"The fact, however, is that the Iraqi elections weren't about the free election of a government reflecting the will of the Iraqi people, but the carefully engineered selection of a government that would behave in a manner dictated by the United States. In Iraq, democracy was hijacked by the Americans."
From AlterNet. Of course, Raed Jarrar has been saying this from the beginning. As much as I could, I wanted to 'not' believe it. Faiza seems to reflect a more moderate opinion; she speaks of the parties arguing it out and eventually settling upon something beneficial for all Iraqis. One can only pray.
There are just so very many things in the news these days that outrage me. I was moved to send an email (to 5 or 6 people!) entitled "Duuude, where's my country?" after reading yet another AlterNet story lead
(BEYOND THE GOD POD
Silja J.A. Talvi, Santa Fe Reporter
The nation's biggest private prison corporation is forging strong ties with a fundamentalist Christian ministry, blurring the line between church and state and harkening a new turn in corrections toward Christian-based programming.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/21457/--
Now that is downright scary. You could write a science fiction book about that. Oh wait, there have been three or four already.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
These people (Repub. legislators) are playing their political games with a piece of meat. Terri's consciousness -ie., the soul you right wing idiots claim to treasure - has long since departed . Her piece of the collective soul has joined the whole (Heaven, as they choose to call it) and I picture 'her' looking down and shaking her head at all the uproar. And if she has any connection to earthly emotions, still, she is frelling outraged at the treatment of the shell she left behind. Note to my children: don't wait 15 years to disconnect me!! PVS=no more care, dammit. I wonder how these a**holes reconcile their strong support for the death penalty with this one? Of course, they don't. Here's a little quote from Alternet: (well, maybe not little:)
"A memo, which the AP reports was distributed by Senate leadership to right-wing members, called Schiavo "a great political issue" and urged senators to talk about her because "the pro-life base will be excited." Over the weekend, DeLay and Frist held special sessions of Congress to facilitate passage of a bill that would allow a federal court to overturn years of Florida jurisprudence – encompassing seven courts and 19 judges – and intervene in the Schiavo case. (Underscoring that this was about the politics of the Schiavo case and not policy, the bill was written explicitly to apply only to Terri Schiavo.) President Bush played his part in the spectacle, flying to Washington from his ranch in Crawford to sign the bill, even though waiting a few hours for the bill to be flown to him would likely "have made no difference in whether Ms. Schiavo lives."
**CrossFire babblers make the point that GWB received a CIA warning on Aug. 6, 2001, that Al Queda had some pretty specific plans to attack the U.S. He didn't feel it important enough to interrupt his vacation in Crawford, TX. **
Good grief. The woman's cerebral cortex is liquid. She's GONE, been gone, not there ! But a 13 year old retarded kid can be executed for a crime (in Texas, of course.) Where is your sanctity of life?
"A memo, which the AP reports was distributed by Senate leadership to right-wing members, called Schiavo "a great political issue" and urged senators to talk about her because "the pro-life base will be excited." Over the weekend, DeLay and Frist held special sessions of Congress to facilitate passage of a bill that would allow a federal court to overturn years of Florida jurisprudence – encompassing seven courts and 19 judges – and intervene in the Schiavo case. (Underscoring that this was about the politics of the Schiavo case and not policy, the bill was written explicitly to apply only to Terri Schiavo.) President Bush played his part in the spectacle, flying to Washington from his ranch in Crawford to sign the bill, even though waiting a few hours for the bill to be flown to him would likely "have made no difference in whether Ms. Schiavo lives."
**CrossFire babblers make the point that GWB received a CIA warning on Aug. 6, 2001, that Al Queda had some pretty specific plans to attack the U.S. He didn't feel it important enough to interrupt his vacation in Crawford, TX. **
In a statement released early this morning, President Bush said he will "continue to stand on the side of those defending life for all Americans." But the facts make it hard to believe that Bush is standing on principle. In 1999, then Gov. Bush signed a law that "allows hospitals [to] discontinue life-sustaining care, even if patient family members disagree." Just days ago the law permitted Texas Children's Hospital to remove the breathing tube from a 6-month-old boy named Sun Hudson. The law may soon be used to remove life support from Spiro Nikolouzos, a 68-year-old man. Bush has not commented on either case.
