas Tompkins first fell under the spell of Chilean Patagonia's lush forests and rushing streams as a backpacking teenager from New York. Today, 40-odd years older and much, much richer, he may well be the region's biggest individual landowner, and its most controversial foreign presence.

His holdings in this realm of snowcapped peaks and wind-whipped shores are larger than Rhode Island and include tracts that timber, electric power and agricultural interests covet. But instead of moving to chop, dam and dig, Mr. Tompkins has turned his properties into nature sanctuaries, open to the public but with strict limits on use, that he has said repeatedly he hopes to donate to the people of Chile. If they can be persuaded to accept his offer.

In so insular a society, far-fetched explanations for Mr. Tompkins's presence here have flourished like moss. Some have suggested that he wants to turn Patagonia into a nuclear dumping ground, others speculate that he wants to seize control of water supplies in a world with a growing thirst, and there have even been accusations that Mr. Tompkins, a buttoned-down, gray-haired WASP, has acquired the land as the site for a new Jewish state."

The Lone Star Iconoclast Online

The Lone Star Iconoclast Online: "The Lone Star Iconoclast is covering Saturday's journey to Crawford by several groups, including Veterans For Peace, Military Family Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Code Pink, Crawford Peace House, and others.

Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq last year, is seeking a meeting with President Bush, who is vacationing in Crawford, to have some of her questions answered about the war. Several busloads of interested individuals are expected in Crawford to support her cause. Sheehan has said that she is willing to camp out in Crawford until she gets to meet with the President.

Iconoclast reporter Nathan Diebenow is on the scene and will be dispatching reports during the day. As they come in they will be reported here:

"

t r u t h o u t - Stirling Newberry | Trial by Constitution

John Dean said it in the title of his book: "Worse than Watergate". Well, it's WAY WORSE than Watergate when as is becoming increasingly obvious to perceptive folks out there that this administration was hellbent to attack Iraq BEFORE 9/11 and simply used the "convenience" of Al Qaeda to "fix the facts" to meet the policy.

t r u t h o u t - Stirling Newberry | Trial by Constitution An excerpt:


" One way to tell that the movement toward impeachment has already begun, and that it has members in the most unlikely of places, and indeed members who will publicly deny they are moving in that direction at all, is the introduction of the language of Constitutional conflict. The current slogan of the Democrats in both House and Senate is that the Republicans are guilty of 'Abuse of Power.' It is a phrase that should be familiar: it is the title of Article II of the Impeachment Articles passed by the House Judiciary Committee on July 29th, 1974.

Frank Lautenberg has also brought forth the language of impeachment: by using the word 'Treason' to describe the breach of national security by Karl Rove. The word 'impeachment' has, itself, surfaced in connection with Rove, floated by John Conyers, who wrote the introduction for John Bonifaz's book. The language of impeachment has not just surfaced in rhetorical ways, but in an even more portentious place: in the proceedings of the Grand Jury that has been empanelled to investigate whether crimes were committed in connection with the outing of Valerie Wilson a.k.a. Valerie Plame.

It should be remembered that one of the killing blows against Nixon was that he was named as an 'unindicted co-conspirator.' It was not Congress that began the real inquiry into Nixon, it was the judicial process. Just as revelations discovered by a grand jury in 1973 and 1974 placed the scandal 'inside the White House,' so too have revelations in 2004 and 2005 placed the scandal inside the Oval Office: with Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, two top aids to the President and Vice President respectively."

Hackers can turn your computer into a BOMB!

Hackers can turn your computer into a BOMB!

U.S. Military Deaths in the Conquest of Iraq

U.S. Military Deaths in the Conquest of Iraq

Capitol Hill Blue: Military Planners Tell Bush Iraq War 'Cannot be Won'

Capitol Hill Blue: Military Planners Tell Bush Iraq War 'Cannot be Won': "Yet while Bush remains stubbornly committed to the war, sources within the Pentagon say military planners tell the President the war cannot be won and the U.S. may have to look for a Vietnam-style withdrawal that will leave Iraq vulnerable to forces even more dangerous than the previous dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

'Our present scenarios do not provide a successful outcome,' admits a senior military planner. 'We are not adequately equipped to prevail in this conflict.'

At the same time Thursday, the U.S. military announced in Iraq that four more service members had been killed in action but the 'official' military line is that American troops were making progress against insurgents.

'We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq,' Bush said in Texas as a videotape by Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaida's No.2, was broadcast around the world."

Informed Comment: Vietnam-Speak in Iraq

Always check with Juan Cole for perceptive comment on the situation in Iraq:

Vietnam-Speak in Iraq

Pending Fitzgerald indictments?

I found this earlier today in the comments section of a web site covering Rove/Plamegate. If this is true watch for the firing of Michael Fitzgerald in the coming days and a coverup. Since Faux News is not covering this at all, it will not even register a ripple with the majority of the American public and will not even make the news cycle.

The Tom Flocco site (tomflocco.com) appears to be experiencing a DOS attack! Not surprising because of the explosive nature of the scoop!.

