I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
First?
About time!
All yours, Dionysus.
Morning
So I see where Fristy, who can do diagnosis of patients from video tapes, has now prostituted himself even further by saying we should teach "Intelligent Design" and Evolution!!!
Why not also the other theories of human arrival on earth like Scientology or the Mormon's inter-planetary beliefs???
How about the Hindu theory of origins?
Why be so limiting if we are going to equate real science with "Tooth Fairy" ideas?
Ugh. Recieved my 30th Reunion invite in the mail yesterday.
My, how it feels to be old.
i guess everyone saw the news about harry reid's mini-stroke?
I thought those were a result of just smoking good pot...
Frist on Intelligent Design
""""I think today a pluralistic society should have access to a broad range of fact, of science, including faith," Frist said."""
As if faith is a part of fact or science.
'Morning, moonbats and rational folks.
Fuck Bush and the rest of 'em - with special attention to the republigoons in Ohio.
Lindsay -- I sure hope Taft doesn't resign. We need him in '06.
The "Energy bill" is another scam foisted on the public by Bushboy & his Gooper accomplices.
It doesn't make gas any cheaper. It doesn't improve the supply of oil. It doesn't do anything to really reduce the demand for fossil fuels.
All it does is give the Energy companies more tax breaks and more government subsidies to add to their already record profits and bottom lines.
Americans are suckers!
Morning penguins! I honor you, as the colonel-in-chief would do!
Consider what Bushboy & the Goopers have given us in four plus short years:
A war that we didn't need that kills and wounds thousands of people each month, while making terrorism worse.
Record Budget deficits that are piling up the national debt to unsustainable levels so the rich could get more tax breaks.
Selling out of the American people to Big Pharma (the Medicare bill), Big Banks (the Bankruptcy bill) and Big Oil (the Energy bill).
If we had an enemy government take over Washington, it couldn't have done anymore damage than Bushboy & the Goopers!
Morning penguins! I honor you, as the colonel-in-chief would do!
rorschach
Why do I love this crazy story so much? Why do the photos move me nearly to tears? What is it about penguins?
Morning penguins! I honor you, as the colonel-in-chief would do!
rorschach
Why do I love this crazy story so much? Why do the photos move me nearly to tears? What is it about penguins?
Doctor, Senator, Mr. Frist...GET THEE TO A NEARBY CHURCH...all the "faith" you'll need IS available there. NCLB has successfully transferred the schools from places of learning and critical thinking to cocoons for "teaching to the test"...next, I guess the faith barometer will be used to assess student progress.
What is it about penguins?
The eternal question...
Great little kitty, ror. Love the white at the whiskers.
Can someone explain to me why I am not only up but working?
I'd rather take orders from a penguin than a chimp.
It's psychosis, lb. You should see a Doctor about this behavior.
Great little kitty, ror. Love the white at the whiskers.
Can someone explain to me why I am not only up but working?
A) Gramsci thanks you.
B) No.
Here's the money paragraph from Krugman's column of 8/19/05
Our current political leaders would suffer greatly if either house of Congress changed hands in 2006, or if the presidency changed hands in 2008. The lids would come off all the simmering scandals, from the selling of the Iraq war to profiteering by politically connected companies. The Republicans will be strongly tempted to make sure that they win those elections by any means necessary. And everything we've seen suggests that they will give in to that temptation.
lb0313 -
Misery loves company. I'm at work too.
If we had an enemy government take over Washington, it couldn't have done anymore damage than Bushboy & the Goopers!
Rudy
Rudy,
And you can add to the list the 2005 update of the Patriot Act
Ror - after looking at all the cute kitty pics I suggested to Mr. QL that we get another kitten. He said no. Wanna come here and talk some sense into him? Maybe at eschacon.
Feral
At least I work from home, it isn't like I'm dressed or anything.
FeralLiberal,
Which one's Heckle?
At least I work from home, it isn't like I'm dressed or anything.
lb0313
Um...you're not eating cheetos, are you?
More kitties! More kitties!
Mr lb is heading out of town for 10 months - I'm likely to go into an adoption frenzy.
Um...you're not eating cheetos, are you?
... busted
He said no. Wanna come here and talk some sense into him?
Will there be fisticuffs? cuz if so, yes!
At least I work from home, it isn't like I'm dressed or anything
So you can get away with the NTodd No Pants(TM) mode.
Frist including "faith" as one of the sciences.
Why am I not surprised?
Rudy, good post on the energy bill. I really don't think said bill was intended to lower the price of fuel or develop alternate energy sources. Quite the opposite, I would think.
I would bet the house that the energy bill was the main thing on the Bush agenda when he took office and that the oil men in Texas, who had a lot to do with Little Boots being president, set that priority.
I think that's why Cheenee is guarding the notes from his meetings in the summer of 2001 like a feral animal.
I'm listening to the rebroadcast of Morning Sedition with Dick Cavett. I really love him. There's a DVD (I think) of his shows featuring rock icons.
He was talking about doing all this stuff unscripted, and Maron was saying how controlled talk show interviews are now. Did anyone see Steve Carell being "interviewed" by Jon Stewart the other night? It was freaking hilarious. They just sat there in uncomfortable silence for the longest time. Carell is a master at deadpan pseudo-seriousness. Cracked me open.
So you can get away with the NTodd No Pants(TM) mode.
FeralLiberal
My wife gave me 8 shirts and more books for my birthday. And scotch.
