Saturday, June 30, 2007

Rescue

Until you have held a tiny puppy in your arms as it kissed your face with slobbery puppy breath …and felt the love,

Until you have held an injured or severely ill dog in your arms …
and felt their pain

and until you have looked into the eyes of a tired aging senior dog …
and felt their wisdom,

You will never understand the life of a rescuer.

We find beauty in the most incomprehensible places and the otherwise homely faces. It is our gift to see beyond the dirt, terror, sadness and defeat and find the true soul that lies within.

We are Rescue

--Kathie Sullivan-Parkes, East Corinth/Topsham, VT.

Not Likely To Be Heard In Iraq...

"Everybody needs to thank God that the planes that are flying over are American, not Chinese, Russian or Cuban, and quit complaining about the noise."

"I love to watch those Navy jets. That is the sound of freedom."

--The Salina [Kansas] Journal's anonymous Extension 333 call-in line, published June 30, 2007

Friday, June 29, 2007

Innovate

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."
--Steve Jobs: Founder, Apple Computer

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Silence

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mitt Romney's Cruel Canine Vacation

The incident: dog excrement found on the roof and windows of the Romney station wagon. How it got there: Romney strapped a dog carrier — with the family dog Seamus, an Irish Setter, in it — to the roof of the family station wagon for a twelve hour drive from Boston to Ontario, which the family apparently completed, despite Seamus's rather visceral protest.
Full Story, Time Magazine, June 27, 2007

The Best Government Ca$ino$ Can Buy

California Legislature approves huge expansion of Indian gambling

The Legislature removed a key hurdle to passing a state budget Thursday, agreeing to allow four Indian tribes to expand casino gambling in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the state.

The action ended what had been a lengthy legislative logjam that pitted two special interest titans: labor groups vs. casino-operating Indian tribes. The tribes won.

Labor leaders said they opposed the deals because they did not contain enforceable provisions to protect casino employees or give unions the right to organize.

"This is a very serious abandonment of 100,000 workers in the state," said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.

The compacts will allow four Southern California gambling tribes to add 17,000 slot machines to their casinos, a 30 percent increase in the number of slots currently operating in the state.

Full A.P. article, SF Chronicle, June 28, 2007

_____________________________

See also my Posts:

Feeding Into The Gambling Addiction

Love That Legalized Gambling

Casino Gambling: Eerie Parallels

Casino Monies

Thanks To The Public Pleaders, er. "Defenders"...

Prison Population Sees Biggest Rise in 6 Years

New figures show the US prison population has seen its biggest rise since the year 2000. On Wednesday, the Justice Department reported the number of prisoners increased by more than sixty-two thousand last year. There are now more than two point two million people behind bars in the United States.

Source: Democracy Now, June 28, 2007

CB$, China, BigPharma, and $elective Truth

CBSNews.com News Alert!

Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:23:36 -0400

Feds To Block Import Of Some Fish From China

Federal health officials say they will detain imports of some Chinese farmed seafood until it is shown to be free of illegal antibiotics.

___________________________________
"Illegal antibiotics".

Dangerous drugs that do not have support from the pharmaceutical drug cartel because the patents have expired? Or because a non-member of the pharmaceutical drug cartel, say China, has the patent?

Are these antibiotics that raise havoc by contributing to antibiotic resistance in some way that is different than "legal" antibiotics that raise havoc by contributing to antibiotic resistance?

Shouldn't the question be whether a substance is safe rather than one of the political and economic power of its supporters?

More China Bashing from the US lapdog corporate media...

TLC

In Our Backyards

"I really believe that the person who was concerned about the fighter jets going over our city should be very happy that they’re U.S. jets and not Iranian."
--The Salina [Kansas] Journal's anonymous Extension 333 call-in line, published June 27, 2007

__________________________________

And,

"There's nazis in the bathroom just below the stairs."


TLC

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

New

"When confronted with new information, I reassess and modify my position. What, sir, do you do when confronted with new information?"
--John Maynard Keynes, economist

Buffett blasts system that lets him pay less tax than secret

“The 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.”

Mr Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent.

Mr Buffett said that a Republican proposal to eliminate elements of inheritance tax, which raises about $30 billion a year from the assets of about 12,000 rich families, would broaden the disparity between rich and poor. He added that the Republicans would seek to recover lost revenue by increasing taxes for the less prosperous.

