The Vidiot's weekly blog:

What pissed me off this week? 7/18/2005

(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

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This issue might be little less than all that. I've started my vacation and I'm a little, uh, distracted. Also, may or may not update next weekend. Depends on what I do.

OK, so now bear with me.

You know your week is weird when you hear a media sycophant actually speaking the truth: Tim Russert said "If this were a democratic Whitehouse, we'd have congressional hearings in a second." (Though, to put it back to where we understand it, FOX's John Gibson said Rove deserves a medal and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough's guest said the media should be shot for giving Wilson the time of day.)

The Whitehouse has been trying their darndest to deal with the Wilsongate/Plamegate issue. By either spinning questions from a suddenly interested media or ignoring them altogether. They're really beginning to feel the heat, especially since Cooper has said that Rove was his source. And the icing on THAT cake is now, Scooter Libby's name is starting to pop up. THAT path leads DIRECTLY to DICK CHENEY! (Pardon my use of all caps, by I'm terribly excited by THAT.) And just how did it all happen? Well, here's my theory of the week: Judith Miller was carrying her usual bucket of water for the Neocons. Here's a few money quotes from a must-read article.

"Judith Miller and The New York Times are protecting Judith Miller and The New York Times -- not the First Amendment. The real story here is that the Plame conspiracy originated with Miller. It was Miller who gave the administration insiders the information about Plame and gave them pointers on how to leak it to certain journalists like Novak."

and

"The trick in playing the Plame game is to keep your eye on the bouncing ball. It was thrown by Miller -- bounced off Rove's bald head and landed in Novak's empty skull." 

How'z 'dem apples! Now it's beginning to all make sense, isn't it? The neocons, who are in control of the Pentagon (and therefore our foreign policy) had access to the information, and didn't want any of their information discredited because their agenda is all about controlling the Middle East and they used their favorite propagandist, Judith Miller, to disseminate the information for them. Makes perfect sense!

On top of that, if there are serious neocon connections to this, you can bet it will also lead to some connections to the AIPAC investigation. (Check out Wayne Madsen's stuff on this. But be careful. He's breathless and emotional. Grains of salt are necessary.) Remember, Michael Ledeen might have had a little something to do with the forged Niger papers. (Ledeen was working with Feith at the OSP (AKA The Lie Factory) and met with SISME shortly before the forgeries surfaced.

This is bigger than big and if it doesn't explode in the Bushies faces, it'll only be because of the amount of control this administration has over EVERYTHING.


Software of the Week: CD-R Identifier v4.0

10 Commandments of the Week: Ethical Atheist Version

Picture of the Week: Jumping Bikes

Talking Points of the Week: How To Talk To A Conservative About Karl Rove

Pet Accessories of the Week: Dog Costumes

Video of the Week: CNN "That's Bullshit"

Email Utility of the Week: Spamgourmet

Patents of the Week: In the UK

Mug Shot of the Week: He brakes for midgets.

NYC Art of the Week: Tree Ring History

Flash of the Week: Evil Clown Generator

Nasty List of the Week: How to get republican gals into bed

Useful Site of the Week: Find Famous Graves

Must-Read of the Week: Think Again: Homeland Security

Monty Python News of the Week: They're BAAAACK!


Zellful

Haven't I always said that Zell Miller is really a repuglican in democrat's clothing?

Excerpt: Notorious conservative 'Democrat' Zell Miller has been caught with his hand in the taxpayers' cookie jar - sort of, Lenore Skenazy writes in his column in today's Macon Telegraph. Excerpts follow.


Oh for crying out loud.

The only people who would attack the internet are people who don't like that's being said on the internet. I doubt very much that "terrorists" would take down the net since they need the net to communicate as much as we do.

Excerpt; Federal law enforcement officials, fearful that terrorists will exploit emerging in-flight broadband services to remotely activate bombs or coordinate hijackings, are asking regulators for the power to begin eavesdropping on any passenger's internet use within 10 minutes of obtaining court authorization.