But no pants!
Which one's Heckle?
Heckle on the left. Wouldn't you love to sic those two on Chimpy?
So you can get away with the NTodd No Pants(TM) mode
It all depends on the meaning of 'get away'
Morning, Moonbats.
Heckle on the left.
It's just a snark to the left, and then a quip to the right.
Will there be fisticuffs? cuz if so, yes!
rorschach
No.
Did someone say More Kitties?
According to an op-ed in the NYT this morning: if W's dandy little war in Iraq lasts another five years, as Rummy the Dummy says it could, we shall have spent $1,333,000,000,000.02 on it. Holy shit! Thank what that could have meant for our crumbling infrastucture and the welfare of our nation -- not to mention domestic tranquility!
Will there be fisticuffs? cuz if so, yes!
rorschach
No.
Email addy for gravatar only
I was kidding.
But no pants!
rorschach
Sounds like permission to go pantsless to me.
More kitties! Whee!
(ain't nobody getting that bag.)
Seems she's got your priorities down quite well.
Jesus, Reid has had a mini-stroke? I hope the guy is okay. I like his crankiness.
We had better not have to suffer through all sorts of pundit pieces about how the dems are now literally and figuratively falling apart.
St Patrick
I'd be able to stop working weekends - we'd all have healthcare.
I'm listening to the rebroadcast of Morning Sedition with Dick Cavett. I really love him. There's a DVD (I think) of his shows featuring rock icons.
I wish they had kept him on all morning. He used to go on Howard Stern (believe it or not) all the time and was fascinating, too.
Netflix has the DVDs, btw.
I just heard on the radio that the police found the body of LaToya Figueroa.
Heckle on the left. Wouldn't you love to sic those two on Chimpy?
Most soitainly. That would be hilarious. Bikey W and Heckle and Jeckle. I could see Little Boots in a cartoon pedaling like hell to get away form the boids and not getting anywhere while they fucked with him unmercifully.
Reminds me of the vignette in the Twilight Zone movie where this kid could think of something and it would happen. He was conjuring up all kinds of cartoons and the like and torturing his parents.
Morning to all.
Yesterday my wife took her Oath of Citizenship. I told her she can now say "Fuck Bush" and have as good of a chance as me of getting sent off to the gulag--but at least she's a citizen.
Yesterday my wife took her Oath of Citizenship.
Hey ... that's exciting. Congrats! It's testament to the power and promise of this place that it can be so fucked up at the moment and people still want to become citizens.
Mornin' 'bats.
I'm digging MoDo this AM.
W. says he can't set a deadline to bring the troops home. But he started the war on an artificial deadline; he declared a "Mission Accomplished" end to major hostilities on an artificial deadline; he was inflexible on deadlines for handing over Iraqi sovereignty and holding elections. And he tried to force the Iraqis to produce a constitution on his deadline when the squabbling politicians of the ethnic and religious factions hadn't even reached consensus on little things like "Do we want one country?"
It isn't only the left that is invoking Vietnam. You know you're in trouble when Henry Kissinger gives you advice on how to exit a war.
The man who won a Nobel Peace Prize for making a botched exit and humiliating defeat look like a brilliant act of diplomacy wrote an op-ed article in The Washington Post drawing the analogy the White House dreads: Iraq as Vietnam, including an unfavorable comparison: "After the failure of Hanoi's Tet offensive, the guerrilla threat was substantially eliminated. Saigon and all other urban centers were far safer than major cities in Iraq are today."
Great post Rudy.
The really depressing part is that my DINO congress critter, Gregory Meeks (NY6 CD) voted for all of them.
Plus CAFTA.
Big Daddy Mars - Great News! Congrats to your wife!
The man who won a Nobel Peace Prize for making a botched exit and humiliating defeat look like a brilliant act of diplomacy wrote an op-ed article in The Washington Post drawing the analogy the White House dreads
I predict that the aforementioned Peace Prize will be jammed up his ass sideways for the duration of his stay in Hades.
NYMary,
The time away from her desk has apparently done MoDo some good. She's been on fire (and right on target) since she returned.
Hey ... that's exciting. Congrats! It's testament to the power and promise of this place that it can be so fucked up at the moment and people still want to become citizens.
Thanks you. She's from Indonesia and has been living her for 8 years, and decided it would be easier for her to be a citizen, particularly with all the crazy stuff being implemented by King Chimp. Of course she spent most of her life in Indonesia living under the dictator Suharto, so she'd had a lot of experience dealing with maniacal fascists dictators.
mornin blogkins
Congrats, BDM! Where's her country of origin, if you don't mind my asking? (And how did she score herself a fine liberal god like yourself?)
Via Cursor, a summary that says it all.
Arianna Huffington objects that "the MSM want to hold Sheehan's feet to the fire on statements she's denied making about Israel while allowing Dick 'last throes' Cheney, Condi 'mushroom cloud' Rice, George 'slam dunk' Tenet, Alberto 'quaint' Gonzalez, and George 'Mission Accomplished' Bush a free pass."
D'oh, question answered before I asked it.
I've just been made the Outreach Director for a SEAsian studies program--I know more about Indonesia that I should, really. Is she Javanese?
Congrats, BDM! Where's her country of origin, if you don't mind my asking? (And how did she score herself a fine liberal god like yourself?)
She's Chinese Indonesian. We actually met on the internet, believe it or not, and then met in person in Hong Kong 8 months later when we were both there on business.
