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The Vidiot's weekly blog: What pissed me off this week? 5/16/2005 (updated every Monday at some point during the day) ...'cause I'm angry and my friends are sick of listening to me... Track your congresscritters here!
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/ If I didn't like Star Trek or the Daily Show so much, I swear I'd blow up my TV. I can barely contain my anger at the mainstream media any more. They have bamboozled us. They have manipulated us. They have lied, slithered, and sold their souls to the devil (who, according to our new pope, is alive and well), all in the name of the almighty dollar. The recent "scare" over our nation's capitol totally flabbergasted me. The images that were being circulated, of crazed and barefoot secretaries running down K Street were reminiscent of 9/11... and I'm sure that they were meant to be. I was already pissed about that stupid grenade story coming out of Tbilisi. I distrust this administration so much, I can't help but think that someone tossed it in there, after the fact, to garner sympathy for GW on his trip, perhaps to distract from some stupid gaffe he had already committed (or was about to.) Listen, when the former head of Homeland Security basically says that he was pressured by the administration to raise alert levels, something those of us who pay attention knew all along, there can be no doubt in my mind that we are being manipulated with fear, and the media has been complicit. Meanwhile, the media, and I include the once venerable New York Times, has taken a good hard look at itself and decided to do... practically nothing. For cryin' out loud, from the Gulf of Tonkin (Still wondering why LBJ's papers will remain secret?), to the October Surprise, from Pat Tillman to Jessica Lynch, to just about anything else our government has done that is illegal or worse, the media ignores it or dresses it up and slaps a load of lipstick on it. And it's only getting more dire. There was a memo that was released prior to the elections in the UK last week that basically proved that Bush was planning a war with Iraq as early as March of 2002 and they needed to construct intelligence to create a motive. It actually says that! (Though, McCain "disagrees" with the memo. Honestly, sometimes I think the guy is great and others, he totally disappoints me.) And our usually flaccid Congress is actually calling on Bush to fess up! But you didn't hear about any of it, did you? (Though CNN did mentioned it, which shocked the hell out of me. Even if it was posted at 2:49 AM) No. They didn't cover it because they were too damn busy covering the idiot bride who ran away from her wedding. (I wonder, had she been black, would they have even mentioned it?) The Washington Post isn't even addressing the fact that the memo wasn't covered!(I finally saw something in the WaPo on it, albeit deep within the bowels of its paper.) ABC News admitted that the Iraq war is just too hard to cover and so they therefore, are not interested in covering it! Hell yeah it's hard to cover! But that's the job of a journalist! (Read this article about journalism's failures and see if your knickers don't get twisted.) "Oh," you might say. "Oh, well, that's just the war. But for general news, the media does it's job." Well, guess again. Let's just look at the issue of oil, shall we? On the SAME DAY oil producers stated that an energy crises looms, Bloomburg reports that oil prices have dropped, however briefly, due to "rising inventories and slow growth in China." What are we to do with such cognitive dissonance? Shop till we drop, that's what. That'll make us feel better. Meanwhile, Cheney's secret energy papers are to remain secret, (The judge in that case? An oil crony.) so that when we next go to war with an oil-rich country, we STILL won't be able to prove that it's the goal of this administration to control all of the oil in the Middle East. Though proof that it's all about the oil can be no more apparent than the recent revelation that Italy sent troops to Iraq to secure $300 billion in oil deals, or the fact that the Caspian oil flow is nearly up and running. And where does it run? Through Baku (the capital of Azerbaijan), Tbilisi(Russian Georgia -- another US colony. (You all thought I was nuts going on about the puppet government in Russian Georgia all those months back, didn't you? HA!)) and Ceyhan (in Turkey -- now you see why we let Turkey do what it wants to the Kurds?). I know I don't know enough about media and control and the psychology of fear and it's relationship to shopping, but my gut tells me we're being fucked with, and I don't like being fucked with. Eh. Whatever. Mother Earth is going to blow up anyway. So what's the point? How-to of the Week: Folding a T-Shirt Site of the Week: Webcams Blog of the Week: Zunta Useless Site of the Week: Fads Rubber Bracelet of the Week: True Blue Must Read of the Week: How the Left Can Win Arguments and Influence People Alternate Record Label of the Week: Fonogenic Hero of the Week Scott Blackburn, for his powerful antiwar statement.
And Sen. Boxer, for insisting the Bolton's papers be released.
Proving once again that she has the balls that most of the members of the Senate don't. Chimp in Charge But, George already has a job.
You are what you repress. You've heard about the guy in Spokane.
But did you hear about Dr. Hager? Remember him? He's the guy that's against birth control, sex, abortion and whatever else offends his 'moral' sensibilities even though he's a Bush appointee to the Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs in the FDA. Well, now at least one of his stands has been explained. He's not a big fan of birth control because his preferred sexual act doesn't require birth control!
Sunday Morning Torture Yes, I torture myself by watching the talking heads on Sunday morning. And let me tell you I nearly did a spit-take when I heard this.
During the entire conversation about it, not ONE of those fluffed up, overpaid miscreants even mentioned Cheney's health as a possible impediment! NOT ONE! I didn't expect them to say "Isn't there a rule against a third term?" or "Isn't he the architect behind the Iraq war?" No, I'm angry, but not insane. But is it too much to ask that SOMEBODY in the media bring up the obvious point that a man of his age with his heart condition probably shouldn't be running the country? Oh, wait. I'm sorry. I forgot. Karl Rove and Frank Luntz will make heart disease "noble," like FDR's affliction with polio. Silly me. Unbelievable. Newsweek is now saying that the story about the koran flushing soldiers was wrong. Oops. Their bad.