He said: “You could take that $30 billion and give $1,000 to 30 million poor families. Or should you favour the 12,000 estates and make 30 million families pay an extra $1,000?”

Full article, London Times, June 28, 2007

_________________________________

Again having to read the British newspapers to find out what's going on in the USA...

TLC

"Contaminated" Toothpaste From China

There are numerous emails making the rounds, about counterfit toothpaste imported from China containing toxic ingredients. The wire services have heavily promoted the stories as well
--the US, after all, needs a new boogeyman so that we can increase offense, er, "defense", spending.

My response to one of those emails:

Yet a simple Google search on

fluoride toxic


shows that American corporations continue to poison people en masse, getting rewarded with government contracts to medicate the masses, protection under American law--in short, huge profits for maiming and killing.

Ain't America great? Damn China for doing the same thing.

TLC

Oysters

"Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster."
--Theodore Roosevelt
1858-1919, 26th American President

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Rabid Rudy Strikes Again

Giuliani's Campaign Faces New Setback

In political news, Rudolph Giuliani's campaign team in South Carolina is facing another setback. Last week the chair of Giuliani's state campaign, Thomas Ravenel, stepped down after he was indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. On Monday Giuliani named Ravenel's father – Andrew Ravenel -- to serve as the state's new campaign co-chair. The elder Ravenel is no stranger to controversy himself. In 2000 he called the NAACP the "National Association For Retarded People." When asked about the comment Ravenel claimed he had misspoken. He said: "I made a rhetorical slip, and they want to lynch me for it."

Source: Democracy Now, June 26, 2007

__________________________________

Rudy will get that white old racist bastard vote nailed down yet!

TLC

U.S.: Making The World Ripe For...Opium

Opium Production Soars in Afghanistan

A new United Nations report has found opium production in Afghanistan has jumped by nearly 50 percent over the past year. Afghanistan now accounts for 92 percent of the world's illicit opium production. Much of the opium is converted into heroin and morphine and distributed around the world.

Source: Democracy Now, June 26, 2007

Headlines And The Country We Live In

This afternoon I received an email, forwarded by an active and beloved animal rescue person, that proclaimed in its subject:

MAN SAYS KILL DOGS/BURY IN BACKYARD!!!

Hopefully that email will result in the saving of two deserving lives, whose owner ("Guardian" if you prefer) died, leaving their fate to his worthless family.

But what caught my attention even more was the realization that George Dubya Bu$h, today, tomorrow, and until he and his ilk are removed from office, is going to kill more and more citizens of Iraq, and not give a damn where they are buried--or if there is even enough of their bodies remaining TO bury.

Yet there are no headlines grabbing you by the conscience on *those* murders for oil that we know *will* occur.

TLC

Monday, June 25, 2007

Heroes II

"A hero is a man who does what he can."
--Romain Rolland
(1866-1944, French writer)

Guardian UK: Off In Celebrity Land

America's disgust at 'perfect Angelina'

Brad Pitt's partner is accused of hypocrisy as she tries to control interviews about press freedom movie, and bans selected journalists from its premiere.

Full absurd article, Guardian UK, June 25, 2007

_______________________________

My letter to the Guardian UK:


Sirs:

By what stretch of your irrational imagination do you proclaim that the American people give a damn about Angeline Jolie's attempts to manipulate the media?

The American people are disgusted by the corporate press for promoting the company line of the Bu$h Regime, just as the British people are outraged by the British press being lapdogs for George Dubya Bu$h's pet poodle, Tony Blair.

Terry L. Clark

London Times Merges With Bu$h Regime

My letter to the London Times, as to its propaganda piece of June 25, 2007:


Sirs:

The London Times proclaimed, in a blaring headline, citing no sources for its allegations, yet mimicking the new party line of the Bu$h Regime, that "Al-Qaeda targets tribes in Baghdad hotel".

Has the Times become a wholly owned subsidiary of Bu$h, Inc., or directly owned by Bu$h parent company Halliburton?

Terry L. Clark

Who's Prosecuted, Who's Not

Democracy Now reported, June 25, 2007:

Iraqi Court Hands Down Death Sentences in Kurdish Chemical Attack

In other Iraq news, the Iraqi High Tribunal has sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majid and two others to death. They were convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for ordering the use chemical weapons against Kurds during the Iran-Iraq War. al-Majid, who was nicknamed Chemical Ali, was a cousin of former president Saddam Hussein.