At every opportunity, Tom DeLay has sanctimoniously proclaimed his concern for the well-being of Terri Schiavo, saying he is only trying to ensure she has the chance "we all deserve." Schiavo's medications are paid for by Medicaid. Just last week, DeLay marshaled a budget resolution through the House of Representatives that would cut funding for Medicaid by at least $15 billion, threatening the quality of care for people like Terri Schiavo. Because the Senate voted to restore the funding, DeLay is threatening to hold up the entire budget process if he doesn't get his way.
Bill Frist has been positioning himself in the media as a champion for Schiavo's interests. Yet, much of Schiavo's medical care has been financed by $1,000,000 from two medical malpractice lawsuits Schiavo won after her heart attack 15 years ago. Frist has been leading the charge to limit recovery for people like Schiavo who are severely debilitated. If Frist is successful, people like Schiavo would not be able to recover any punitive damages no matter how severe their injuries."
Good grief. The woman's cerebral cortex is liquid. She's GONE, been gone, not there ! But a 13 year old retarded kid can be executed for a crime (in Texas, of course.) Where is your sanctity of life?
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
"John Bolton is a man best known for sabotaging international
treaties and alienating entire nations. That's why he's been
picked to be our ambassador to the United Nations." from the lead to an AlterNet article.
These may truly be the 'end' of days. We are going so backwards from freedom to tyranny. There seems to be a lot of internet buzz from the liberal left. We're all on another planet from the current regime. A few months back, I had a 'moment' in which I envisioned 'regime change' coming back to bite us. If we continue to alienate all our traditional allies ('old Europe' yeh) in 25 years or so when we have NO friends in the world, the Chinese could call in all of the US paper they own and demand a regime change here - with troops to enforce it.
Now that is a scary but very real possibility. In reality, I see (flashes of) China then going through the end of their own Democracy revolution, and presumably not in any shape to attack anyone. And, please God, we here in America will have changed our own regime to a more progressive form.
The days of totalitarian regime are over, I tell you! People know too much, know too many of each other, world wide, and I believe we, the forces for good heh heh heh- are going to meet up and clean up the media which lies to us to please their corporate parents; the false leaders who are paid to legislate for the big corporations and against their own constituents.
--
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
treaties and alienating entire nations. That's why he's been
picked to be our ambassador to the United Nations." from the lead to an AlterNet article.
These may truly be the 'end' of days. We are going so backwards from freedom to tyranny. There seems to be a lot of internet buzz from the liberal left. We're all on another planet from the current regime. A few months back, I had a 'moment' in which I envisioned 'regime change' coming back to bite us. If we continue to alienate all our traditional allies ('old Europe' yeh) in 25 years or so when we have NO friends in the world, the Chinese could call in all of the US paper they own and demand a regime change here - with troops to enforce it.
Now that is a scary but very real possibility. In reality, I see (flashes of) China then going through the end of their own Democracy revolution, and presumably not in any shape to attack anyone. And, please God, we here in America will have changed our own regime to a more progressive form.
The days of totalitarian regime are over, I tell you! People know too much, know too many of each other, world wide, and I believe we, the forces for good heh heh heh- are going to meet up and clean up the media which lies to us to please their corporate parents; the false leaders who are paid to legislate for the big corporations and against their own constituents.
--
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
Skippy jr. continues to 'demand that Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon.' watta concept. He says it with a straight face. Somehow, I want to howl with laughter each time I hear that from him; there's been a lot these last few days.
(above is a reference taken from Doonesbury, who applied that sobriquet to Shrub senior)
I've been loving watching the people of Lebanon demonstrate completely peacefully - women in the front of the lines here and there. Bravo!
(the frelling keyboard at work has a fatal error involving the 'shift' keys. Trying to actually punctuate ?? and !! are imperative for me to maintain my 'style' **koff koff** Typing is always in all caps; 'shift' gives a weird 'other' kind of message, which frequently goes out to the fleet straight away, including, of course, whatever you may have been typing to a specific cab)
He appoints as U.N. Ambassador one of the capitol's harshest critics of that body.
