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“When you’re risking your life to accomplish a mission, the last thing you want to hear is that mission being questioned in our nation’s capital,” he told cadets. “I want you to know that, while there may be a lot of heated rhetoric in Washington, D.C., one thing is not in dispute: The American people stand behind you.”
How the hell does Bush know how a soldier feels at war? Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Military, Words at 10:20 PM GMT+4
Here’s a brief case study (more to come) of one contract for the British “private security”company Aegis, recently awarded a $293 million security contract in Iraq by the United States government.
The man who created Aegis (Lt Col Tim Spicer) has a resume that reads like a list of indictments.
- Two soldiers under his command indiscrimantly shot and killed a catholic teenager. Convicted of murder, Spicer still defends their actions.
- Arrested for illegally importing arms to Papua New Guinea for the employees of his “Private Military Company” Sandline.
- The next year he was in trouble again for breaking an arms embargo in Sierra Leone on behalf of a Canadian businessman who is currently awaiting extradition to Thailand on fraud charges.
Now some perspective. In the United States if you want to drive a truck for a living, you’re required to pass periodical drug screenings. Any kind of criminal charge on your record could exclude you from working in the financial services arena. Want to become police or a firefighter? Get in line.
How about a job leading 20,000 mercenaries in a combat zone? Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 7:39 PM GMT+4
Some well deserved doses of karma, 5 to be exact, ended up in Cunningham’s Cheerios this morning. Since he’s such a Jesus-guy, I thought I could help in conceptualizing exactly how criminally insane an evangelical can get with the ‘ask for forgiveness and it’s done’ arrangement. He never recognized how hypocritical his existance had become.
This man conspired to profit from other people’s misery. Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 8:05 PM GMT+4
My cousin Leah and her husband Mike hosted Thanksgiving at their house this year. By the time I woke up the day of, Heather had already made 5 pies…I do love her so!
Madison and MacKenzie (Mike and Leah’s beautiful daughters) looking out the window
Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 5:23 PM GMT+4
Pentagon officials testify before Congress on Iraq War estimates: Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as History at 12:38 AM GMT+4
Why is the gun industry consistently in the clear when gun crimes spike in a certain area? Who made the confiscated piece – who first bought it – how did it get to Boston? If these questions can’t be answered, the system is broken.
They can make laser printers that write a code that can’t be seen by the user on each page that can tell investigators exactly where it came from. Are we to believe that in the year 2005, a control system that works can’t be put into place? The guns are made legally, and from the time the thing comes off the assembly line to when it’s used in a murder, something illegal takes place.
Where’s the political will to figure out how these guns are making it to the streets? In Baltimore and Boston right now, prosecutors cannot get convictions because witnesses are being intimidated. The money and investigatory muscle is heavy when it comes to drugs, but nobody cares about gun crimes in this country.
The reality of what our gun laws mean to a rural or urban community need to be examined. Everything doesn’t boil down to the 2nd ammendment. The right to bear arms doesn’t give you the right to commit a crime. Why then can the gun manufacturers make and sell guns without the same standard being applied?
Doctors who hand out painkiller prescriptions to drug dealers get locked up.
City looking to stem flow of guns from northern N.E.
Uptick linked to street crime
Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 12:08 AM GMT+4
Many smart people in California are lighting up with Benjamins today.
Knowing the IPO was less than a year and a half ago and it opened at 80, who else out there is hard at work trying to build a flux-capacoter? I think that’s the main reason Simon Cowell is doing another American Idol, only with inventors. Once it’s on the show, the inventor forfeits the rights to their creation.
Isn’t it obvious? He’s tyring to find a way to use his celebrity status to travel back in time so he can buy more Google stock. Cowell’s not smart enough to build his own flux-capacoter, so he delegates it to the American public. See…that’s why he makes the big bucks.