______________________________

My email to Democracy Now:

Meanwhile, Donald Rumsfeld and other US government officials, equally responsible for the use of chemical warfare on the Kurds and others, remain free.

Or is that yet another Inconvenience that DN lacks the ability to speak truth to?

One can lie through omission just as blatantly as one can lie through commission.

TLC

Who Dies, Who Counts

Democracy Now reported, June 25, 2007:

12 U.S. Troops Die in Iraq on Saturday

It's been another bloody weekend for U.S. troops in Iraq. At least 12 soldiers died on Saturday bringing the week's death toll to at least 31.
______________________________

My email to Democracy Now:

How many Iraqis died on Saturday? How many Iraqis died last week?

Or are American lives worth more than Iraqi lives?

TLC

Security

“I, for one, do not feel more secure with fighter jets going overhead over our city, knowing full well that they’re on their way to maim and kill other people everywhere.”
--The Salina [Kansas] Journal's anonymous Extension 333 call-in line, published June 25, 2007

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Reasons

"Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can."
--Willis Whitney

Friday, June 22, 2007

Live

"Let us endeavour so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry".
--Mark Twain

New Orleans Death Rate Up Nearly 50% Since Katrina

In New Orleans, a new study shows the city death rate has risen nearly fifty percent since Hurricane Katrina. The study is the first to track the mortality rate of both evacuees and remaining residents. Researchers attribute the increase to the lack of health care for low-income residents regardless of whether they left or stayed in New Orleans.

Source: Democracy Now, June 22, 2007

__________________________________

No doubt the Bu$h Regime counts Katrina deaths like they do those in Iraq...

TLC

Courthouse Symbolism

While running an errand to downtown Eureka California, I was in the neighborhood of the Humboldt County Courthouse. They were doing an anthrax drill. Oh yes, the brown-skinned devils going to strike at any moment. And it helps to keep up the paranoia levels of the locals so they are more placid as the local police state grows in its intensity.

There was a horrible stench in the air, manure on the level one would expect near a cattle feedlot. Whether this was part of the exercise is unknown.

It was all I could do to resist the temptation to yell out:

"So this is what Humboldt County Just-Us smells like".

TLC

The Republican Crime Families Run Amok

South Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, a former real estate developer who became a rising political star after his election last year, was indicted Tuesday on federal cocaine charges.

Thomas Ravenel is also the state chairman for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign. Giuliani's campaign issued a statement saying Ravenel had stepped down.

Source: AP wire service article, SF Chronicle, June 19, 2007

__________________________

Note that the second paragraph, above, is the 13th and last in the above-cited AP article. So nice to see that the press is bringing the facts to prominent attention.

TLC

__________________________
Romney Aide Takes Leave Amid Probes

An ever-present aide to Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney took a leave of absence Friday after he became the subject of investigations in two states for allegedly impersonating a law enforcement officer.

Jay Garrity, who serves as director of operations and is constantly at the side of the former Massachusetts governor, is accused of leaving a lengthy message with the answering service of a plumbing company on Mother's Day, identifying himself as "Trooper Garrity" of the Massachusetts State Police and complaining about erratic driving by a company driver.

Meanwhile, Garrity also has been accused of telling a New York Times reporter who had been following Romney's motorcade in New Hampshire last month that he had run the license plate of the reporter's rental car, and that he should break away from the caravan.

In 2004, Garrity was cited and fined by Massachusetts officials after a Ford Crown Victoria registered to him was found to have lights, a siren, radios and other law enforcement equipment — including a baton — after it was parked illegally in Boston's North End. At the time, Garrity was paid $75,000 annually as Romney's gubernatorial chief of operations.

Source: AP wire service article, SF Chronicle, June 22, 2007

Depends On Who's Doin' The Dealin'

Salina Man Arrested For Selling Meth

A couple of drug sales to an undercover informant led to the arrest of a Salina man by the I-135/I-70 Drug Task Force Thursday night.

Salina Deputy Police Chief Mike Marshall says that ----------------- sold methamphetamine to the informant on May 25th and on June 12th. Officers arrested him during a traffic stop Thursday evening in the 1300 Block of West Republic.

