The Vidiot's weekly blog:

What pissed me off this week? 11/22/2004

(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.

List of Voter Fraud Stories

Media Contacts


Free stuff can be found here

Mirror (in case geocities is wacky or, in case of trouble in New York, check it for messages): http://129.79.148.33/vidiotcontact/

No update next week. Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm in a mood most foul. This may not be the most erudite edition of my pissed-off blog. In fact, for this part, I'm not even going to write anything. I'm going to copy and paste something my German uncle got from a friend in Berlin:

It is interesting that the ugliness of the war comes to American TV after the elections. They've been broadcasting it here since the beginning. I saw a report on German TV which showed American GIs proudly handing out info leaflets to smiling Iraqi citizens. Once the soldiers had left, however, the Iraqis tore up the leaflets, threw them to the ground and spit on them. They also showed American soldiers conducting a house-to-house search. The soldiers treated the Iraqis like dogs, throwing them to the floor and cursing at them and kicking them. This will never been shown on American TV, I thought. And yet even after this and Abu Gharaib we are supposed to blindly support our troops or be accused of being unpatriotic. Sure makes me feel like wanting to stand up and recite the pledge of allegiance!

Trivia of the Week: The Peace Sign is Semaphore for Nuclear Disarmament

What me want for Xmas of the week: Bluetooth Star Trek Communicator

Feminine Hygiene Product of the Week: Vaginal Cleansing Film (VCF)

Must-read Article of the Week: Liberals are from Conceptual, Conservatives are from Phatic

Scary Read of the week: It Can't Happen Here.

Anti Schwartzenegger site of the Week: ArnoldExposed.com

My New, Favorite Blogwatching Site of the Week: Daou Report

Site of the Week: Stop Urban 4x4s

Unreported news from Fallujah & Mosul:

US troops bombarded the substituted hospitals that had been set up inside Fallujah!

FALLUJA: Summarily Executed

New Report, Footage Surfaces On Mass Graves Of US Soldiers

Fallujah Is A Disaster - Report

US media applauds destruction of Fallujah

Fallujah Video has congressman calling for reporter ban

Falluja women, children in mass grave

Troops raid Mosul hospital


News you'll not here in mainstream media

The Ohio recount is on.

Excerpt: “Thanks to the thousands of people who have contributed to this effort, we can say with certainty that there will be a recount in Ohio,” said Blair Bobier, Media Director for the Cobb-LaMarche campaign.

If you think you can volunteer to help count, go here.

And here's some scary news from Volusia County in Florida

Excerpt: There was a trash bag on the porch outside the door. Harris looked into it and what do you know, but there were poll tapes in there. They came out and glared at Harris and Wynne, who drove away a small bit, and then videotaped the license plates of the two vehicles marked 'City Council' member. Others came out to glare and soon all doors were slammed.

Some real scientist found issues with the Florida vote too.

Excerpt: A study by faculty and graduate students and led by University of California at Berkeley Professor Michael Hout has concluded that President Bush was likely erroneously awarded between 130,000 and 260,000 votes in Florida alone, with 72,000 of them being in the largely Democratic Broward County alone, RAW STORY has learned.

(Actual data here.)

Nice dream, but it won't happen.

Excerpt: In other words, if a state can't manage to run a fair election, that state loses Senators or Congresspeople. I have this dream of sending Senators DeWine and Voinovich of Ohio, along with Congressman Ralph Regula of Ohio, out of Washington in a blizzard of shame and disgrace. It's a dream, but a good one.


I loves a good conspiracy

Another crazy report by the "White House Insider"

Excerpt: "Many manifestations of pathological glee here in the Monkey Palace these days. We learn that Bush has cut down on his medication because he is euphoric over the election. He claims, and has done so in my presence, that God had given him a complete mandate [51 percent and a lot of that outright stolen by the Rove people] to change the political and moral face of America! Rove is behind all of this, telling everyone that God did indeed demand a complete restructuring of the grossly immoral American lifestyle.