Posted by Al Swearengen as Economics at 12:23 PM GMT+4
The movie starring Ed Norton and Edward Furlong has been one of my favorites for quite a while now. It’s a feast for the eyes from start to finish, with an apt portrayal of the knucklehead infested American white supremacist movement. What becomes apparent right off is that the philosophy fills a void within each of these characters, and as things crumble all around them, the hatred is embraced tightly like a security blanket. In great numbers these wounded souls are able to draw from each other a sense of community. Anti-social is happily segregated, easily identifiable and intoxicated on near-beer.
Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 9:05 PM GMT+4
Here’s the actual text. I suggest we all read this and argue the actual points.
The Honorable John P. Murtha
November 17, 2005The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of us. the United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq, but it is time for a change in direction. Our millitary is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf Region. Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 1:37 PM GMT+4
The Nation
Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Military at 8:08 PM GMT+4
“I heard somebody say, `Well, maybe so-and-so is not patriotic because they disagree with my position.’ I totally reject that thought,” Bush said.
“This is not an issue of who’s patriotic and who’s not patriotic,” he said. “It’s an issue of an honest, open debate about the way forward in Iraq.”
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 11:19 PM GMT+4
If anyone had said to me a week ago that I’d be posting an editorial by Charles Krauthammer, you’d most likely have heard the racking of a shotgun and some mumbled warning about being on the wrong man’s property without permission. This time though, Krauthammer isn’t performing his normal ball-washing service for the GOP, but instead using LOGIC as the basis for his column on Intelligent Design.
I don’t think this is an issue that our resident right-wingers embrace at all, but Krauthammer’s piece is brilliant and I thought that hit should be given it’s due recognition on deadissue: Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Religion at 4:40 PM GMT+4
I’m so proud of these guys! Had to make sure they were on the front page. Max and Sam want to let everyone know that they have very strong opinions about the Celtics and Patriots, but as for CSPAN…papa’s on his own!
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 1:02 PM GMT+4
“I like guys who’ve never been there that criticize us who’ve been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don’t like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done.” Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 6:48 PM GMT+4
Among the varied armed security men on Baghdad’s streets these days, you cannot miss the police commandos. In combat uniforms, bulletproof vests and wrap-around sunglasses or ski masks, they muscle through Baghdad’s traffic jams in police cars or camouflage- painted pickup trucks, clearing nervous drivers from their path with shouted commands and the occasional gunshot in the air. Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 11:40 AM GMT+4
This is music to my ears! While Senator Frist is sneaking in legislation to protect big pharma from big lawsuits concerning their vaccines, the lobbyist urchins are finding out that they might be barking up the wrong tree if Congress goes blue in 2006. Look down the line at each piece of legislation Republicans have passed, and you’ll find many lobbyist-urged ammendments being submitted when the CSPAN cameras are off. This latest one was tacked onto a spending bill, and knowing that they didn’t want headlines or public debate on the topic, the GOP sneaks it in after the bill has been worked on for weeks. Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 7:19 PM GMT+4
A newcomer named Frodo has been posting some material he really believes in. His sincerity is obvious, writing full and cogent. I wanted to highlight some of his latest. Frodo, we’re glad to have you here! Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 5:21 PM GMT+4
By Larry Johnson | bio
From: Foreign Affairs
I think Dick Cheney has been watching too many Hollywood flicks that glorify torture. He needs, instead, to get on the ground and talk to the folks he is ostensibly trying to empower to torture. Unlike Dick I have spoken with three CIA operations officers in the last three months–all who have worked on terrorism at the highest levels–and not one endorses torture or believes it will help us. In fact, they believe it will hurt us on many levels.
