You probably missed this:

As I was posting up an entry (rebuilding my archives), this caught my eye and I realized why I posted it up. I don't know who the person is. S/he was on the Political Crossfire forum, which I never warmed up to, so I don't know what I missed, but I thought this was a good example of the anger and the division in this country thanks to the arrogant Commander Bunnypants. Funny, this was long ago and tensions haven't only NOT EASED, they've ESCALATED. Hmmm... Consider everything that's happened since then. No wonder.

Now I know that some people aren't as angry as I am and I should give this entry a FOUL LANGUAGE WARNING, but hey, they're just words and this person summed up about 10% of my feelings for the blindly accepting sheeple, or as I like to call them- plain & simply: THE ENEMY.

by: ubertechnogeek 06/23/05 01:09 am Msg: 15776 of 16931 20 recommendations HOW WRONG CAN YOU IDIOTS BE?? by: debate101 06/16/05 12:30 am 176 recs A brief message to the Knuckledragger wing of the Republican party: You guys are idiots. Fvcking idiots. In fact, I've never seen such a collection of morons in my life, and that includes the Nixon guys. When I say idiots and morons, I don't mean walking into walls or sticking your hands into vats of bubbling tomato sauce. I mean, you guys are wrong. And you're wrong so often and on such a massive scale that science should come up with a new term for your species: homo stupidus. The catalyst for this reality-based rant is the Terri Schiavo autopsy. But this isn't about the Schaivos or the ethical and moral questions that arose during that awful episode. It's about looking into the rear-view mirror and seeing that you Bible-thumping shitheads and your attack poodles in the media got it all wrong. Again. Terri wasn't following that balloon with her eyes, Dr. Bill "Fvckhead" Frist, because she was blind. She didn't say "Mommy," Sean "Sh1thead" Hannity, because her cognitive abilities were gone. She wasn't strangled, Dr. William "Dick" Hammesfahr, but thanks for proving just how pathetically wrong you "experts" on the rabid right were in this case. You fvcked up big-time because you idiots dove into what you thought was a "hot button issue" without a clue what you were doing. You couldn't have been more wrong. But the Schaivo embarrassment is just one more stinking turd on your Republican "Dungheap of Wrong." You were all wrong on Iraq. Completely, utterly, insanely wrong on everything. The list has gotten too long to print. You're wrong on global warming. And now we know you'll resort to doctoring scientific documents to hide your wrongness. You're wrong on homeland security because we know that our ports, borders and infrastructure still aren't adequately protected. You're so wrong that we've been at terror threat "Yellow" for 1,204 days now, and at "Blue" or "Green" for zero. You're wrong on those idiotic tax cuts. They haven't stimulated job growth in the slightest, nor have they helped the middle or lower class. Any idiot could see that, and I'm surprised you don't because you are such an extra-special class of idiots. You're wrong for plunging our country $7.7 trillion into debt. What the fvck were you thinking? Have any of you ever balanced a checkbook in your life? You're wrong for trying to fool us into thinking that throwing Social Security into the gnashing jaws of Wall Street will solve the (minor) problem we'll face 35 years down the stinking road. You're so wrong---oh God, how you're just lame-brained here---for ignoring the massive health care crisis in this country. A grade of F- to you...and my extended middle finger, too. You're wrong on stem cell research. You're wrong on "intelligent design." You're wrong on this crazy missile defense shield. You're wrong to ignore the genocide in Africa. You're wrong to force a cookie-cutter education "plan" on states without paying for it. You're wrong to send an abusive sh1thead to be our ambassador to the United Nations even though he openly despises it. You're wrong to embrace a radical, hateful religious faction of your party while---wink, wink---you claim to welcome all religions. And you're damn well wrong to suck up to residents of another country (Israel) because you think their destruction is your key to salvation. "Jerusalem's gone! Pack yer bags, Ma!" There isn't a duncecap big enough to fit your big fat fvcking arrogant heads. There isn't a corner big enough for you to take a time-out in. You guys have been so absolutely, positively wrong about everything that it boggles the reality-based mind. And not just wrong---but willfully wrong. I just wanted you to know that, you filthy, stinking radical Republican hacks. Hope I didn't spoil your golf game.