During the stop they also found 32.8 grams of marijuana, 19 used syringes, 4 unused syringes, two sets of scales, a meth pipe with residue in it, and other drug paraphernalia.

-----------------was arrested and booked into the Saline County Jail on multiple charges that could include the sale of methamphetamine.

Source: KSAL Radio, June 22, 2007

__________________________________

On the other hand, if you're a drugstore or pharmaceutical company, selling pseudoephedrine, an ingredient that's critical for the creation of meth, will get you...accolades for being a member of the business community in good standing and immense profits.

TLC

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Decide

"The trouble for most people is they don’t decide to get wealthy, they just dream about it."
— Michael Masterson

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Liberties II

"We are reluctant to admit that we owe our liberties
to men of a type that today we hate and fear -- unruly men,
disturbers of the peace, men who resent and denounce what Whitman
called 'the insolence of elected persons' -- in a word, free men."
-- Gerald W. Johnson
(1890-1980)
Source: American Freedom and the Press, 1958

Madsen On The Stem Cell Veto

Bush to veto stem cell research bill today. Bush puts more value on non-living embryos than on human life in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. This is what occurs when a sociopathic religious kook becomes president.

Investigative Reporter Wayne Madsen, June 20, 2007

_____________________________

See also my earlier Posts:

Bu$h's "Right To Death" Program

Every Stem Cell Is Sacred

TLC

Bu$h's "Right To Death" Program

Iraqi Red Crescent: Internal Displacements Quadruple in ‘07

Meanwhile Iraq’s largest aid group is warning a record number of civilians, mostly women and children, are fleeing their homes to avoid worsening violence. In a new report, the Iraqi Red Crescent says the number of internal refugees has quadrupled since January. An increasing number of pregnant women are being forced to obtain illegal abortions because of a lack of available medical care.

Source: Democracy Now, June 20, 2007

______________________________

Now I'm really confused. Every Stem Cell Is Sacred, but once they start to morph toward becoming a human being, they're fair game too?

Where are the anti-abortionists on this one? Oh yeah, supporting the Killer-In-Chief.

TLC

Every Stem Cell Is Sacred

Bush to Veto Stem Cell Bill on Wednesday

Pushing back against the Democratic-led Congress, Bush plans to veto a bill Wednesday that would have eased restraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

In his veto threat, the president accused Democrats of recycling an old measure that he already vetoed and argued that the bill would mean American taxpayers would — for the first time — be compelled to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos.

"The president supports and encourages stem cell research, including using embryonic lines, as long as it does not involve creating, harming or destroying embryos," Fratto said. "That is an ethical line that should not be crossed."

The National Institutes of Health says these stem cells offer the prospect of having a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions.

Full AP wire service story: SF Chronicle, June 20, 2007

___________________________________

However, when it comes to Iraqis that get in the way (or just happen to be living in the same country) of the international oil cartel's demand for oil and empire, life is anything but sacred.

TLC

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Each

"Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life."
--Seneca

What Price Life? $2,500.00

Meanwhile a new government report has raised questions over a U.S. military program to offer financial payments to Iraqis affected by the war. The report found that the military offers a maximum of $2,500 to families of Iraqis civilians killed as a result of U.S. forces. The U.S. offers the same amount of money to Iraqis if their car is destroyed because of U.S. actions.

Source: Democracy Now, June 19, 2007

Opportunity For AmEx Cardholders To Help Rescue

If you're not an American Express cardholder, forward this to those who might be. Very worthwhile effort.

TLC
_______________________________________________________________

From: Kathie <kasp@tops-tele.com>
Date: Jun 18, 2007 6:30 PM

Over the last 6 years I have signed petitions, wrote letters, sent emails and did anything I could to help any animal anywhere. I have begged for help with transports, donated money when I could and made dog quilts to put on Ebay so the proceeds could go to help rescues and shelters all over the United States. Now I am asking for your help and it won't cost anything but a few moments of your time.

If you are an American Express card holder, you can help me if I am selected to be in the top 50 projects chosen. Why they only allow AMEX folks I don't know but there has to be a lot of them around the world.

As most of you know, I have been trying to get a sanctuary off the ground for several years. Sadly, finances have always been the main problem. AMEX is offering $5,000,000.00 (Yup, that's 5 million) to the winner of the Members Project. I signed up and my project was selected by AMEX. My project is number 6216.