Two of my friends served in Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of 9-11. If the suicide bombing of the World Trade Centers was not enough justification for hooking Haji up to battery cables, I don’t know what is. My friends recognized correctly that their mission was to gather intelligence not create new enemies. If you inflict enough pain on someone they will give you information, but, unless you kill them, they will hold a grudge. As far as the information goes there is no guarantee it will be correct. Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 11:31 PM GMT+4
From Think Progress:
The GAO has just released a long-awaited report documenting the politicized process that led the Food & Drug Administration to block over-the-counter (OTC) access to Plan B, the “morning-after pill,” in 2003. Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Religion at 11:25 PM GMT+4
(Repost) President Bush approaches the podium to a standing ovation from the room full of soldiers, with a box wrapped in paper and tied around it a piece of twine. He places the box on the podium and raises one finger, quelling the applause. “I’ve got something to show ya, here in Fort Bragg, home of the airborne rangers and special forces.” With that he pulls on the twine and unwraps the package, opens the box at the top, and peers inside. “I was discussing tonight’s speech with my friend here, and he agreed that it was time to introduce ‘y’all, so without further, eh, wait-ing”, hand gestures providing emphasis to his words as he does so well, “everyone, meet Osama.” With that he reaches into the box and pulls out a human head, barely recognizable as the murderous scumbag himself, but the introduction launches the assembly into a fit of ovation with numerous audience members hollering obscenities at the head being held by the hair up over the President’s head. Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 10:35 PM GMT+4
1. Meditate on This: Buddhist Tradition Thickens Parts of the Brain
2. N.J. Biologist Studies Ice-Hardy Worms
3. Caution over HIV ‘cure’ claims
4. Time’s 5 best governors in America
5. A divided Dover, Pa., votes out all 8 members who introduced district’s intelligent design policy.
6. Evolutionary Voting
7. Big Drug Makers See Sales Decline With Their Image
Posted by Al Swearengen as Economics, Religion at 12:47 AM GMT+4
Chris: KC+2.5 / SF+13 / @JAX-6.5 / ARI+4 / @IND-18 / @NYG-9.5 / @CAR-9 / STL+7 / DEN-3 / GB+9.5 / WAS-1.5 / @PIT-8 / DAL+3(I neglected to enter this before the game started, Eagles are up by 7 already, halfway through the 1st)
Verification
Mark: BUF-2.5 / CHI-13.5 / ARI+3.5 / HOU+18.5 / MIA+3.5 / NYG-9.5 / JAX-7.5 / TB+1.5 / NYJ+9.5 / DEN-3.5 / GB+9.5 / STL+6.5 / CLE+8.5 / PHI-2.5
ROUGH…7-6 (68-61-2 on the season), Mark’s 6-8 (79-65 on the season) – we’re taking opposite sides tonight Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 1:55 AM GMT+4
1. Inquiry reopening debate about run-up to war
2. Bush spars with critics of Iraq war
3. Trojans exploit Sony’s copy-protection software
4. Indo-US trade to touch $40 b by 2008
5. Dover and Pat Robertson, Topeka and the Wizards of ID
6. Confusion Is Rife About Drug Plan as Sign-Up Nears
7. Bush touts new prescription drug benefit
8. Clemson Wins Bowden Bowl
9. Spurrier-led South Carolina defeats Florida
10. U.S. Goals Are Thwarted At Pro-Democracy Forum
Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 11:28 PM GMT+4
WASHINGTON – The federal government should strengthen the health care system for veterans, retired Marine Gen. Joseph P. Hoar said Saturday in the Democratic Party’s weekly radio address.
Speaking on the Veterans Day weekend, the former U.S. military commander in the Middle East said “President Bush has consistently refused to provide enough” money for veterans’ health care.
“Earlier this year, his administration admitted that they were $1 billion short in funding for critical health care services,” he said. “They also repeatedly tried to increase the cost of prescription drugs and health care services for veterans nationwide.” Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 2:34 PM GMT+4
“The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgement of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist.”
- Winston Churchill on November 21, 1943o·di·ous adj.
Arousing or meriting strong dislike, aversion, or intense displeasure. See Synonyms at hateful.
Placing an innocent man behind bars for years without a charge has been an easy thing for powerful men to do throughout history. Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 6:15 PM GMT+4
Veterans Lash Out at Loss of Voice on Capitol Hill Read the rest of this entry
Posted by Al Swearengen as Military at 6:43 PM GMT+4