I predict that the aforementioned Peace Prize will be jammed up his ass sideways for the duration of his stay in Hades.
Like Hitler's pineapple in Little Nicky?
BDM -- congrats to the Missus! We need her help. Very cool!
BDM, Congratulations to your wife on becoming a citizen: I hope the day comes when that does not bring any sort of embarassment and become a source of pride once again.
good morning...
res
re: latoya
yes, I've seen reports on nbc and cbs early morning shows saying her
body was found. they have a person in custody - maybe the boyfriend
I've just been made the Outreach Director for a SEAsian studies program--I know more about Indonesia that I should, really. Is she Javanese?
She's from Java--Cirebon, as a matter of fact, before moving to Jakarta--but both her parents are Chinese, so she doesn't consider herself a "native", as the Chinese in Indonesia were repressed a great deal under Suharto.
She's Chinese Indonesian.
(Here's where I could bore you by talking about the Chinese role in rubber production in Kalimantan. But I won't.)
Love conquers all!
Virginia -- I remember seeing Janis Joplin on Dick Cavett's show. She left him and the audience stunned.
And farewell, and happy trails, Hunter S Thompson.
cs -- I don't remember it, but it's on the DVDs. I'm hampered to some extent by not owning a DVD player. Dammit.
Yes, only the ethnic Javanese really did well under Suharto. But we loved him over here!
The things we did in the name of fighting Communism, I swear.... makes one blush to be American. We've needed those "We're Sorry, World" websites for a good 40 years.
NYMary,
I don't know if you read my question concerning power pop yestiddy, but have you ver listened to any of the Berzerkely stuff from the mid to late 70's?
Congrats to you BDM. And meeting in Hong Kong doesn't sound like such an odd proposition. Even a meeting that can lead to marriage. 
The things we did in the name of fighting Communism,
Good times, yes?
I was just reading an essay on the expansion and reallocation of capital to the federal gov't of the US in the 50s, and this sentence rang true: "If the Cold War did not exist, we would have had to invent it."
BDM, Congratulations to your wife on becoming a citizen: I hope the day comes when that does not bring any sort of embarassment and become a source of pride once again.
Oh, I'll tell ya, I was starting to think about all the crap Bush has been pulling, and I told her I was the one getting embarrassed because of what this country has become.
Interestingly enough, there were 51 people taking the oath. About 10 were from Mexico, but there were 8 people from Macedonia and a half-dozen from Nigeria. One guy from England and another from Canada, and a person each from Greece and Spain.
NYMary, to a certain extent that trusting that the government would not embarass this country is the problem. All of these things: war on terror, 9/11, and the increasing hostility of the world toward Bushboy (and Us, unfortunately) can be traced to the sad and pathetic ways that our government "fought" the Cold War.
If only, heh?
I was kidding.
rorschach
Oh, I knew that.
Congrats to you BDM. And meeting in Hong Kong doesn't sound like such an odd proposition. Even a meeting that can lead to marriage.
She's one of the reasons why Hong Kong is my favorite city of all. Although Amsterdamn runs a very close second.
and another from Canada
Now, THAT I don't get at all.
Oh, and BDM -
Congrats on the better half. Good luck.
Hey, Billy B.
I didn't see your question, sorry. No, I'm not familiar with it. But always willing to learn: What can you tell me?
Big Daddy... What does one have to do to become a citizen these days (aside from a residency requirement and swearing of an oath)? Tests, etc?
HoneyBearKelly
He's my congresscritter. What the fuck is up with that? Is it time to switch over to the Working Families Party?
She's one of the reasons why Hong Kong is my favorite city of all.
I have a buddy at work that is from Hong Kong. One of the top biochemists in my company. A real sweet guy, too.
Now, THAT I don't get at all.
Virginia
Our phone harrassment troll is apparently from Canada as well.
Virginia -- Well, if you ever get a chance, do watch it. She was sui generis, fill-tilt boogie alright.
Yes, only the ethnic Javanese really did well under Suharto. But we loved him over here!
The things we did in the name of fighting Communism, I swear.... makes one blush to be American. We've needed those "We're Sorry, World" websites for a good 40 years.
I've always said that Saddam wished he'd run up the sort of body count Suhato did. Hundreds of thousands of people killed in the six months after the Sept 30, '65 takeover (I think we say about 350,000, but my wife says it's really more like 600,000, and nearly all were Chinese as they gravitated towards the PKI), and then maybe a million and a half more in the years to follow.
But, hey, at least Henry Kissinger gave Suharto the go ahead to invade East Timor. Wouldn't have wanted one of "our" dictators to go crazy now, would we?
Although Amsterdamn runs a very close second.
Big Daddy Mars
Amsterdam; Vancouver; Quebec City, for its outrageous Europeanness (although I have only very superficial experience of it). Oh, and Paris. Because it's Paris.
Never been eastward. I think I'm kind of intimiated by it. (Plus I don't fly well.) I would love to see Thailand.
MYMary -
The Berzerkely label came out of California in the mid 70's. It was pretty much the Left Coast's version of punk rock and was really good stuff.
Greg Kihn (from Baltimore, no less) had the most success out of that bunch and I think he'd moved on to another label when he had his hit "Jeopardy".
I'll research some links and such and get back to you.
Duh of the morning --
Police rethink shoot to kill policy
He's my congresscritter. What the fuck is up with that? Is it time to switch over to the Working Families Party?