The more things change...

Protecting Children

Granholm Takes Another Step
to Protect Michigan’s Children

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

LANSING - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today signed legislation that will strengthen penalties for sex offenders who target children. The eight-bill package known as Jessica’s Law is named for nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender in Florida last year.

"We must continue to take steps to protect our children," said Granholm. "I am proud to sign legislation that will help keep the predators who target the young behind bars where they belong."

The legislative package creates a new 25-year mandatory minimum sentence for adults convicted of criminal sexual conduct (CSC) where the victim is under the age of 13. Any offender with a previous CSC conviction will receive an automatic life sentence. In addition, offenders convicted of first or second degree CSC with a victim under the age of 13 will be required to wear electronic monitoring devices if paroled.

***

RE-ELECT Gov. Jennifer Granholm

As a Women's Studies fanatic, I find this interview between Russel Shaw and "blogher's" Jory Des Jardin about gender and blogging is quite fascinating. Here is a small excerpt:

And while there are many brilliant male bloggers who are excellent storytellers, I firmly believe women own the narrative touch, whether they are talking about shopping or Darfur. Let's be honest, if you were to read a line from an anonymous blogger that reads, "So I'm in Banana Republic and the craziest thing happened..." who are you going to assume wrote it?

I happen to agree with that assessment about the narrative touch. And I had another thought, not in this interview, how many trolls are female? I don't think I've seen a one that I can identify.

Disclaimer: I've not yet visited Blogher to determine its quality when it comes to women. I will. Why don't you all visit too, and give some thoughts on it.

Link to article.

Woman power!!

Dutch "Treat"?

Occasionally, I would fantasize about living in the liberal Netherlands. But this is a deal-breaker for me. Yech!!

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage.

Yahoo News

My Impatience Garden

Memorial Day

Pause and Remember

On Fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.

Nor shall your glory be forgot
While Fame her record keeps,
Or Honor points the hallowed spot
Where Valor proudly sleeps.

-Theodore O'Hara (1820–1867)

This is the world we live in....

Bush spoke, as the Commander in Chief, to the graduating Cadets at West Point . Here is a paragraph from his speech:

In Iraq, another tyrant chose to test America's resolve. Saddam Hussein was a dictator who had pursued and used weapons of mass destruction, he sponsored terrorists, invaded his neighbors, abused his people, deceived international inspectors, and refused to comply with more than a dozen United Nations resolutions. (Applause.) When the United Nations Security Council gave him one final chance to disclose and disarm, or face serious consequences, he refused to take that final opportunity. So coalition forces went into Iraq and removed his cruel regime. And today, Iraq's former dictator is on trial for his crimes -- and America and the world are better off because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. (Applause.)

We learn from Faiz at Think Progress:

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered a strong rebuke of Bush’s assessment of what’s going on in the Middle East:

I think you could make a pretty strong case that things are worse off in the Middle East today than they were three years ago. By measurement of Iraq, by Iran, by the Palestinian-Israeli issue, what’s going on in Egypt. And, I think the United States must use its force of diplomacy to engage Iran.

...The land of confusion.

(h/t to Chris Marshall)

Happy Birthday, Sweet Bea!
May your day be as glorious as you are.

Birthday Song

Please join me in wishing Lizzy' s daughter a Very Wonderous 12th Birthday.