Higher, Righter Power

Condi gets a new job, huh? Well, can we at least pretend that she has to undergo a confirmation hearing? (Not one mention of a hearing in the entire article. Amazing.)

Excerpt: Besides Rice, Bush already picked White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to replace Ashcroft. Margaret Spellings, Bush's domestic policy adviser, is on the short list to replace Paige as education secretary. At least two more resignations are expected, and individuals close to the White House are among likely successors for these posts as well.

Here's a scary appointment rumor: Lieberman in charge of Homeland Security. Which would up the republicans by two.

Excerpt; Musical chairs in CT? Joe Lieberman to Homeland Security. Nancy Johnson (R-pharma) for US Senate via Gov. Jodi Rell appointment. A handful of Repubs scrambling for the special election to replace Johnson in CT-5 including Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and State Sen. David Cappiello or State Senator Andrew Roraback

He's consolidating power. Surrounding himself with yes-men and women. It's only going to get scarier from here folks.

Excerpt: The president is moving briskly to seize the moment. He is consolidating power at the White House, channeling ever more influence to Vice President Dick Cheney, his closest confidant, and counselor Karl Rove, architect of his November 2 victory. Senior White House officials tell U.S. News that Bush plans to replace at least half his cabinet over the next few months. His aim is to remove officials who have become lightning rods for controversy or who seem to have lost their desire to serve in Washington. "The president believes it's always good to have some new faces in a new term," says a senior Bush adviser.

Hopelessly devoted, as Electablog says.

Excerpt: So far, those who were most wrong on Iraq are getting bumped up and those who had doubts are out or on the way out.

I guess the more yes men he's surrounded by, the less likely he'll hear anyone tell him that doing something like this is wrong.

Excerpt; An executive jet is being used by US intelligence agencies to fly terrorist suspects to countries that use torture in their prisons.


{sigh}

I have no words for this move by House republicans to protect Tom "The Exterminator" DeLay

Excerpt: House Republicans approved a party rules change Wednesday that could allow Majority leader Tom DeLay to retain his leadership post if he is indicted by a Texas grand jury on state political corruption charges.

Or for this move by GW to get rid of the healthcare tax credit for employers.

Excerpt:To pay for those large tax cuts, the administration is looking at eliminating both the deduction for state and local taxes, and the business tax deduction for employer-sponsored health insurance. That would raise nearly $926 billion over five years, according to White House and congressional documents.


Burn Witch! Burn!

No wonder Howard is moving to satellite. I swear. The members of the FCC must be reincarnations of the judges in Salem.

Excerpt; With not much original reporting, I discovered that the latest big fine by the FCC against a TV network -- a record $1.2 million against Fox for its "sexually suggestive" Married by America -- was brought about by a mere three people who actually composed letters of complaint. Yes, just three people.

And who are these people who are complaining about the graphic war scenes in "Saving Private Ryan"? I betchya they support GW and the war and if so, they should send their own kids to fight it.

Excerpt; The Federal Communications Commission has confirmed it received complaints about the uncensored broadcast of Oscar-winning war movie "Saving Private Ryan" on ABC-affiliated stations last week.

And it's only going to get worse.

Excerpt: With support from both Republicans and Democrats, the Federal Communications Commission is poised to get even more aggressive about enforcing moral values throughout broadcasting, even putting cable television in its cross hairs and taking aim at Howard Stern's right to talk dirty on satellite radio.

But, for what it's worth, CBS is sorta' standing up to the FCC.

Excerpt; The chief executive at CBS, Leslie Moonves, said yesterday that the company, a unit of Viacom, would not pay a $550,000 fine levied by the Federal Communications Commission for a Super Bowl halftime broadcast in which singer Janet Jackson’s breast was bared.


Bad Doggy!

Bush chastises Blair for talking about global warming.

Excerpt; President Bush has reprimanded Tony Blair for sounding the alarm over global warming and pressing for international action to combat it, senior Washington sources say.