I'm ashamed to say I don't know much about them.
Yesterday Fernando Ferrer was at the Jamaica Center station. I said to him I will not vote for any Dem on the local level until they get rid of Meeks.
I won't give them a penny either.
Won't make a difference I know but Meeks must go.
Wolcott on Sheehan.
HoneyBear ... How did Ferrer react?
Cool, Billy B! Thanks!
Yes, BDM, we'll probably never really know the numbers of those lost after the September 30 coup. My favorite Indonesian author, Pramoedya, wrote a series of novels tracing the rise of Indonesian nationalism in the early 20th c. while he himself was confined on Buru. First, he narrated them to his fellow prisoners, then by the mid-70's he was allowed paper and pencil, and eventually a typewriter. He was sent to live under house arrest in Jakarts, but after a while, he started travelling, and no one stopped him. Great books, the Buru Quartet.
Ray McGovern, formerly a CIA afficer shares his toughts on Cindy Sheehan. I'd say 'must read!
and good morning to all the moonbatteries, moonkitteries, moondoggeries, et al...
have a good day 
Big Daddy... What does one have to do to become a citizen these days (aside from a residency requirement and swearing of an oath)? Tests, etc?
Here were the steps:
First, I filed to have my wife come into the country as a fiancee. That was an I-94 form. That took about six months to get all the paper work filed. The day she was suppose to leave Indonesia to come here was the day rioting started that eventually led to Suharto stepping down. So she was a little late getting out. Cost was $95 (then), and I basically had to hand over records from my bank account (to show I wasn't being paid) and get notarized letters from two people saying they'd actually seen us together, plus a photo or two showing we'd met in a place outside the US (a picture taken from the Kowloon side showing Victoria Harbor was what we used).
Then we filed to have he status adjusted--to get her a green card. That required filing a paper and paying $215. Nothing big there.
To get naturalized she had to be in the country 5 years since filing for your green card, although you could file within 90 days of that date. We filed last Aug 8. Cost was $425. She had to go to two interviews and basically take a short test (it was three questions, but the questions were selected from a group of 100), and that was it.
We did all the paper work ourselves (it wasn't that difficult, and could be downloaded). Friends of ours went through a lawyer (his wife came into the country on a tourist visa and just stayed; happened about three months after we were married), have paid about $6000, and the woman still isn't naturalized.
NYMary -
I just checked out AMG for Greg Kihn (I linked it off your homepage...). Other Berserkly artists were Earthquake, the Rubinoos, and Jonathan Richman. Here's a link:
http://tinyurl.com/djgqw
I probably liked Earthquake the best. One of my favortite albums is "Spitballs" an album of cover tunes done by Berserkly artists. It has a cool version of the "Batman" Theme.
He was sent to live under house arrest in Jakarts, but after a while, he started travelling, and no one stopped him. Great books, the Buru Quartet.
I remember you telling me about those. I'll ask my wife if she'd heard of them.
res Ferrer always has this kinda stunned look on his face so I'm not really sure.
Amsterdam; Vancouver; Quebec City, for its outrageous Europeanness (although I have only very superficial experience of it). Oh, and Paris. Because it's Paris.
I need to get up to Vancouver and Quebec City one of these days. Have heard nothing but good about them. And Paris, too. We're hoping to go to Europe next year, and seeing Paris is up there.
HoneyBear ... Ferrer is going to have a stunned look on his face in November, too. How this guy thinks he can get elected is beyond me. The time when a mayor of NYC could be some old-school ward boss type is over.
WGG!!
I am drinking a fabulous, fabulous cup of coffee, thanks to you.
After I work a couple of hours I'm off to shop for the port roast to marinate (and some Community Dark Roast to send your way)
Many, many thanks.
(I'll get Mr lb to drink the sazerac - he likes those thngs.. I'll go with a Ramos gin fizz anyday.)
I'm George Bush, and I am here to bring you freedom.
Great Wolcott post, res! (And I want some of that truffle omlette appetizer, damn it!)
Thanks, Billy B! I know the Rubinoos, and I love, love, love Jonathan Richman. All my kids have been raised on "I'm a Little Dinosaur" and "Ice-Cream Man," and "Everyday Clothes" is the greatest love song ever.
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Billy B/NYMary:
beserkeley discography page
http://www.bsnpubs.com/elektra/b.../
beserkley.html
Sorry to leave you with the troll, guys, but I'm off to set up a family reunion, with folks as from as far away as Hawaii. Ciao!
BDM -- I did that process with my second husband, an Iranian. He'd been here for school, then gone home. Things were really heating up. We met in Germany and filed the fiance visa petition; he went back to Iran and I came back here. Months passed, and we had everything we needed except a clearance from the Embassy in Tehran. He called me and said there were lines blocks long to get in there, that it was virtually impossible to accomplish this last step. I called our person in Bonn, who said he felt comfortable with the applicant and he should come on; they'd waive the Embassy clearance. N. left Iran and flew to Germany. While he was in transit, the hostages were taken. He walked into the office in Germany carrying that Iranian passport and, let me tell you, it was AWKWARD. He didn't have the clearance, of course, and our contact had gone to Bremen, and they weren't going to bend. He couldn't go forward and couldn't go back. I tracked the guy down in Bremen and he called Bonn and N. was able to proceed. But the whole thing took at least a year off my life.