For What It's Worth

I read this comment over at Tristram Shandy:

I don't in any way condone the killing of civilians in a time of war, but a few things should be noted about what happens to soilders under stress. In order to stay alive in a combat situation your survival senses have to be maxed out at all times. Your body can accomplish this if you get angry and stay angry. This is actually a deep component of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

What this comment is referring to is the My Lai in Haditha, where a group of enraged Marines entered the homes of civilians and murdered them, including children, in cold blood. However, it is important to note the following:

The first official report from the military, issued on Nov. 20, said that "a U.S. marine and 15 Iraqi civilians were killed yesterday from the blast of a roadside bomb" and that "immediately following the bombing, gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire."

That is the way the story went for four months until Time magazine obtained a video made by an Iraqi journalism student. The tape showed the bodies of women and children, some in their pajamas.

According to MSNBC, the video was confirmed by the Marines' own investigation: "Military officials say Marine Corps photos taken immediately after the incident show many of the victims were shot at close range, in the head and chest, execution-style." Women and children were among the 24 civilians murdered: "One photo shows a mother and young child bent over on the floor as if in prayer, shot dead, said the officials. …"

The New York Times says that the lawyers who have questioned the marines at Camp Pendleton state that the situation in Haditha was chaotic at the time of the killings. It is also expected that the defense will state that many times the insurgents hid in civilians homes.

American civilians today know nothing about war, because the majority voted for a president who said that it was better to take the war over there than here. I did not vote for this president because I believe that war is the last resort and the Bush Administration rushed into war without exhausting every possible peaceful alternative. Perhaps if the government had, then we would not have marines doing 3 tours, shooting children in Haditha and the military making up stories about it.

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

The Armed Services Committee has been informed of this and the Senators are to investigate. What really scares me is that we have seen what happens with investigations and we have also seen how the Democrats turn tail and flee on such matters.

Lordy! Those horney FL retirees getting it on!!

Seems the seniors in central FL are getting a disproportionate number of STD's. Maybe granny can't get pregnant, but she should probably consider condoms anyway!

Shame of America

I wanted to share this video with you. It was made by a woman Lisa and she posted it on the C&L's Late Night Music Club, which has a great video up by Peter Gabriel. The music in this video is also by Peter Gabriel and the title is "Here Comes the Flood." (just click the title)

Waiting your time, dreaming of a better life...

Gore to the core! Please, come back for more!!

Don't know if yall have seen this on Al's movie showing at Cannes. Lately, I've been missing this guy and all the passion he has amassed since he was robbed of his presidency. He was HILLARIOUS at the opening of SNL a couple of weeks ago. And, like fine wine, he just keeps getting better with age.

Let's call him the "comeback kid."

General Hayden Confirmed as Director of the CIA

Well once again, with a rush vote and pressure by Frist to nominate Gen. Hayden, we got just that today. So it is not surprising to read what John Nichols has to say regarding the vote:

If there actually was an opposition party in Washington, the nomination of Air Force General Michael Hayden to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency would have been doomed from the start.

Unfortunately, there is no opposition party in Washington.

There is, instead, a Democratic Party that, when push comes to shove regularly allows itself to be shoved.

Or perhaps what Dr. Strangelove over at TPM writes:

When President Bush nominated General Michael Hayden for the position of Director of Central Intelligence he threw down a gauntlet to the Democrats. He dared the Democrats to do battle on this nomination. He dared the Democrats to vote against Hayden and he dared the Democrats to hold up the nomination. He dared the Democrats to leave vacant the CIA Director's position while the United States is engaged in wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Predictably, the Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee saw the gauntlet, turned tail, and fled.

At any rate, here is the link to see how the Senators voted. I wish I could remember who said today that the Senate rushed to vote on the Immigration Bill and the nomination of Hayden but tabled the bill for the troops until Congress returns from their Memorial Day vacation. I doubt the troops are on vacation.

DICK DeVos

Top Ten Things to Know About His Real Agenda

Republican candidate for governor in Michigan

Dick DeVos won't tell the truth about his record,
so here it is.

