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The
Vidiot's
weekly blog:
What
pissed me off this week? 6/28/2004
(updated
every Monday at some point during the day)
...'cause
I'm angry and my friends are sick of listening to me...
Cost
of the War in Iraq
Remember
these faces.
Free
stuff can be found here.
Mirror
(in case geocities is wacky or, in case of trouble in
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Last week's installment
was issue #100. I had no idea. 100 issues. Proof I'm insane.
So, I went to see
Moore's F911. I laughed. I cried. The usual Moorezilla
movie fare. Some people handed out flyers and nearly
got into trouble for it. I guess a
bunch of people went to see it (Though it seems like the people of
Delaware county outside Philly had a hard
time seeing it because of Bush-aligned Regal Entertainment Group).
And I think the fact that so many flocked to see it scares the bejeezus
out of the Bushies. So much so that they handed
over Iraq two days early so the Monday morning news cycle was all
about that instead of how F911 broke box-office records. These cretins
want to stay in power so badly that I believe they are capable of anything.
ANYTHING.
(October
surprise? Anyone? Anyone? Beware
of lowered security alerts.)I can't let myself get too despondent over
it all, but I have this itch in the back of my mind that all of the work
by Michael Moore, all of the typing done by those of us on the Net, all
of the volunteer hours we pour into any of the volunteer
efforts that are meant to help
Kerry win in 2004 will be for nothing. When you see the movie, you
suddenly become aware of just how corrupt these people are and it becomes
hard to envision them stopping themselves at any point short of total
destruction.
On the flip side,
if Kerry wins, will he be all that different? As a person, I'd say yes.
But bottom line, the dems aren't all that different from the repugs, it's
just that I think Kerry is a better person than GW. Not much. But better.
Oh, and for a few
days, my IE was hijacked. Look
at my icons. They're GOP elephants. I'm on MAC OSX. How bizarre is
THAT??!! And here I thought I was immune. It was yet another highlight
in my already dismal week.
Gift idea
of the week: Mile-High
Club kit
Site of
the Week: Trunk
Monkey
New site
I just discovered and wish I could afford: BBC
Monitoring
Hero
of the Week Haven't
had one of these for a while. This week, it's
the mother of Army Sgt. Patrick McCaffrey. She called in news outlets
to photograph her son's coffin.
Excerpt: "I
don't care what President Bush wants," his mother, Nadia McCaffrey,
told the Los Angeles Times. Patrick "did not die for nothing ...
The way he lived needs to be talked about. Patrick was not a fighter,
he was a peacemaker."
And
they didn't question it This
is unbelievable. The fact that Cheney basically "assumed"
the position of president on 9/11.
Excerpt: The commission's
detailed report notes that after two planes had crashed into the World
Trade Center and combat patrols were in the air, a military aide asked
for shoot-down authority, telling Cheney that a fourth plane was "80
miles out" from Washington. Cheney didn't flinch, the report said.
"In about the time it takes a batter to decide to swing,"
he gave the order to shoot it down, telling others the president had
"signed off on that concept" during a brief phone chat. When
the plane was 60 miles out, Cheney was again informed and again he ordered:
take it out.
But according to one knowledgeable source, some staffers "flat
out didn't believe the call ever took place."
(On the other hand however,
if Bush had really been in charge, wouldn't that have been just as scary?)
Well, if Cheney was in charge,
maybe we should ask him about the stand
down order.
Excerpt: On 9/11
the world's only military superpower was apparently oblivious to the
location of rogue airliners in it's airspace for more than an hour,
and military commanders were left totally perplexed on how to deal with
the situation of hijackers using these planes as flying bombs. This
confusion resulted in fighter jets staying on the ground whilst the
hierarchy fully assessed what was going on, and this total lack of cohesion
ultimately led to the loss of nearly 3000 lives. All that was required
to overcome America's military might on 9/11 were 19 hijackers on 4
airliners. Does this sound plausible to you?
Unfortunately, Cheney's ass
will probably be covered.
Excerpt: Never
mind the fact that Dick Cheney’s hands-on role in developing the
prewar intelligence picture of Iraq is, by now, a matter of public record
— the CIA has asked that the declassified version of a highly
critical Senate Intelligence Committee report to redact references to
the Vice President. The classified version of the document does not
use names, referring to actors by their title instead. But the Agency
sought to have even references to titles be excised on national security
grounds.
The SCOTUS certainly covered
his ass with regards to the energy
papers.
Excerpt: The Bush
administration won't have to reveal secret details of Vice President
Dick Cheney's energy task force before the election, after the Supreme
Court ruled Thursday that a lower court should spend more time sorting
out the White House's privacy claim.
(Didn't they rule that Hillary
had to release
her healthcare papers? Does anyone ever point out their discrepancies
to their faces?)
But he can't be protected from
everything.
Excerpt: Halliburton
executives are concerned about the financial burden that Iraq contracts
have placed on the company.
Maybe that's why he was so
short
with Leahy.