Well, maybe it's not so wrong. Maybe it's been reported in other places.
Now, taking into consideration that this administration holds onto information very tightly
One must ask, "Why would Newsweek say that they were wrong when they're not?" Class Warfare Not spoken about, but most assuredly occurring, is a another war-- a war on the poor and middle class. I'm overexagerating, you say?
And New Hampshire isn't the only one.
I sincerely hope that the people to whom he is referring are the people in the federal government who are cutting taxes for the rich, thereby decreasing the amount of money states have to spend on programs like medicaid. Because, frankly, I believe that people who are unable to pay their medical bills because they are too poor are all too aware of the fact that healthcare is not free. Yes, it's the responsibility of the people, not the government to form their own friggin safety net.
{sigh} This is what "they" want: First, DO NOT ATTEMPT to force a corporation to provide things like healthcare and pensions by trying to bludgeon them with a union or something. The corporation might only do something crazy like, oh, I dunno, shut down the whole store that is demanding the union.
Then, make it so large corporations don't have to pay out their pensions that previous unions negotiated in the first place.
Thereby paving the way for all failing corporations with large pension plans do the same.
Please note: Corporations that will take advantage of this ruling will be the biggies that have been around for a long time, long enough to have a lot of people collecting pensions from these funds. Also note that these pension funds have most likely been raided anyway (much like the social security trust fund), in an effort to leverage themselves in derivative markets or pay off debt. Your papers, citizen! Another example of the media failing to do its job is the whole national I.D. thing that was just passed.
First, it passed because it was part of a much larger budget bill that had to pass.
But what's not being discussed is that a national I.D. card will not make us safer,
Think about it. People are hacking into anything these days. And it's not until after the hack, that the full depth of the hack is realized.
But it's even worse than that. Sit down before you try to absorb this.
Poodle Blair George, may I hump your leg now?
Religio-idiots First, this idiot kicks anyone who voted for Kerry out of his congregation.
Then, he resigns
Perhaps to stave off losing their non-profit status??
Though, really, with a president who thinks that religion should be a part of public life,
I doubt the church has anything to worry about. (Oh, and I found this article that discusses religion and the rapture and all that pretty clearly. It's interesting.) The nukuler option. Meanwhile, in the Senate, well, I can't discuss it rationally, this filibuster battle 'cause I'm so angry about it.
What kind of judges are they looking at? Well, the one that could trigger the 'nuclear' option is Priscilla Owens.
It's bad enough the the republicans, via the filibuster process no less, basically held up the approval process during the Clinton years to insure that there were plenty of seats to fill when a republican administration came into power. Now, even though they've managed to fill nearly 60% of seats with conservative judges, they want more more MORE than that. They're like a bunch of freakin' addicts. They'll never settle for anything less than total control. They are so convinced that they're right about everything and that they know what's best for everyone! I can't stand it! Get your fuckin' conservative hands off my life already! ARRRGggghghghhhhhh!!!!!! [Chug from bucket grain alcohol.] {sigh} [Repeat.] Economic Slavery Another thing I learned in school this semester is that foreign direct investment leads to foreign control of whatever is being invested in. So Putin is no dummy.
Flag-waving morons. Jeebus, anyone who thinks we're safer with George Bush as president had better quit the crack and soon.
{gulp}
Well THAT'S a mouthful! One of my papers was on the run-up to war with Iraq. A name that kept popping up was Doug Feith. This guy basically created the Office of Special Plans. The OSP was the place where all questionable anti-Iraq information came to be nurtured and suckled so that it could be released into the "wild" to flourish and prosper. The New Yorker's Jeffery Goldberg recently interviewed Feith. Jeffery Goldberg was ANOTHER name that kept popping up in my research. He's a neocon-aligned "journalist" who, you might remember, wrote THE article in the New Yorker that went on and on about Saddam gassing his own people (A questionable assertion at best). That article bolstered the administration's case, thus enabling the march to war to continue, practically unabated. So here's Jeffery Goldberg interviewing Douglas Feith. Overall, it's an annoying article but there is one precious money-quote taken entirely out of context.
“The main rationale was not based on intelligence.” Boy howdee. Meanwhile the neocon darling Chalabi believed the charges against him in Jordan for embezzlement would be dropped.
But, he's SO
sure of himself, he doesn't want to accept the pardon, probably figuring
the Jordanians owe HIM
money.
Here's Sy Hersh's take on it. Payola or Cronyism? Gee, I wonder if this posting to Germany for this non-German speaking Diebold official
is a reward for getting these voting machines through the Ohio regulatory board.
Yeah, all the problems were the fault of the exit polls. Right.
News of the Weird King Tut: Kinda cute, with a weak chin.
Crop circles: Diagrams for a new energy source?
Spheres: I know I've mentioned them before, but they're still cool.
Self-replicating Robots: Bad idea? Terminator? Anyone? Anyone?
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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Who am I?: I am a biker chick who lives in NYC. This blog is about current events and my left-leaning, acerbic spin on those events. Nobody pays me anything to do this. Nobody tells me what to write. I will NEVER tout anything for anybody's money! EVER! Use this instead of Google: These sites are good at culling stories from a multitude of media sites: buzzflash.com
Bartcop
Ilia
Dreams Blog media-bias exposed:
onlinejournal.com
whatreallyhappened.com
HIGHLY entertaining:
and
for godsakes, stay away if you must succumb to reading a newspaper:
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