1. DeVos has financial and personal ties to Tom DeLay and the Republican culture of corruption.
2. DeVos paid over $4 million for a $300 million corporate tax break.
3. DeVos secretly backs a dishonest campaign to repeal the estate tax.
4. DeVos believes in cutting jobs.
5. DeVos gets richer while Michigan workers suffer. DeVos supports "free trade" agreements like NAFTA.
6. DeVos thinks large corporations shouldn't have to pay their fair share of Michigan's tax burden.
7. DeVos dishonestly fought Michigan’s minimum wage increase.
8. DeVos despises Michigan's public schools. This is no exaggeration.
9. DeVos supports the failed Republican ideology of tax cuts for the rich and deregulation.
10. DeVos hides the truth about his wealth. So far DeVos is refusing to release his income tax returns.

See what else you don't know about Dick DeVos

***

RE-ELECT Jennifer Granholm

I love this show!!!

I know it sounds silly, but I think it's a hoot! This one cabbie in NYC picks up passengers (hailers only). They give their destination, and the cabbie hits a button (mini-van cab) that makes the ceiling light up ala disco-style and loud music plays. Passengers, often, don't know what to make of it.

That's when the cabbie explains to them that they are on television in a cab-based gameshow where he poses trivia questions through their commute. Each right answer earns them cash. They have two "shout-outs" (mobile phone or street stranger) for help -- can you say "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" They are also allowed two wrong answers without penalty. On the third, they are dropped off right there -- no matter what their destination. It's a pretty funny show.

Here's a link.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12055144/

Cabbie is also a noted comic. The questions posed are not exactly of Jeopardy quality, but their are also not ALL easy. Check it out!

Convicted child molester deemed to short for prison by ruling judge. You have GOT to be kidding me!! Somebody should lock that judge away and throw away the key! Imagine the message being sent to all the sicko molesters that are under 5'2". It's okay. We're not locking you up because we are afraid you might get hurt in prison!!

Watch video clip here.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036652/

What are you reading these days? This is what I'm reading, and I'm loving it. I hate the picture on the jacket and was a bit put-off by the fact that Teri Hatcher wrote this book. But it speaks to women so much! It's about conquering fears and obstacles. It is also about putting an end to low expectations for ourselves AND making way too many sacrifices to make everyone else happy. I highly recommend this book.

Good Luck Samara Leist

We here at Night Bird's Fountain are wishing you the very best at the Scripps National Spelling Bee . We hope you enjoy your visit in Washington D.C. and if you happen to run into the President, could you tell him....on second thought, try to avoid running into the President.

The Spelling Bee will be held on May 31 and June 1, 2006.

Please remember to put some lavender in your pocket. It is for good luck!

I have a craving!! Can someone go to the store for me? I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that I just got home from shopping for a bathing suit?? It's so depressing!!!

Guess I'll settle for an ice cream sammich :-(

Almost time for Lost finale! Who watches?

Who the hell do these women think they are? You couldn't PAY me any amount of money to go on the View. Joy Behar and Meredith Vierra are a couple of sanctimonious bitches -- if you ask me. Actually, the whole lot of them are! The Dixie Chicks made the right decision to diss that show. I don't care what those View women claim in the supposed start of the Dixie Chicks' career, but I hardly think that is what launched them!

Click the link

How fair is a garden
amid the trials and passions
of existence.
~Benjamin Disraeli

Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us feel inferior, but then, anybody in his right mind should have an inferiority complex every time he looks at a flower. ~Alan C. Kay


Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~Lindley Karstens


In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban

VOICES FOR CHANGE

Please join JACKSON BROWNE and FRIENDS

for private musical parties in support of John Hall

June 2 • 8 pm • Pound Ridge • Jackson Browne, Dar Williams
June 3 • 2 pm • Garrison • Jackson Browne, Dar Williams,
Pete Seeger
June 3 • 8 pm • Wassaic • Jackson Browne, Dar Williams
June 4 • 1 pm • Warwick • Jackson Browne, John Hall and friends

One Observation on the "National Language" Distraction

Now that I've gotten a few minutes, I'll g'head and finish my rant on pug shell-gamery. This is just my take on all the yapping and about what isn't being said.