Nice guy, wholly unsuitable mate. He's a citizen now, and boy is he ever a liberal! So we won that one.
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OOO, thanks zombie! I'll bookmark it!
" port roast to marinate"
Isn't port roast pre-marinated?
I tracked the guy down in Bremen and he called Bonn and N. was able to proceed. But the whole thing took at least a year off my life.
Nice guy, wholly unsuitable mate. He's a citizen now, and boy is he ever a liberal! So we won that one.
When the rioting started in Jakarta the day my wife was to leave she holed up with a friend for a couple of days, and Chinese tend to get targeted in those cases. She was out after a couple of days, but I'd called my sister (who at the time had friends in the State Department) and asked her if there was anyone she knew who might be able to help.
Nothing as bad as what you guys went through, but you do feel very helpless when that happens.
WGG!!
I am drinking a fabulous, fabulous cup of coffee, thanks to you.
happy to be able to provide for your pleasure, m'dear...
you might consider blending the pinon with your favorite other beans, for a subtle flavor mix...
as with the chile, bon appetit!
.
Thanks, zombie. I'm there.
DemocratsswallowRepublicanloads
Aenonymous | 08.20.05 - 9:07 am
waste of:
Cum
Protoplasm
Bandwidth
now crawl off somewhere, stick your thumb up your ass, and die...
Depends on the port....
Fatwa orders Sunnis to vote/ Federalism key to peace: says Iraq security chief
FALLUJAH, Iraq: Muslim preachers stepped up a campaign to involve Sunni Arabs in Iraq’s Shia-dominated politics yesterday, telling worshippers it was their religious duty to vote on Iraq’s new constitution.
Preachers have made a number of calls in recent weeks for Sunnis – Iraq’s dominant group until the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 – to make their voices heard after they boycotted elections in January won by majority Shias.
“I call on you to register your names in order to vote over the constitution and in the elections,” Abdel-Sattar Al Jumaily told hundreds of worshippers in Fallujah, a Sunni city west of Baghdad. “This is a fatwa (religious edict) from the highest authorities and should not be ignored.”
Boy, that troll sure showed this open thread who's boss with its repetitive thing.
Slain dissident’s family protests visit by Saddam-era envoy
BEIRUT: The family of an opponent of Saddam Hussein assassinated in Beirut in 1994 lodged a protest yesterday against a planned visit by an Iraqi diplomat who was head of mission in Lebanon at the time.
The diplomat, Awad Fakhri, according to the Lebanese inquiry, “had tried to sneak the two murderers out of the country” after the killing of Taleb Suheil, the victim’s daughters wrote in a protest to the foreign ministry.
Fakhri, who has been named head of the Arab affairs department at Iraq’s foreign ministry, was “expelled at the time by Lebanese authorities”, the letter noted.
“It is thus inconceivable that the Lebanese authorities should receive on their territory an Iraqi official who was an accessory to murder in their country,” said the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
Now that Cindy went home can I stop pretending that I do not hate the Fascist baby killing troops?
Boy, that troll sure showed this open thread who's boss with its repetitive thing.
Yeah, that's what happens when the little fallas first learn to cut and paste.
From the McGovern piece linked above
"Also executed was a more obscure but equally courageous professor from the University of Berlin, Albrecht Haushofer.
Like Bonhoeffer, Haushofer was arrested for speaking out. The SS prison guards were required to extract a confession from prisoners before they were hanged or shot, but Haushofer refused. When they removed his body, though, a paper fell out of his pocket. It was his admission of guilt written in the form of a sonnet:
Schuld
...schuldig bin ich
Anders als Ihr denkt.
Ich musste früher meine Pflicht erkennen;
Ich musste schärfer Unheil Unheil nennen;
Mein Urteil habe ich zu lang gelenkt...
Ich habe gewarnt,
Aber nicht genug, und klar;
Und heute weiß ich, was ich schuldig war.
Guilt
I am guilty,
But not in the way you think.
I should have earlier recognized my duty;
I should have more sharply called evil evil;
I reined in my judgment too long.
I did warn,
But not enough, and clear;
And today I know what I was guilty of."
China bans Islamic sect in new crackdown
BEIJING: China has banned a branch of Islam in its Muslim-dominated Xinjiang region and arrested 179 followers, saying it "poisons" people's minds.
Authorities in the Yili Autonomous Prefecture announced that the Sala religion - a Chinese branch of Islam - has been banned because of its dangerous doctrines, according to the German-based World Uighur Congress.
The religious group was accused of misleading ordinary people with its "pseudo-science" and "anti-society" doctrines, Yili officials said.
Zhang Yun, who is in charge of supervising the prefecture's religious affairs, warned government and Communist party officials of the "dangerous" nature of Sala and said it had be to banned along with other illegal religions
God, i detest Scottie Simon...
.
Depends on the port....
lb0313
I thought it was any port in a storm... and thankfully they just lifted the amber rainstorm warning after 12 and a half hours of this storm.
And I was going to give you a link for an online stream for the live broadcast of Miss Hong Kong, but it seems to be saturated.
Abbas sets date for legislative polls
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has set 25 January as the date for legislative elections.
The announcement could boost his international credibility and encourage his biggest political rival, the resistance group Hamas, to hold its fire during Israel's ongoing Gaza pullout.
However, just as he spoke, dozens of masked Hamas armed men briefly took over Gaza City's central square, keeping police cruisers at bay as they announced they would not halt attacks despite Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.