If you are a AMEX cardholder can you go to www.membersproject.com and sign up? It costs nothing and every person who signs up, AMEX adds a dollar to the pot up to 5 million. On the page you can type in my number on the top right where it says "Search Projects" or you can go directly to my project at http://www.membersproject.com/Community_Development/6216?search=true The advisory panel and AMEX will be making a decision on July 3rd and picking the top 50 projects. The advisory panel is made up of well known folks like Jane Goodall, Ellen DeGeneres and 6 others and can be seen athttp://www.membersproject.com/meet-the-panel.htm There are 9 categories so I'm not sure if they pick a few from each one or how they decide, I just know I would love to win that prize. And to be honest, I wouldn't need all that money. I would take about half to put into 3 medical funds for animals in dire need. Abused animals, puppy mill rescued animals and naturally, ones who don't fall under those categories but still need expensive medical treatment but their rescues/shelters cannot afford it. 2.5 million can help a lot of animals.

So please, take a moment to go to the AMEX site and look over my project. If you feel I am worthy of your vote if I am picked for the top 50, log in or register. I will let everyone know if I am picked so voting can start. If you aren't an AMEX card holder, that's ok. You can still help me by sending this out to folks who might be.

Thank you in advance for any help and keep your paws crossed I am picked. (A few prayers might help too :)

Kathie
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/VT31.html

Monday, June 18, 2007

Decisions

"Every decision you make - every decision - is not a decision about what to do. It's a decision about Who You Are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do."
--Neale Donald Walsch
Author of Home With God

New Orleans Seeks Foreign Aid To Help Rebuild City

And finally, New Orleans is turning to foreign aid to help rebuild the city nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina. The city is talking to more than five countries because the federal government in Washington has been so slow in sending assistance. As of last week, the city said it had received just over half of the $320 million FEMA has obligated for rebuilding the city.

Source: Democracy Now, June 18, 2007

More American Child Abuse

U.S. Air Strike Kills 7 Children in Afghanistan

In eastern Afghanistan, at least seven children have died after a U.S-led air strike blew up a compound housing a mosque and a religious school. The U.S. blamed Al Qaeda for the deaths claiming that the children had been used as human shields.

Source: Democracy Now, June 18, 2007

______________________________

By that theory, one could blame everything that goes wrong on Al Qaeda. Doesn't have anything to do with indiscriminate bombing, eh?

TLC

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Cuts

"If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalists for the same reasons."
--C.S. Lewis

Beat

"Not once has an illegal immigrant beat me out of a job, beat me out of a car deal, beat me out of a house deal, done anything in any way to affect my life. But I’ve been screwed over more than once by righteous, church-going, U.S. citizens."
--The Salina [Kansas] Journal's anonymous Extension 333 call-in line, published June 17, 2007

Saturday, June 16, 2007

The Latest Spending "Big Lie"

"In the weeks ahead, my Administration will continue pushing for earmark reform and holding the line on Federal spending. The American people do not want to return to the days of tax and spend policies. They expect accountability and fiscal discipline in Washington, D.C. And I will use my veto to stop tax increases and runaway spending that threaten the strength of our economy and the prosperity of our people."
--DerBu$hler, weekly radio address, June 16. 2007


As of the writing of this Post, the US debt is $8.8 trillion, and escalating, thanks to Bu$h's war for oil and empire.

Bu$h's statement is rather like a full-blown drunk (thanks Condi) talking about the virtues of sobriety.

TLC

Protections

"Nearly every day on the television set the hero cop breaks into the bad guy’s house and beats a confession out of him and we cheer on the cop. Propaganda smears our clear vision. It causes us to accept the diminishment of our constitutional protections as something to be lauded -- after all, the cop was protecting us."
--Gerry Spence Lawyer and author Source: Give Me Liberty, 1998

Friday, June 15, 2007

Helping Joe LIEberman

Tim at Salon's War Room has an article on anything-but-independent Senator Joe LIEberman whoring for the war for oil, followed by an item on an increase in mental health resources for American--but not Iraqi--victims of the war on Iraq.

Question: Since LIEberman's mental derangement is increasing, will he be provided additional mental health services?