Excerpt: Vice President
Dick Cheney blurted out the "F word" at Democratic Sen. Patrick
Leahy of Vermont during a heated exchange on the Senate floor, congressional
aides said on Thursday.The incident occurred on Tuesday in a terse discussion
between the two that touched on politics, religion and money, with Cheney
finally telling Leahy to "f--- off" or "go f--- yourself,"
the aides said.
(More discussion of the f-word
here.)
He's starting to lose money,
big time. Or maybe it was the fact that Shrub met for over
an hour with the Feds over the Plame investigation without him.
Excerpt: The president
was interviewed for 70 minutes by U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald,
the head of the Justice Department investigation, and by members of
his team. The only other person in the room was Jim Sharp, a private
trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor hired by Bush, said White
House press secretary Scott McClellan.
But they can't win them all!
SCOTUS dealt a mean
blow to the administration on the Gitmo and Hamdi cases.
Excerpt: Whatever
the analysis, this is not a win for the Administration, who will be
subject to judicial review on their War on Terror actions.
In the same day, a few
more things were decided
Excerpt: The court
on Monday also:
- Ruled that evidence
derived from a confession after police failed to give Miranda rights
does not have to be suppressed at trial.
- Said it will consider
whether sick people who smoke pot on a doctor's orders are subject to
a federal ban on marijuana.
- Agreed to intervene
in a lawsuit claiming that the CIA reneged on a promise of lifetime
support to former East Bloc spies now living under assumed names in
the United States.
There
outta' be a law! Here's
a little known fact.
Excerpt: In a six-page
written decision released February 14, the court essentially ruled the
journalist never stated a valid whistle-blower claim because, they ruled,
it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately
lie or distort the news on a television broadcast.[emphasis
added]
Huh???!!! (I guess that explains
FOX news.)
But that's our media. Look
at the way they cover Kerry's wealth.
Excerpt: Her clowning
today is endless and obvious. In the law, it’s called “more
prejudicial than probative.” In journalism, of course, its called
“propaganda,” and Wilgoren is proving to be a master at
the format she adopts this morning. How does it work? First, she notes
some image the Kerry camp fears—then crams that image right down
readers’ throats! Does Kerry’s gang fear the image of wealth?
Wilgoren says, “Let them eat price-tags.”
Back when I was learning how
to edit audio- and video-taped interviews, I learned all about cut-aways.
You know, those parts of the interview where you see the reporter nodding
in rapt attention. I used to to get rid of "ums" and "you
knows" or some repetitive statement thing. But I always understood
how it could be used in a bad way. Read
on:
Excerpt: What the
audience didn't know was that the ABC videotape had been edited so as
to create an inaccurate impression. At that press conference, Mrs. Clinton
had been asked not how much work she had done for Madison Guaranty,
but how her signature came to be on a letter dealing with Madison Guaranty's
1985 proposal to issue preferred stock. ABC News had seamlessly omitted
thirty-nine words from her actual answer, as well as the cut, by interposing
a cutaway shot of reporters taking notes.
News is propaganda. Period.
Excerpt: During
George Herbert Walker Bush's administration, the scope officially expanded
to include domestic disinformation, using the CIA's public affairs office.
This operation was charged with turning intelligence failures into successes
by persuading reporters to postpone, change, hold, or even scrap stories
that could have adversely affected national security interests.
Veggies
are goooood. Still
got meat?
Excerpt:An animal
in the United States tested positive in a preliminary screening test
for mad cow disease, Agriculture Department officials said Friday.
Be sure that if they're reporting
one, there are plenty more that aren't being reported.
I
already knew this. Rev.
Moon was coronated at the Senate building. I knew that. Why is the media
suddenly
picking it up WEEKS later?
Excerpt: On March
23, the Dirksen Senate Office Building was the scene of a coronation
ceremony for Rev. Sun Myung Moon, owner of the conservative Washington
Times newspaper and UPI wire service, who was given a bejeweled crown
by Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill. Afterward, Moon told his bipartisan audience
of Washington power players he would save everyone on Earth as he had
saved the souls of Hitler and Stalin -- the murderous dictators had
been born again through him, he said. In a vision, Moon said the reformed
Hitler and Stalin vouched for him, calling him "none other than
humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."
And
I knew this too. As
predicted by everyone paying attention, those fabulous economic indicator
numbers the administration was going on about have been downgraded
Excerpt: The Commerce
Department said the downward revision in the first-quarter GDP stemmed
in part from an increase in imports. Because the GDP measures activity
within the U.S. borders, the fact that U.S. consumers bought more overseas
goods dented the growth rate somewhat, as did a downward revision in
the cost of services to consumers.
And
upon further review.
Excerpt: Impressive
numbers to be sure, but a more careful reading of the document they
were lifted from - i.e. the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances - puts
them in a somewhat different perspective.
Only
Monica is news. Here's
a most underreported point from the Clinton book. They went on and on
about Monica, but they didn't focus on this
little passage:
Excerpt: Clinton:
I told Bush of bin Laden and he changed the subject
9/11
linkage. Tenet's
replacement will be Porter
Goss. "And who is he?" you might ask.