God, i detest Scottie Simon...
.
WoodyGuthriesGuitar
Well sure, but whom do you favor on Rock Star INXS?
God, i detest Scottie Simon...
.
WoodyGuthriesGuitar
Well sure, but whom do you favor on Rock Star INXS?
So many trools, only one Dumbest Troll Ever award...
This is how bad it is. I am listening to Mike Malloy's show from last night and believed that the theory of intelligent falling was for real.
And fuck you haloscam.
Morning bats
Morning bats
Everything that is old is new again dept.
When I was in college and one of the "people" started acting like an asshole, we said that they were flaming assholes. Therefore when they were beginning to act like a jerk, it was simple just to say, "Flame on."
Well, troll, FLAME ON!
Bill Frist gets pensive.
I believe there's a kitty in Kansas who'd like a one-on-one photo op with Sen. Frist.
Menezes reports 'needed clarity'
Police should have clarified misleading reports about the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority has said.
Leaked investigation papers seemed to contradict initial police statements and witness accounts of the shooting.
Green authority member Jenny Jones said it should have been "an immediate priority" for police to clarify the information after the 22 July shooting.
Meanwhile, police say there has been no compensation offer to the man's family.
Scout Prime, just enjoying the Limelight? (I think that might be sarcasm, but it is pretty early so hard to say how it came out.)
I believe there's a kitty in Kansas who'd like a one-on-one photo op with Sen. Frist.
Big Daddy Mars
I read that one too, BDM. Boggles the mind that folks don't take wild animals seriously. Especially people that own them...
DWD...I was until I read the transcript of what The Situation Room did.
I wrote a response.
I think they were dishonest in trying to push controversy by focusing on one impeachbush sign.
I wish I'd never included that photo now but leave it to them to pick on that....
DWD...I was until I read the transcript of what The Situation Room did.
I wrote a response.
I think they were dishonest in trying to push controversy by focusing on one impeachbush sign.
I wish I'd never included that photo now but leave it to them to pick on that....
Boggles the mind that folks don't take wild animals seriously. Especially people that own them...
Billy B
grisly, man.
grisly, man
It bears paying heed to the big ones...
According to an op-ed in the NYT this morning: if W's dandy little war in Iraq lasts another five years, as Rummy the Dummy says it could, we shall have spent $1,333,000,000,000.02 on it. Holy shit! Thank what that could have meant for our crumbling infrastucture and the welfare of our nation -- not to mention domestic tranquility!
St. Patrick | Email | 08.20.05 - 8:13 am
"ah, but you forget what i said when i was alive: war is good for the economy! i just never said whose economy..." - ronald reagan's reanimated corpse
I saw the most ridiculous TIME magazine cover I'd seen in a long time.
It had a cover photo of Condi Rice with the headline "Can she fix Iraq?"
It was at a supermarket checkout, and I laughed out loud when I saw it. The man behind me looked in the direction I was looking when I laughed, smiled and shook his head. He knew too.
I followed the Wolcott link and from there to Gilliard where someone in comments recommended a post by Red State Son on Hitchens' Sheehan smear.
Definitely worth the click . . .
.
It bears paying heed to the big ones...
Billy B
Indeed. And it's dangerous to be bi-polar.
Speed of Gaza pullout boosts Sharon
It turns out that Jews do expel Jews after all, and without the descent into anarchy predicted by leaders of Israel's once indulged settlers. Following dire warnings that the forced removal of 8,000 settlers from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank would provoke civil war, bring down the government and open an irreversible rift between the army and the people, opponents of the pullout have been left reeling by its speed and relative ease.
The army originally said it would take six weeks to clear the 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four smaller ones in the West Bank. As more families signed up to take the money and leave, the military revised its estimate down to three weeks.
In the end it took less than three days to clear all but a handful of the doomed settlements. Kfar Darom, among the most religious and militant of Israel's Gaza colonies, made a relatively violent stand but it was still emptied in less than a day.
When is Hitchens going to apologize?
I read that one too, BDM. Boggles the mind that folks don't take wild animals seriously. Especially people that own them...
Yeah, I want to get close to a Siberian Tiger without a thick pane of glass between us. Uh, huh. Large carnivores and my life don't mix well.
but have you ver listened to any of the Berzerkely stuff from the mid to late 70's?
Billy B | Email | 08.20.05 - 8:36 am
extra points if you ever saw any berzerkeley bands live.
Iraq talks stall over religion, oil
Talks on Iraq's new constitution have stalled over the role of Islam and the distribution of the country's oil wealth, negotiators say.
The leadership of the country's Kurdish minority said it may drop its contentious demand for the right to secede.
Iraqis have until Monday night to complete work on the draft, otherwise parliament must dissolve.
The United States is putting intense pressure on negotiators to finish the charter, which Washington hopes will take the steam out of the insurgency.
Okay, here's a question: Has anyone here seen Crash Worship live?
It had a cover photo of Condi Rice with the headline "Can she fix Iraq?"
We know she can't fix Iraq.
But can she fixe Rice-a-Roni?
RIP master fiddler/innovator vassar clemens, a true original, and a good guy...dead this week at age 77...
Moonbootica--
It is almost as though this thread were your blog...
It had a cover photo of Condi Rice with the headline "Can she fix Iraq?"
she can't even get her hair right...