TLC

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Either

"In my heart, I think a woman has two choices: either she's a feminist or a masochist."
--Gloria Steinem

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Soul

"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different"
--Hippocrates

Today Deportation, Tomorrow "Internment Camps"

ACLU Files Suit Over Deported U.S. Citizen

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against government officials for deporting a mentally disabled U.S. citizen who’s now missing in Mexico. The ACLU says Pedro Guzman was serving a four month jail sentence for trespassing when he was deported to Tijuana on a supposed immigration charge. He was deported despite telling officers he was born in California. He was born in Los Angeles and lives in a nearby town with his mother. Immigration officials say the deportation was justified because they had reason to believe Guzman was an undocumented immigrant. Members of his family have searched shelters, jails and hospitals in Tijuana to track him down. ACLU Southern California legal director Mark Rosenbaum said: “This is a recurring nightmare for every person of color of immigrant roots.”

Source: Democracy Now, June 13, 2007

More From The DN Wing Of The White House Press Office

White House: Iran Supplying Taliban Insurgents

The Bush administration is stepping up its war of words with Iran. On Tuesday, Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns accused Iran of transferring weapons to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has previously said Iranian weapons are turning up in Afghanistan but had stopped short of putting direct blame on Tehran.

Source: Democracy Now, June 13, 2007
______________________________________



Uncritically reciting the lies enables and furthers the lies.

TLC

Iraq Will "Need" Long-Term U.S. Military Ties

Commander: Iraq Will Need Long-Term U.S. Military Ties

Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, the former commander in charge of training the Iraqi army said Iraq is years from achieving its goals and will require a long-term military relationship with the United States. Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey testified Iraq needs at least twenty-thousand more soldiers to handle security in the country and at least five more years before it can control its own airspace.

Source: Democracy Now, June 13, 2007

___________________________________

My email to Democracy Now:

By what stretch of the rational imagination will Iraq "Need" ties with the US military that is slaughtering Iraqis en masse, turning over a million into refugees and forcing their women into prostitution?

Uncritically reciting the lies enables and furthers the lies.

TLC

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Boredom

"Is not life a hundred times too short to bore ourselves?"
--Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Monday, June 11, 2007

Television

"It is by no means far-fetched to see today's television consumers as masses of mental prisoners who get their values and their views of the world from the programs and images that powerful corporations or governments keep feeding into their minds.The world in which they live is essentially a television world. Like the chained prisoners in the Cave they rarely even wonder whether what they see is real."
--Jorn K. Bramann, on media and Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

"Academic Freedom" Only If You're Pro-Israel Right-Or-Wrong

DePaul Denies Tenure to Norman Finkelstein

In academic news, DePaul University has denied tenure to political science professor Norman Finkelstein, one of the most prominent critics of Israel in American academia. The political science department and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recommended tenure for Finkelstein, but the college's dean and the University Board on Promotion and Tenure recommended against it. Finkelstein's fight for tenure became national news in part because Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz publicly lobbied against him receiving tenure. Finkelstein said: "I met the standards of tenure DePaul required, but it wasn't enough to overcome the political opposition to my speaking out on the Israel-Palestine conflict." Supporters of Finkelstein included Raul Hilberg, the dean of Holocaust historians. Hillberg said this weekend: "I have a sinking feeling about the damage this will do to academic freedom."

Source: Democracy Now, June 11, 2007

U.S. vs. US Troops

Report: U.S. Arming Sunni Insurgents

The New York Times is reporting the U.S. military has begun secretly supplying arms, ammunition and cash to Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq in an effort to fight Al Qaeda. Some of the Sunni groups are suspected of having carried out deadly attacks on American troops and have strong ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath party. Critics of the strategy say it could amount to the U.S. arming both sides in a civil war. The United States has already spent more than $15 billion in building up Iraq"s largely Shiite army and police force.

Source: Democracy Now, June 11, 2007

_______________________________

The Fourth Reich is drumming up support for an attack on Iran on the pretext that Iran is supporting forces that are attacking US troops.

Seems like it's the White House that needs to be invaded if we want to stop the attacks on US troops...

TLC

Bring On The Martial Law: Colorado Springs woman killed by TB

TB kills 19-year-old CSU-Pueblo student

Health officials confirmed this afternoon that tuberculosis killed a 19-year-old international student who died Friday at a Colorado Springs hospital.