35% of the "regulators" passing on new drugs are lobbyists for - you guessed it - the drug companies. The new Sec. of Interior is in thrall to timber interests, and proceeds to merrily grant permission for roads and clear cut everywhere (well. . .), striking critters off the endangered species list right and left. And how can we forget VP and his secret energy policy meetings (attended mostly by energy producers.)
There's more - I just can't remember it all right now.
The Repubs are trying to stealth through Congress a rule to prevent filibusters - about the only weapon the Dems have to prevent: a) stacking the federal courts; b) stacking the frelling Supreme Court; c) screwing the middle class with draconian changes to bankruptcy laws, drawn up with wording supplied by the banking industry. I could go on, and on.
Oh -and 'they' just voted DOWN a small increase to the minimum wage. Peons, die.
If they could only see: the peons will get progressivly dumber and sicker, requiring either an enormous investment in social services, OR, complete revolt and chaos, OR legalizing euthanasia (eh, maybe not- they want them to breed - more cannon fodder.)
And on another note: certain completely loopy congress people are hollering about how govt (pronounced 'guvment') should make those darned pay cable stations bow to FCC rules on content intended for over the air , accessible to all, broadcast channels. The Chron TV critic waxed apoplectic on that subject today. ha ha
" Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, recently told a meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters exactly what they wanted to hear. That it wasn't fair for the FCC to doggedly pursue only broadcasters; they ought to have the right to censor pay cable channels like HBO and Showtime, as well as satellite channels."
'Although current laws, history and political thinking indicate Stevens and Barton are merely right-wing blowhards in over their heads on this issue and will be summarily pimp-slapped by a little thing called the First Amendment, what's the painful lesson learned of late?
"Exactly: Freedom is fluid. It's a bone-chillingly cold new morning in red- state dominated America. Indecency crackdowns are big-play politics. The FCC is raising fines. The Parents Television Council -- among others -- has proven influence. And now Stevens has -- in public, without smirking -- declared that he believes Congress has the power to control more than just the over-the-air broadcasters it currently has jurisdiction"
Georgia (I think -mighta been Alabama) passed a law requiring a WAITING PERIOD before getting an abortion. And they don't even 'get' how frelling absurd they are. More, later, term abortions, and/or more thrown away, abused, unwanted children. Their little piece of 'the' soul could go back barely formed, unbruised; or we could let them experience the pain. Much of the collective soul must be involved in sustaining these poor siblings. Less growth or evolution.
Live from downtown Beirut. Now Hezbollah is having a rally to support Syria. They look pretty darned !numerous! dammit. CNN was live for a hot second, but no more. I'd sure like to see more of that.
(above is a reference taken from Doonesbury, who applied that sobriquet to Shrub senior)
I've been loving watching the people of Lebanon demonstrate completely peacefully - women in the front of the lines here and there. Bravo!
(the frelling keyboard at work has a fatal error involving the 'shift' keys. Trying to actually punctuate ?? and !! are imperative for me to maintain my 'style' **koff koff** Typing is always in all caps; 'shift' gives a weird 'other' kind of message, which frequently goes out to the fleet straight away, including, of course, whatever you may have been typing to a specific cab)
He appoints as U.N. Ambassador one of the capitol's harshest critics of that body.
35% of the "regulators" passing on new drugs are lobbyists for - you guessed it - the drug companies. The new Sec. of Interior is in thrall to timber interests, and proceeds to merrily grant permission for roads and clear cut everywhere (well. . .), striking critters off the endangered species list right and left. And how can we forget VP and his secret energy policy meetings (attended mostly by energy producers.)
There's more - I just can't remember it all right now.
The Repubs are trying to stealth through Congress a rule to prevent filibusters - about the only weapon the Dems have to prevent: a) stacking the federal courts; b) stacking the frelling Supreme Court; c) screwing the middle class with draconian changes to bankruptcy laws, drawn up with wording supplied by the banking industry. I could go on, and on.
Oh -and 'they' just voted DOWN a small increase to the minimum wage. Peons, die.
If they could only see: the peons will get progressivly dumber and sicker, requiring either an enormous investment in social services, OR, complete revolt and chaos, OR legalizing euthanasia (eh, maybe not- they want them to breed - more cannon fodder.)