They also want to remove, what? 31 laws that currently make the hiring and employment of illegals, illegal. That's buried in one edition of the bills before Congress -- oh but we noticed.

Back up and chew on that first sentence in the last paragraph a second. If the hardly-mentioned provisions pass, poof: An in-place worker class with no rights and no guarantees for citizenship under any condition, no vote, no representation. And neatly blamed on the Democrats somehow.

They know they'll never repeal the XIII Amendment directly, but they can skirt it with clever corporate chicanery. In the end, it amounts to the same thing.

Slavery.

A resident worker of a country who has no rights, no vote and no legal protection is a slave; nothing more and nothing less. He cannot "up and leave", get another job, get an education or enjoy any of the fruits of citizenship. In effect, he is trapped in what could at best be described as indenture or at worst slavery. It's a legal Perfect Storm.

Banning homosexuality by act of Congress, stealing elections, marginalizing everyone they can marginalize without trodding directly on the Bill of Rights and Katrina weren't working fast enough for 'em. They're resorting to media shell-games, stirring useless debate to divert attention away from the truly insidiousness of what they're up to. Then again, that is exactly how the out-of-control Republican Congress has operated since coming to power.

Theft atop corruption atop chicanery, all glossed over by obfuscation.

The stock market is quivering under the weight of bullshit paper. Corporate American elite are looking for a new moneytit because most of us out here literally don't have any more to give. They've charged us for living and breathing for so long that our great-grands will still be paying it off. In order to continue with record profits and CEO gimmees, somebody else has to pay to finanace the corporate elite.

Guess who, with their bazillion-dollar tax breaks that We The People are in debt to finance, ain't givin' it up.

Companies like WallyWorld (aka The Company Store) would coincidentally be out of further legal danger. (How long do you think it will be before scrip makes a comeback... just sayin'.) Think of how much hot water they've been in for undocumented workers and how very generous they've been to their Republican bought and paid-for Congress. Wal-Mart is just the tip of the iceberg -- of course there are far more corporations dependant on cheap labor: Big Agra (ADM and Cargill, who are also the biggest recipients of billions in tax "relief" for "not growing" things); construction, demolition and cleanup; the list is nearly bottomless.

Legalizing already-resident undocumented but long-term workers by removing penalties for employing them effectively creates the first class with no rights simply by making it by removing any penalty for corporations to have them. In no way can it be confused with amnesty -- it is simply another Republican money-grab that once again removes all penalties from corporations who commit the acts of hiring illegals and places the blame and burden on the innocent.

The sheeple bigot-fools on the right don't realize that the current population of undocumented aliens they're supposed to be scared of this week won't be even one inch farther away than they already are. Nobody's going to be deported anywhere and everybody knows it.

Pendejos.

Much less that if the amendments repealing those 31 laws becomes legislation, more people who don't speak English will be getting a lot closer and soon.

As I have said for the last several years, if they can remove rights from any one, they can remove rights from everyone. There will be no safe quarter, no flag to hide behind, no court for redress and Jesus won't fly down to help.

Après Dumya, la deluge.

Oops... ahm spakin t'th'murrican paypul... English only!

Here we go! Brian Keeler for NY Senate!!

"After clacking away at the keyboard for ePluribus Media, Political Cortex, Dailykos, My Left Wing and Booman Tribune, I was inspired by Markos and Jerome to push it aside and Crash a Gate or two myself and run for the New York State Senate. This Thursday, I'm announcing my candidacy at Waryas Park along the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, New York."

Check out the news release Here

And, Sterling Newberry's endorsement:
"Brian Keeler is one of the most intelligent and dedicated people in internet politics, and his devotion to making people's lives better, every day and in every way, cannot be too highly praised."