Full story, Rocky Mountain News, June 11, 2007

Fred Thompson: Once a Pro-Choice Skirt Chaser, Now Standard Bearer of the Religious Right

Great summary of Thomp$on's flip-flopping positions of convenience on abortion and promiscuity by Tim at Rolling Stone, June 11, 2007.

TLC

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Expect

“I am a dog. You are a man. You expect too much. I accept too little. Even when I get too little, I still know that life is good. Too often you overlook that fact.”
--Conversations with Dog

Germany, 1937; Eureka California, 2007

Brownshirts in the streets, stopping citizens and demanding the production of their identity card. It's Germany 1937 all over again!

And how many DUI arrests occurred? Out of 638 American citizens pulled over for no reason,
a grand total of 2.


Source: Eureka Reporter, June 10, 2007 (picture on page 2 of web version of article. The same picture appeared on the front page of the print version).
TLC

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Most

"The most violent weapon on earth is the table fork"
--Mahatma Gandhi

Believe

"I believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and honest Republicans."
--The Salina [Kansas] Journal's anonymous Extension 333 call-in line, published June 9, 2007

Twenty

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
--Mark Twain

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Best

"The worst thing in your life may contain seeds of the best. When youcan see crisis as an opportunity, your life becomes not easier, but moresatisfying."
--Joe Kogel

US, er, "Iraq Government", Gets Serious...About Oil

Iraq Cracks Down on Striking Oil Workers

In other Iraq news, leaders of Iraq’s oil workers strike say the Iraqi government has issued warrants for their arrest. More than six hundred workers have walked off the job to oppose the proposed Iraq oil law and demand better wages. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said this week he would respond “with an iron fist.”

Source: Democracy Now, June 7, 2007

___________________________________________

Uh, right, we're there to bring western-style democracy, including workers rights, to Iraq.

TLC

"The Death Of Hope"

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out an email titled, "The death of hope", bemoning DerBu$hler's position on stem cell research:

George Bush is about to stubbornly deny the will of the American people once again.

But George Bush is threatening a veto in defiance of almost every congressional Democrat, many Republicans and the overwhelming majority of the American people.
________________________

And on and on...oh that evil bastard, thwarting The Will Of The People...


My email to the DSCC:


Yes, there is "The Death Of Hope" in America, caused by the Democrats repeatedly caving in to the demands of the Fourth Reich, recently and most notoriously voting to fully fund the War For Oil And Empire.

TLC

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Significant

"Significant progress doesn’t come from the formal planning process of an American corporation. It comes from a couple of guys doing something that hasn’t been set down on a list."
--William McGowan, executive

Pelosi Blowin' Wind

"Principles, my friend,
are blowin' in the wind,
My mind is a blowin' in the wind"

TLC
_____________________

Pelosi scuttles warming challenge
Dems' plan would have blocked state's greenhouse limits

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, responding to pressure from California officials and environmentalists, has slapped down a new proposal by top House Democrats that would have wiped out California's ability to regulate greenhouse gases from cars and trucks.

Pelosi's staff on Monday indicated that the speaker planned to watch the bill as it moved through committee. But the speaker came under intense pressure from environmentalists and state officials to send a stronger signal that she opposed the idea.

Full SF Chronicle article, June 6, 2007

Feeding Into The Gambling Addiction

Letter to the editor, published in The Salina [Kansas] Journal, June 6, 2007, which refers to an earlier article (part 1 and part 2) on how a whopping 2% of the gambling profits will be spread about.

TLC
___________________________________


Gambling on addictions

Some of the huge gambling profits, besides going to line the pockets of politicians who have voted to legalize casino gambling in Kansas, will be spent to “fight addictions”— drugs, alcohol and gambling.

At present, gambling addictions are relatively rare in Kansas, but will now explode with the major expansion of legal gambling.

By spending some of the profits on drug and alcohol treatment, two more powerful interest groups will now become addicted to the gambling industry.

The effort to “fight” gambling addiction will likely be as underwhelming as the feeble motions made by the tobacco companies and the government, both of which profit immensely from the sale of cigarettes, to “fight” smoking.

It is also worth noting that there is no “restitution fund” to compensate gambling’s victims — the gambler, their family and the businesses (as well as the employees and suppliers of those businesses) who will not ever receive payment for goods and services because the gambler had “a higher priority.”