A summary:

A Chicago grand jury has indicted the President and Vice-President of the United States along with multiple high officials in the Bush administration

Chicago — August 2, 2005 — TomFlocco.com — U.S. federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s Chicago grand jury has issued perjury and obstruction of justice indictments to the following members of the Bush Administration: President George W. Bush, Vice-President Richard Cheney, Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, imprisoned New York Times reporter Judith Miller and former Senior Cheney advisor Mary Matalin.

There were no indications given as to whether the President and his top staff members would appear publicly before cameras at the grand jury proceedings, given the gravity of the charges.

Besides the Valerie Plame CIA leak case, the Fitzgerald probe is reportedly far-reaching and expanding much deeper into past White House criminal acts involving Bush-Clinton drug money laundering in Mena, Arkansas to White House involvement in 9.11; but also for sending America’s young people to their deaths or to be maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan under false pretenses.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was indicted for obstruction of justice and is reportedly consulting with members of Parliament and legal aides regarding how to avoid appearing in the U.S.A. for interrogation before Fitzgerald in Chicago.

The revelations emanated from sources close to the grand jury who spoke with federal whistleblower Thomas Heneghen in California who said White House Senior Advisor to the President Karl Rove was also indicted for perjury and was reportedly involved with Mary Matalin in a major Bush administration document shredding operation to cover-up evidence.

Heneghen had reported over ten days ago on a TruthRadio.com broadcast [Every Monday and Tuesday evening from 8-9 pm EST–www.truthradio.com–special briefing on Wednesday evening August 3 at 8 pm EST]] that his sources close to the grand jury said former Secretary of State Colin Powell had been subpoenaed and had testified against President Bush, telling the citizen panel that the President had taken the United States to war based upon lies–a capital crime involving treason under the United States Code.

Heneghen also reported a week ago that Gonzalez and Card had been subpoened and that Tony Blair had defied his subpoena after the response time limit had expired.

120seconds.com Digital Fim Festival

120seconds.com Digital Fim Festival

THE ABOLITION OF WORK

THE ABOLITION OF WORK:

"No one should ever work.

Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost all the evil you'd care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working."

AlterNet: Notable, Quotable Presidents

AlterNet: Notable, Quotable Presidents

"America's greatest presidents were keenly aware of the fragility of liberty and freedom of expression, and worked steadfastly toward their protection.

Consider how the following sentiments would be interpreted by today's media pundits, were each of these men currently campaigning for the office of the presidency. Which candidate would be endlessly derided as the 'peacenik,' the 'America hater,' the 'anarchist,' or the 'lunatic fringe' candidate? Which candidates would be placed on terrorist watch lists?"

 

VDARE.com: 07/27/05 - Departing Iraq

Wow! Was surprised to find this article from a former Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal and a former Contributing Editor of National Review, who was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Reagan administration.
VDARE.com: 07/27/05 - Departing Iraq: "June 30, 2005, was the peak of neocon delusion. On that day American Enterprise Institute neocon Karl Zinsmeister posted his article on the AEI online site titled: 'The War is Over, and We Won.'"

No sooner than Zinsmeister put delusion to paper than US military commanders reported escalating and more sophisticated insurgency attacks. Casualties exploded with more deadly bombings, giving meaning to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s projection of a 12-year war. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the conflict’s cost may exceed $700 billion.

Career Crossroads?

I've spent the last 23 years of my life in the Air Force, with a current rank of Major. This year I am "in the zone" for promotion to Lt Col. I'm ambivalent about staying in, however. My youngest daughter will graduate from high school next year and I'm ready for a new career. I put in an application for the Peace Corps, but was rejected on account of my work for an intelligence agency some ten years ago. I was only a comm officer, not engaged in analysis, so I've appealed their decision to the Director of the Peace Corps. I'm not holding out hope on that front though.

Last April I took the exam for the Foreign Service to work as a diplomat for the State Department and just last week I learned that I passed the exam and have been invited for an "oral assessment" next December in Seattle. I spent two years as an exchange officer in Ottawa, Canada from 96 to 98, during which time I socialized with embassy staff. I found them very engaging intellectually. I would love to make the jump in careers from military to state department--from dropping bombs to "foggy bottom".

It is quite a process getting on with the Foreign Service. I think it was in January that I signed up for the Foreign Service exam. I took the test in April and just learned the results in late July. Now I have signed on for the "oral assessment" in December. If I "pass" the oral assessment, my name will be placed on a list of "eligible hires". I can advance my name up the ladder of that list by veteran's preference or by proof of foreign language fluency. Critical languages get higher placement. I should stand in good stead with a "veteran's preference" and fluency in German and French.

Winking Jesus

It's a miracle. Check it out!! It's the Winking Jesus. Did you see it? There will be no more skeptics after this moment of truth!!

Magog, Gog, Cameron's Cone from the Barr Trail. 

Cameron's Cone, Gog, Magog: view from next to the Cog Railway terminus on Ruxton Ave, Manitou Springs.