I've been Freeped (and counter-Freeped), the last few days on my site over Cindy Sheehan, but one thing the right couldn't answer was the bottom line.
rorschach ~ oops sorry bout that I will do better in future.
btw new thread upstairs
Just teasin' ya, Moon!
btw new thread upstairs
Moonbootica | Email | Homepage | 08.20.05 - 9:46 am
thank the gods and bugger the trolls
Morning all you good looking and witty bats! I absolutely must get some work done today! So I'm glad Atrios is traveling and not blogging at the spped of light as usual!
scout -- I left a note on your response over at your place. I don't think there's anything inappropriate about an "impeach Bush" sign in this context, and it's completely dihonest of CNN to pretend that that one sentiment was the whole purpose of the exercise.
Condi can't even fix her hair.
Virginia ...that is what I thought.
Well I have to go to work. Take care all
Oops. WoodyGuthriesGuitar beat me to it. Sorry...
1.
"Cindy Sheehan To Assess Zionist Doctors And Pres. Bush's Reckless Health Care Policies"
2. Where are the Democratic Party leaders? Why aren't they standing next to Cindy Sheehan?
3. WHere is the "smartest man in the Senate" (my ass) - Sen. joei biden? After all, he is the shadow Secretary of State.
2. Where are the Democratic Party leaders? Why aren't they standing next to Cindy Sheehan?
I, personally, hope that if Loserman, or Bidet, or any of the soi disant 'leaders' of the Dumbocrap party, show their lugubrious mugs within 100 miles of Cindy, they oughta be fucking mugged with truncheons...
.
and it's completely dihonest of CNN to pretend that that one sentiment was the whole purpose of the exercise.
Virginia
CNN is dishonest? *insert faux shock*OMG*insert more faux shock to equal CNN's faux outrage*
CLINTON: Good evening.
Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors.
Their purpose is to protect the national interest of the United States, and indeed the interests of people throughout the Middle East and around the world.
Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas or biological weapons.
I want to explain why I have decided, with the unanimous recommendation of my national security team, to use force in Iraq; why we have acted now; and what we aim to accomplish.
Six weeks ago, Saddam Hussein announced that he would no longer cooperate with the United Nations weapons inspectors called UNSCOM. They are highly professional experts from dozens of countries. Their job is to oversee the elimination of Iraq's capability to retain, create and use weapons of mass destruction, and to verify that Iraq does not attempt to rebuild that capability.
The inspectors undertook this mission first 7.5 years ago at the end of the Gulf War when Iraq agreed to declare and destroy its arsenal as a condition of the ceasefire.
The international community had good reason to set this requirement. Other countries possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. With Saddam, there is one big difference: He has used them. Not once, but repeatedly. Unleashing chemical weapons against Iranian troops during a decade-long war. Not only against soldiers, but against civilians, firing Scud missiles at the citizens of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iran. And not only against a foreign enemy, but even against his own people, gassing Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq.
The international community had little doubt then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again.
The United States has patiently worked to preserve UNSCOM as Iraq has sought to avoid its obligation to cooperate with the inspectors. On occasion, we've had to threaten military force, and Saddam has backed down.
Faced with Saddam's latest act of defiance in late October, we built intensive diplomatic pressure on Iraq backed by overwhelming military force in the region. The UN Security Council voted 15 to zero to condemn Saddam's actions and to demand that he immediately come into compliance.
Eight Arab nations -- Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman -- warned that Iraq alone would bear responsibility for the consequences of defying the UN.
When Saddam still failed to comply, we prepared to act militarily. It was only then at the last possible moment that Iraq backed down. It pledged to the UN that it had made, and I quote, a clear and unconditional decision to resume cooperation with the weapons inspectors.
I decided then to call off the attack with our airplanes already in the air because Saddam had given in to our demands. I concluded then that the right thing to do was to use restraint and give Saddam one last chance to prove his willingness to cooperate.
I made it very clear at that time what unconditional cooperation meant, based on existing UN resolutions and Iraq's own commitments. And along with Prime Minister Blair of Great Britain, I made it equally clear that if Saddam failed to cooperate fully, we would be prepared to act without delay, diplomacy or warning.
Now over the past three weeks, the UN weapons inspectors have carried out their plan for testing Iraq's cooperation. The testing period ended this weekend, and last night, UNSCOM's chairman, Richard Butler, reported the results to UN Secretary-General Annan.
The conclusions are stark, sobering and profoundly disturbing.
In four out of the five categories set forth, Iraq has failed to cooperate. Indeed, it actually has placed new restrictions on the inspectors. Here are some of the particulars.
Iraq repeatedly blocked UNSCOM from inspecting suspect sites. For example, it shut off access to the headquarters of its ruling party and said it will deny access to the party's other offices, even though UN resolutions make no exception for them and UNSCOM has inspected them in the past.
Iraq repeatedly restricted UNSCOM's ability to obtain necessary evidence. For example, Iraq obstructed UNSCOM's effort to photograph bombs related to its chemical weapons program.
It tried to stop an UNSCOM biological weapons team from videotaping a site and photocopying documents and prevented Iraqi personnel from answering UNSCOM's questions.
Prior to the inspection of another site, Iraq actually emptied out the building, removing not just documents but even the furniture and the equipment.
Iraq has failed to turn over virtually all the documents requested by the inspectors. Indeed, we know that Iraq ordered the destruction of weapons-related documents in anticipation of an UNSCOM inspection.