And that reminds me, everything about cell phones being used to set of the London bombs must be bogus. That one train was 150 feet underground and I don't know anyone in London who could get cell service down there. Like the mysterious cell-phone calls on 9/11, this one doesn't really ring true either. Here's a link and here's the theory: There were terror drills that were happening that day. Maybe someone hired a bunch of muslim guys to carry packages onto the trains. These guys were told to just walk on the trains with packages. I mean, if you look at who they're saying the guys are, it's odd that they would commit suicide. One had a baby on the way. Another just had a baby. It makes no sense. Then, the delay of the bus bomb, and the fourth guy probably hearing about the other bombs and wondering WTF? That's why there are descriptions of the guy kinda' acting weird and nervous, checking the bag. He's probably, "is this a bomb?! [BOOM!]" (I found this anectdotal thing on some BBS thing that I didn't cut and paste with links. Sorry). On top of that, there are so many similarities to 9/11 it's scary. Websites in Texas, Indestructable IDs, Convenient malfunctions, Unexplained shut downs, Same Security Company, Changing Story, Market Manipulation

Bogus, man. BOGUS.


Beneath the Radar

In the midst of Plamegate, London bombs and the SCOTUS problems, look for the administration to slither Bolton into the UN during a recess.

Excerpt: With neither the White House nor Senate Democrats showing any sign of yielding in their long-running dispute over documents related to Bolton's State Department work, speculation is rife that Bolton is prepared to accept a recess appointment good through the end of 2006, despite warnings from some GOP senators that it would weaken his influence and effectiveness.


Aspartame = Evil

Yet another reason to not ingest aspartame

Excerpt: Fresh doubts about the safety of an artificial sweetener have been raised by Italian scientists who have linked its use to leukaemias in rodents.


Bubble go POP!

Now, if the terrorists REALLY had a plan to destroy the United States, they'd just have to muck around with our real estate market.

Excerpt: The red-hot housing market in booming cities across the country has made the dream of owning a home out of reach, not only for low-income families but also for white-collar professionals.

Or maybe they already have...

Excerpt: The whole housing industry - builders, lenders, estate agents and sector analysts - refuses to admit that the market is heading for jagged rocks. But there is compelling evidence that it is. For shareholders, the best thing to do may be to clear out a sector that has in recent years delivered strong growth.

Though, they don't have to do much.

Excerpt: Even as prices for homes in frothy markets like Las Vegas; Riverside, Calif.; Miami; and Washington are still jumping by more than 20 percent a year, Denver's homeowners are learning the hard way about living through the real estate doldrums. Five years ago, median house prices were rising at an annual clip of nearly 17 percent. By the first quarter of 2005 the increase had slipped to 3 percent, according to an analysis by Economy.com, a research firm.


Greed is, well, greed.

The corptocracy is running at full -throttle. Enron Board of directors just voted to boost their salaries by like $1 million.

Excerpt: According to Wednesday's filing, the raises were needed because "the involvement of the directors has exceeded the levels anticipated," the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

And it's OK to rip people off in Iraq.

Excerpt: A federal judge has issued a ruling that will limit the applicability of a critical antifraud statute against corporate contractors in Iraq.


News of the Weird

Visions of "Planet of the Apes" or a George Bush joke? You decide.

Excerpt: Scientists have been warned that their latest experiments may accidentally produce monkeys with brains more human than animal.

And speaking of weird biology.

Excerpt: Thin Sandbar, a chicken seller in Myanmar, had always dreamed of being a man. When she inexplicably grew a penis last month, the 21-year-old treated it as an awe-inspiring omen -- as have the thousands of stunned villagers who have traveled to a pagoda to see him.

There's hope for all of us.

Excerpt; Dennis Kucinich is getting hitched, the information-restricted Cleveland Plain Dealer reports Tuesday. Excerpts follow.

This would explain our media.

Excerpt:The very name, sleeping sickness, may give the impression that it is an uncomplicated ailment, which passes after a while, much like a mild fever.

No matter where it is, we'll pollute it.

Excerpt: Scientists believe humans may have put life on Mars.

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 Brian Williams is telling them the truth. I sincerely believe that if we protected the voting rights of the underprivileged that any Democrat could SWEEP any election. 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.

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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:

Clusty.com

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

buzzflash.com
unknownnews.net
rawstory.com


Here are some excellent blogs:

Bartcop
Daily Kos
Atrios
Tacitus
Josh Marshall
Two Glasses
Brad DeLong
The Wonkette
Urban Survival
Greg Palast
Mark Crispin Miller


Link exchange:

Ilia Dreams Blog
Iraq War Blog
BushVote.com
Dommecile.com
Funny Farm

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!!!
w atch 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 (and whose companies are diversified in industries that support the war machine) so all of the news is all the same CRAP.