And on another note: certain completely loopy congress people are hollering about how govt (pronounced 'guvment') should make those darned pay cable stations bow to FCC rules on content intended for over the air , accessible to all, broadcast channels. The Chron TV critic waxed apoplectic on that subject today. ha ha
" Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, recently told a meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters exactly what they wanted to hear. That it wasn't fair for the FCC to doggedly pursue only broadcasters; they ought to have the right to censor pay cable channels like HBO and Showtime, as well as satellite channels."
'Although current laws, history and political thinking indicate Stevens and Barton are merely right-wing blowhards in over their heads on this issue and will be summarily pimp-slapped by a little thing called the First Amendment, what's the painful lesson learned of late?
"Exactly: Freedom is fluid. It's a bone-chillingly cold new morning in red- state dominated America. Indecency crackdowns are big-play politics. The FCC is raising fines. The Parents Television Council -- among others -- has proven influence. And now Stevens has -- in public, without smirking -- declared that he believes Congress has the power to control more than just the over-the-air broadcasters it currently has jurisdiction"
Georgia (I think -mighta been Alabama) passed a law requiring a WAITING PERIOD before getting an abortion. And they don't even 'get' how frelling absurd they are. More, later, term abortions, and/or more thrown away, abused, unwanted children. Their little piece of 'the' soul could go back barely formed, unbruised; or we could let them experience the pain. Much of the collective soul must be involved in sustaining these poor siblings. Less growth or evolution.
Live from downtown Beirut. Now Hezbollah is having a rally to support Syria. They look pretty darned !numerous! dammit. CNN was live for a hot second, but no more. I'd sure like to see more of that.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
No credit!!
Nightline is doing a piece tonight w/lead in of : 'how much credit should P. Bush take?' (for rumbles of unheard of democratic bits and pieces starting across the Middle East (aka the oil zone) ) I think I answered that yesterday. None! Let's see what the talking heads decide.
This is turning out to be more about Lebanon specifically. Many of the Iraqi blogs I read hold their election to be bogus, not 'theirs' at all. How, then can NL push the idea of that election influencing the Lebanese peoples' surge toward freedom from Syria. But these events are happening. Or else the media is presenting an acted and cast drama, and not real people. This guy is not buying it. US could have promoted freedom w/o unilateral waged war; 100,000 Iraqi dead, 1500 U.S. dead; the total trashing of the Iraqi infrastructure and municipal government. NOt to mention irreplaceable antiquities.
This is turning out to be more about Lebanon specifically. Many of the Iraqi blogs I read hold their election to be bogus, not 'theirs' at all. How, then can NL push the idea of that election influencing the Lebanese peoples' surge toward freedom from Syria. But these events are happening. Or else the media is presenting an acted and cast drama, and not real people. This guy is not buying it. US could have promoted freedom w/o unilateral waged war; 100,000 Iraqi dead, 1500 U.S. dead; the total trashing of the Iraqi infrastructure and municipal government. NOt to mention irreplaceable antiquities.
Demonstrations in Lebanon against the Syrian occupation and domination - with Women! without veils - go Lebanon!
Mubarak says Egypt should change the constitution to allow multi party elections. Oh My. Local elections all over Saudi Arabia - no Women, of course. CNN Student News asks: Is Pres. Bush's idea coming true? This slow creep toward freedom is NOT not not any part of Bush's doing - it's happening IN SPITE of him - because of the Internet. Even with the greedy, pernicious leaders the world seems to be burdened with right now, people talking to people are going to trump anything a few stuffed shirts think they can continue to perpetrate on us.
My hero, the Internet, heh heh heh. And haven't I been telling that to everyone who would listen for about 10 years now? Well, a prophet gets no respect in her own time ;)
Mubarak says Egypt should change the constitution to allow multi party elections. Oh My. Local elections all over Saudi Arabia - no Women, of course. CNN Student News asks: Is Pres. Bush's idea coming true? This slow creep toward freedom is NOT not not any part of Bush's doing - it's happening IN SPITE of him - because of the Internet. Even with the greedy, pernicious leaders the world seems to be burdened with right now, people talking to people are going to trump anything a few stuffed shirts think they can continue to perpetrate on us.
My hero, the Internet, heh heh heh. And haven't I been telling that to everyone who would listen for about 10 years now? Well, a prophet gets no respect in her own time ;)
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