The Police State

Here's an interesting interpretation of a part of the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act II: News gathering will be illegal.

Excerpt:SECTION 102 of the new Patriot Act ll states clearly that any information gathering, regardless of whether or not those activities are illegal, can be considered to be clandestine intelligence activities for a foreign power. This makes news gathering illegal.

Oh, and I'm sure you heard about this little ditty that somebody tried to slip into an omnibus spending bill.

Excerpt: But at the request of Rep. Ernest Istook of Oklahoma, chairman of the House Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee, a special provision was inserted into the bill which allows the Chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees or their "agents" to reviewany American's tax return with no restrictions whatsoever.

(Go here to find out who slipped it in there.)


D'oh!

Take THAT red states!

Excerpt: Adolescents who have two moms as parents are no different from teens growing up with a mother and a father, a new study finds.

And THAT!

Excerpt: According to it, the greater the volunteer's ability to believe in a higher spiritual being, the more likely they are to have the VMAT2 gene. The research also claims that being brought up in a devout environment has little effect on belief.

Gee, religious fanaticism is genetic. Just like schizophrenia. How truly fascinating.


CIA is as CIA does

I'm not sure what to think of the Scheuer guy from the CIA.

Excerpt:One of the Central Intelligence Agency's foremost experts on Osama bin Laden has stepped out of the shadows and joined the public debate over past mistakes and future strategy in the war on terror.

He sounds credible and all, but I feel like once in the CIA, always in the CIA and though he may be a whistleblower, I'm not sure he's the kind of whistleblower we all think of when we think of a whistleblower. I mean, who's bidding is he doing? I don't doubt the guy knows what he's talking about, but waving the specter of a bin Laden around the way he is? Even though there's a pretty good chance that bin Laden died in 2001? Dunno. I mean, what if he's out there to make everyone think that the next staged terror act is most definitely bin Laden, even though there's a high likelihood it won't be from him? I smell a rat.


News of the Weird

Well, if life is just a dream, I sure as hell would like to wake the hell up right now.

Excerpt; DEEP THOUGHT, the supercomputer created by novelist Douglas Adams, got there first, but now the astronomer royal has caught up. Professor Sir Martin Rees is to suggest that “life, the universe and everything” may be no more than a giant computer simulation with humans reduced to bits of software.

Calling Indiana Jones. I think they've figured it out.

Excerpt: A secret inscription said to lead to the Holy Grail has been unraveled, reports Nick Fielding

 

 

Previous rants


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.)

{back}

 

 

These sites are good at culling stories from a multitude of media sites:

buzzflash.com
unknownnews.net
rawstory.com
daou report


Here are some excellant blogs:

Bartcop
Daily Kos
Atrios
Tacitus
Josh Marshall
DNC: Kicking Ass
Two Glasses
Billmon (retired)
Semi-Daily Journal
The Wonkette
Urban Survival


Link exchange:

Ilia Dreams Blog
Iraq War Blog
BushVote.com

These blogs will be covering the primaries and elections:

Salon.com's War Room
The Campaign Desk
FactCheck.org

media-bias exposed:

dailyhowler.com


these are good left-wing journalism sites:

onlinejournal.com
thenation.com
inthesetimes.com
tompaine.com
commondreams.org
truthout.com
guerrillanews.com


a little more to the left:

wsws.org
indymedia.org


conspiratorial:

whatreallyhappened.com
almartinraw.com

HIGHLY entertaining:

surfingtheapocalypse.com


really good "Alternate Thinking" site:

goroadachi.com/etemenanki/

 

and for godsakes, stay away
from FOX NEWS,  MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC.
It's ALL CRAP!!!
watch the BBC news
or ITN news instead.

if you must succumb to reading a newspaper: 

www.guardian.co.uk 


or any other paper in another fucking country. All of our newspapers are owned by the same idiots that own the TV stations so all of the news is all the same CRAP.