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The Vidiot's weekly blog: What pissed me off this week? 10/31/2005 (updated every Monday at some point during the day) ...'cause I'm angry and my friends are sick of listening to me... Resist
the Regime! 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/ Welcome to my Rutgers classmates. Happy Samhain! This should be the last light-weight posting. The hell that is my job should start calming down a bit this week. I'm not as excited about Fitzmas as some. Though it's good that Libby was indicted, he was only indicted on lying to the grand jury. Thus far, nobody has been indicted on the real crime: outing a CIA agent and why the CIA agent may have been outed. In the indictment, it was mentioned that some "Official A" (probably Karl) leaked the information to Novak. Why wasn't THAT person indicted? We're hoping he will be. (And is Bush calm because they upped his dosage? Inquiring minds want to know.) At least Libby's connection to Cheney keeps Cheney in the hot seat. You know, I'm beginning to think that the those of us out here who watch from the outside are more able to see the real story than some of those who are in the middle of it. The blogosphere knew Bush & Co. wasn't telling the truth about Iraq WMDs. The blogosphere already knew Rove was the one who leaked to Novak. The blogosphere was well aware of how big a part Cheney played in the intelligence process. How is that we were able to see so much so clearly? When those paid to look at such things -- the media, the politicians, etc. -- were so easily mislead (or confused)? So on top of all of that, the blogosphere is convinced that the election was stolen. If we were right about so much, why not the stolen election too? I'm not feeling all superior or anything, but JEEBUS. FYI: Check in with Josh Marshall frequently for an excellent discussion of the Niger documents. His first installment was quite illuminating. Must-Read Plamegate Article of the Week: Fitz’s Knuckle Ball Gizmo of the Week: Toyota i-Swing Web Utility of the Week: Hide your ass Site of the Week: If Fox News Had Been Around Throughout History Creepy Technology of the Week: Human Remote Control What I didn't know about Walt Whitman of the Week: He was a Bookmaker Video of the Week: Trent Lott's big white tent Prank of the Week: Longest startup Question of the Week: Did Life Come from Another World? Flash site of the Week: SickFlash.com Programming note: Comedy Central's Motherload starts up this week. Underreported of the week Gee. The new and improved P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act expands the death penalty.
But that's not all they've been doing to the Act that we don't know about.
Corporate Police State Ford, that once great company has really fallen a few pegs.
I guess that the police-state mindset is creeping into business as well.
In touch with the people. Over 400 rich people have decided that 300,000 poor people don't need to eat!
Media & Stuff This week's subject? Syria. It all started (more or less) with the assassination of Hariri in Beirut back in February. Immediately thereafter, the assassination was blamed on Syria and it was requested that Syrian troops withdraw from Lebanese territory. Most interested parties pinned the blame on Syria. But who really benefited from Hariri's assassination? Syria certainly didn't benefit. It only strengthened opposition to Syria's presence in Lebanon. Credence to the "Syria being set up" theory is that Robert Fisk has discovered a coverup in Hariri's murder. What would need to be covered up? No. The assassination seemed to benefit the US more than Syria. Wayne Madsen, the breathless yet usually correct investigative reporter, suggests that Hariri was killed because he was against the creation of a US military base in Lebanon, a base that would benefit the US should the US decide to attack Syria. Near as I can tell from what I've read, the US wants Syria out of Lebanon so that, in the event that the US attacks Syria, Lebanon will be safely under the control of the US. Even though it seems like Syria is trying to comply with US demands with regard to Iraq and border security, etc., it certainly seems like the US government is once again being set-up to rally yet another cry for regime change in a Middle Eastern country. (Read this letter from Syria's Ambassador Imad Moustapha, PhD. to Congreswoman Sue Kelly.) More evidence of the US wanting war with Syria can be seen in the anti-Syrian rhetoric that's vaguely reminiscent of the pre-war, anti-Iraq rhetoric we heard: And like Iraq before it, the war with Syria has already started. It just hasn't been announced yet.
Further confirmation can be found for the US pushing Syria into the "regime change" category is the fact that Syrian authorities claim that the conclusions of the recent Mehlis report -- that high officials in the Syrian and Lebanese governments killed Hariri -- had no evidence to support it. Of course, the Syrians would say that. But the central witness used in the recent investigation conducted by Detlev Mehlis into Hariri's death is dubious at best. Mehlis also has a speckled history with the US government. He's been accused of covering up the bombing in West Berlin in 1982 that paved the way to the US attack on Libya. His past, and some of the methods used for this investigation, gives credence to the Syrian claim that the report's conclusions were politically motivated. (And you have to ask yourself, what did this guy know) So, look for more anti-Syria bias in the media. As the pressure for war within the administration increases, look for more memes that include UN sanctions against Syria, Syria will use nukes, etc. and so forth. You know the drill. News of the Weird I'm not saying it's true, but it's interesting.
Also, this is just plain weird.
In honor of Halloween, this is just plain creepy.
Newsflash: Sigfried torments Roy.
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: 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
more different :
and
for godsakes, stay away if you must succumb to reading a newspaper:
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