So Iraq has abused its final chance.
As the UNSCOM reports concludes, and again I quote, "Iraq's conduct ensured that no progress was able to be made in the fields of disarmament.
"In light of this experience, and in the absence of full cooperation by Iraq, it must regrettably be recorded again that the commission is not able to conduct the work mandated to it by the Security Council with respect to Iraq's prohibited weapons program."
In short, the inspectors are saying that even if they could stay in Iraq, their work would be a sham.
Saddam's deception has defeated their effectiveness. Instead of the inspectors disarming Saddam, Saddam has disarmed the inspectors.
This situation presents a clear and present danger to the stability of the Persian Gulf and the safety of people everywhere. The international community gave Saddam one last chance to resume cooperation with the weapons inspectors. Saddam has failed to seize the chance.
And so we had to act and act now.
Let me explain why.
First, without a strong inspection system, Iraq would be free to retain and begin to rebuild its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs in months, not years.
Second, if Saddam can crippled the weapons inspection system and get away with it, he would conclude that the international community -- led by the United States -- has simply lost its will. He will surmise that he has free rein to rebuild his arsenal of destruction, and someday -- make no mistake -- he will use it again as he has in the past.
Third, in halting our air strikes in November, I gave Saddam a chance, not a license. If we turn our backs on his defiance, the credibility of U.S. power as a check against Saddam will be destroyed. We will not only have allowed Saddam to shatter the inspection system that controls his weapons of mass destruction program; we also will have fatally undercut the fear of force that stops Saddam from acting to gain domination in the region.
That is why, on the unanimous recommendation of my national security team -- including the vice president, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the secretary of state and the national security adviser -- I have ordered a strong, sustained series of air strikes against Iraq.
They are designed to degrade Saddam's capacity to develop and deliver weapons of mass destruction, and to degrade his ability to threaten his neighbors.
At the same time, we are delivering a powerful message to Saddam. If you act recklessly, you will pay a heavy price. We acted today because, in the judgment of my military advisers, a swift response would provide the most surprise and the least opportunity for Saddam to prepare.
If we had delayed for even a matter of days from Chairman Butler's report, we would have given Saddam more time to disperse his forces and protect his weapons.
Also, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins this weekend. For us to initiate military action during Ramadan would be profoundly offensive to the Muslim world and, therefore, would damage our relations with Arab countries and the progress we have made in the Middle East.
That is something we wanted very much to avoid without giving Iraq's a month's head start to prepare for potential action against it.
Finally, our allies, including Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain, concurred that now is the time to strike. I hope Saddam will come into cooperation with the inspection system now and comply with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. But we have to be prepared that he will not, and we must deal with the very real danger he poses.
So we will pursue a long-term strategy to contain Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction and work toward the day when Iraq has a government worthy of its people.
First, we must be prepared to use force again if Saddam takes threatening actions, such as trying to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction or their delivery systems, threatening his neighbors, challenging allied aircraft over Iraq or moving against his own Kurdish citizens.
The credible threat to use force, and when necessary, the actual use of force, is the surest way to contain Saddam's weapons of mass destruction program, curtail his aggression and prevent another Gulf War.
Second, so long as Iraq remains out of compliance, we will work with the international community to maintain and enforce economic sanctions. Sanctions have cost Saddam more than $120 billion -- resources that would have been used to rebuild his military. The sanctions system allows Iraq to sell oil for food, for medicine, for other humanitarian supplies for the Iraqi people.
We have no quarrel with them. But without the sanctions, we would see the oil-for-food program become oil-for-tanks, resulting in a greater threat to Iraq's neighbors and less food for its people.
The hard fact is that so long as Saddam remains in power, he threatens the well-being of his people, the peace of his region, the security of the world.
The best way to end that threat once and for all is with a new Iraqi government -- a government ready to live in peace with its neighbors, a government that respects the rights of its people. Bringing change in Baghdad will take time and effort. We will strengthen our engagement with the full range of Iraqi opposition forces and work with them effectively and prudently.
The decision to use force is never cost-free. Whenever American forces are placed in harm's way, we risk the loss of life. And while our strikes are focused on Iraq's military capabilities, there will be unintended Iraqi casualties.
Indeed, in the past, Saddam has intentionally placed Iraqi civilians in harm's way in a cynical bid to sway international opinion.
We must be prepared for these realities. At the same time, Saddam should have absolutely no doubt if he lashes out at his neighbors, we will respond forcefully.
Heavy as they are, the costs of action must be weighed against the price of inaction. If Saddam defies the world and we fail to respond, we will face a far greater threat in the future. Saddam will strike again at his neighbors. He will make war on his own people.
And mark my words, he will develop weapons of mass destruction. He will deploy them, and he will use them.
Because we're acting today, it is less likely that we will face these dangers in the future.
Let me close by addressing one other issue. Saddam Hussein and the other enemies of peace may have thought that the serious debate currently before the House of Representatives would distract Americans or weaken our resolve to face him down.
But once more, the United States has proven that although we are never eager to use force, when we must act in America's vital interests, we will do so.
In the century we're leaving, America has often made the difference between chaos and community, fear and hope. Now, in the new century, we'll have a remarkable opportunity to shape a future more peaceful than the past, but only if we stand strong against the enemies of peace.
Tonight, the United States is doing just that. May God bless and protect the brave men and women who are carrying out this vital mission and their families. And may God bless America.
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