Excerpt: During
the Sep11th week, it was Porter Goss, together with Bob Graham, who
met with the head of Pakistan Secret Service, ISI, who was already in
the U.S. before the attacks. The reason for this meeting was never disclosed.
Enron
continues. Ken
Lay. Will
he
Excerpt: U.S. prosecutors
are expected to ask a federal grand jury to indict former Enron Corp.
chairman Ken Lay within two weeks on charges related to the company's
2001 collapse, a newspaper reported Saturday.
or won't
he
Excerpt: Enron
Corp. founder and former chairman Kenneth Lay will never be indicted
on charges stemming from the company's collapse, despite recent speculation
to the contrary, his lawyer said Monday.
be indicted.
I say he better be. Meanwhile,
back in the House...
Excerpt: The House,
after a blistering face-off in which Democrats accused the White House
of coddling Enron Corp., yesterday refused to order refunds for millions
of Western consumers who were victimized by an artificial energy crisis
in 2000 and 2001.
The
death of our Constitution Let's
play a round of "Taps" for the death
of the Fifth Amendment.
Excerpt: The Supreme
Court ruled Monday that people do not have a constitutional right to
refuse to tell police their names.
And another round for the impending
death of the Sixth Amendment.
Excerpt: The last
remaining right – the attorney-client privilege – is under
full-scale assault by DOJ prosecutors in the tax shelter case involving
the accounting firm, KPMG. The Justice Department has demanded, and
the accounting firm has agreed, to waive the attorney-client privilege
for communications between lawyers and KPMG employees involved in marketing
tax shelters that the IRS has challenged.
They
can't do this! This
is just great. I guess I'll just have other people rip my CDs from now
on. Or dedicate a half-dead machine to it.
Excerpt: It seems
that Capitol Records has some sort of new copy protection system, that
automatically, silently, installs "helpful" copy protection
software on MacOS and Windows as soon as you insert the CD into default
systems.
Weird
News of the Week Woman
"gives
birth" to a frog.
Excerpt: The Iranian
daily Etemaad says the creature is believed to have grown from larva
to an adult frog inside her body.
While it is unclear how this could have happened, the paper carries
quotes from medical experts who say there are human characteristics
to the animal.
If for nothing else, you have
to look
at the kid's picture.
Excerpt: The boy
has muscles twice the size of other children his age and half their
body fat.
Now THAT'S
religion.
Excerpt: "Instead
of condemning fornicators, adulterers and 'abusers of themselves with
mankind'," says Ruth Gledhill, the London Times religious affairs
correspondent, "the new version of his first letter to Corinth
has St. Paul advising Christians not to go without sex for too long
in case they get 'frustrated.'"
Previous
rant
What do we
do about all of this crap? I have no idea. Part of me wants to start teach-ins
at my local pub. Just go to the bar, rant and rave and inform the idiots
who still think Dan Rather is telling them the truth. Another part of me
wants to organize a voter observation program to insure that this moron
isn't in the White House all the way to 2008. I sincerely believe that if
we protected the voting rights of the underprivileged that any Democrat
could SWEEP any election. And we'd have to start with the Florida Election
for Governor THIS FALL (like these
guys!.) I don't think Democrats are the answer. But they are at least a
start.
At the very least,
point your CNN-loving friends to my links
page. Just getting started in reading alternate news sites gets people
thinking. I have one friend who was very happy-go-lucky, thinking ol'
Greta was telling the whole truth until I opened up his eyes a bit. Now,
he's all depressed. He'll get over it. You gotta' get depressed before
you get angry and you gotta' get angry before you can accomplish anything.
We're all in mourning. We have to move through the steps. But we gotta'
hurry it up.
Read. Inform.
Spread the word. Even if it means your friends avoid you for awhile. If
they really love you, they'll start to listen.
"POSSE
COMITATUS ACT" (18 USC 1385): A Reconstruction Era criminal law proscribing
use of Army (later, Air Force) to "execute the laws" except where expressly
authorized by Constitution or Congress. Limit on use of military for civilian
law enforcement also applies to Navy by regulation. Dec '81 additional
laws were enacted (codified 10 USC 371-78) clarifying permissible military
assistance to civilian law enforcement agencies--including the Coast Guard--especially
in combating drug smuggling into the United States. Posse Comitatus clarifications
emphasize supportive and technical assistance (e.g., use of facilities,
vessels, aircraft, intelligence, tech aid, surveillance, etc.) while generally
prohibiting direct participation of DoD personnel in law enforcement (e.g.,
search, seizure, and arrests). For example, Coast Guard Law Enforcement
Detachments (LEDETS) serve aboard Navy vessels and perform the actual
boardings of interdicted suspect drug smuggling vessels and, if needed,
arrest their crews). Positive results have been realized especially from
Navy ship/aircraft involvement.
(Tom
Ridge has practically said he'd do away with this act.)
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