—TERRY L. CLARK

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Mimic

If you want to be assured of hearing the opinions,
and the feedback,
that you desire,

then get a parrot,
a mirror,
a tape recorder,

best enjoyed from the comfort of under your bed,
with the blankets pulled over,
to avoid extraneous,
challenging,
outside,
inspiring,
thoughts.

Or join a cult,
for then the thoughts of those around you,
will always be in harmony with yours.

TLC

Treason Will Get You 30...Months

Prison for Libby in Leak Case

Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Tuesday for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation.

Full wire service article, SF Chronicle, June 5, 2007

______________________________

But try to defend continued life on this planet, and go to prison for more than seven and a half years!

TLC

A Tale Of Two Dealers

Salinan sentenced on drug charges

A Salina man who pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school will spend more than four years in prison.

Saline County District Judge Jerome Hellmer on Monday sentenced [Name and address not relevant], to 51 months in prison, with 36 months of post-release supervision. ________ also must pay $1,600 in restitution, jointly with co-defendant _______, for Kansas Bureau of Investigation lab fees related to the case.

Full story, Salina [Kansas] Journal, June 5, 2007

_________________________

My letter to The Salina Journal:

Dear Editor:

How sad that a person convicted of possession of marijuana, a pain reliever that one can grow without the involvement of the pharmaceutical drug cartel, will spend more than four years in prison.

Had he become a pharmacist and sold Oxycontin, a toxic "legal" drug that rots the body from the inside out, http://www.oxyabusekills.com/, he would be a "respectable businessman" still raking in immense profits, http://tinyurl.com/ys8823.

Terry L. Clark

Monday, June 04, 2007

Requisite

"To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform."
--Theodore White, author

Bye Bye Wayne Madsen (For Now)

A favorite site of mine had been that of investigative reporter Wayne Madsen.

But alas, the news today, oh boy:

Individual Reader monthly USD 7.00/month
Business Monthly monthly USD 10.00/month
Business Annual annually USD 100.00/year

Poorly formatted, and somewhat hidden:

"Beltway Insider" Rate annually USD 30.00/year -- annual rate for anyone who wants to be a "Beltway Insider"


Too rich for my blood. Hell, the NYT "Times Select" is only $49.95 per year. Yeah, alot of bias, but also alot of information once you know what to read and what to ignore.

I sympathise. Some days I reflect that I could do my Blog full time, and have much more material--long articles, not just quick memos, if there were just 8,000 people contributing a buck a month.

Best of luck, Wayne, and when things improve, $30/year isn't all that bad, at least for those with more disposable income.

TLC

Wm Jefferson: Indicted For Being A Mouthy Democrat

Salon's War Room had an item on the Indictment of Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, which like the vast majority of articles on the subject, completely missed the point.

My Posting at Salon:

Look at all the Republicans who have been on the take for the past 6 years--quid pro quo "campaign contributions", "gratuities", or--if we're honest--payments for legislation. How many of them have been Indicted? And of those Indicted, what happened to the Federal Prosecutors who had the gall to Indict a Republican?

Jefferson, however, was outspoken on, among other issues, the not-so-benign neglect of the victims of Katrina--more accurately, the victims of the Bu$h Regime. Speak up against the Fourth Reich, and there are consequences. Profit from the War OF Terror, e.g. Fraulein Feinstein, what used to be called "war profiteering", http://www.metroactive.com/feinstein ? Business as usual, or sharing in the profits.

TLC

Move On/Gas Prices: Give ME A Break

Move On sent out a mass email captioned "Give Us A Break!", protesting price gouging by the gasoline companies, asking for petition signatures to make such conduct a federal offense.

My email to MoveOn.org:

We should be campaigning to demand stringent fuel-efficient vehicles. Electric vehicles. Solar, hydrogen FROM WATER and other alternative-energy vehicles.

Focusing on price just encourages people to continue to use vehicles powered by the internal combustion engine and increase global warming.

Get a clue, get your priorities in order, get a copy of "Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives" by Edwin Black, or rent the DVD "Who Killed The Electric Car?".

TLC

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Candle

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."
--Buddha (563?-483? BC), [Siddhartha Gautama] Indian mystic, founder of Buddhism

Friday, June 01, 2007

MD

"M.D." does NOT stand for "Major Deity"
--Unknown