I know the rolling country of Columbia and Duchess county - I have biked through it, driven through it, worked there and played there. I have spent many hours in the dark of night walking its roads, or cresting hills to the greeting of glittering stars. It is a region much like my own native earth, and it deserves and demands better representation than it has had in the past. Fortunately, there is a chance for this to happen, with the candidacy of Brian Keeler for the New York State Senate. Brian Keeler is one of the most intelligent and dedicated people in internet politics, and his devotion to making people's lives better, every day and in every way, cannot be too highly praised. His campaign faces an uphill battle - as does the campaign to improve representation in New York, fix a broken budget process, and continue to invest in the education and infrastructure that makes New York "the empire state".

Sterling's post is Here

Finally, a progressive New York candidate that cares about our people, bringing business opportunities to the area and the environment of our beautiful state.

In which he takes his ball and goes home...

As said by Matt Stoller at MyDD in his post about Joe Lieberman refusing to participate in the MoveOn.org primary after first agreeing.

Raw Story has more on the very same matter.

More on Ned:

My radio guys interviewed Ned Lamont this afternoon. To listen to the audio clip click on the link. There's no linky thingie to make it go right to the interview. So it's listed on the left hand column. There's also an interview with Matthew's guy, Malloy.

http://wtic.com/pages/5478.php

More of Colin's musings about Lamont/Lieberman on his blog.

Colin McEnroe to Wit

And Matthew's other guy, Doyle, won the primary tonight! He's stoked, and they had a party.

My part is that I FINALLY figured out how to post something here!!

Ned on the Air

Ned Lamont will be on the Scott Harris show on WPKN this evening at 6:30 pm.

He will also be on the Majority Report on Air America at 8:30 pm tonight.

Tomorrow morning at 10:20 am he will be on the Diane Rehm show on NPR.

And who said "Video Killed the Radio Show?"

I feel insecure. This administration has used the 9-11 "Homeland security, look we're at war right now" excuse to give me and insecure feeling in all I do. They wiretap phone calls, maintain a database of every number dialed in America, expect ISPs and search engines to give records on searches and IP addresses, expect libraries to provide records of books checked out, banks to provide transaction records, provisions in the Patriot Act allow for physical searches without a warrant while you aren't home, all the while claiming my privacy and civil rights aren't being violated.

Although I've got nothing to hide, I fear doing certain things because "Big Brother" could be watching all that I do and then questioning me on why I checked the Holy Koran from the library, looked up biographical information on the Mohammed on Google, withdrew $55.00 from my savings account, called California, American Airlines, KI Sawyer Int. Airport, an iron ore mine, a power plant control room and why I have various military uniforms, security guard uniforms and a Glock model 22 .40 s&w pistol locked up in my house.

Although my answers to these questions are legitamite; I want to know more about Islam, I need gas, my Dad lives in California, father in law works at American Airlines, my boss works at the airport, I work at an iron ore mine, I do security at a port for a power company, I am a former member of the military, currently a security guard and need the ability to be armed for promotion oppurtunities at work, I still feel unsafe.

What if they declared me an enemy combatant? I would never get a shot at a trial so I can use my legitamite answers, because according the the bUSH administration I've got no right to a trial. Instead I'd sit at Gitmo, my family having no idea where I am at, for who knows how long simply because I wanted to learn about Islam.

Yes this scenario sounds far fetched, but could it happen? I'm worried that with the people running the country right now, it could. Nobody is holding this administration accountable for what they do, not the courts, not Congress and certainly not the majority of the media. I feel lucky to have some honest media and of course the blogosphere but someday could this administration consider dissent as an act of being an enemy combatant? With this administration anything is possible.

Special Blog Post:
A Farewell to Good People

This is my final post here at Night Bird's Fountain.

I have greatly enjoyed the community of bloggers and commenters here and have benefited much from your spirit of friendship and comraderie. In surrendering those preciously rare things, I am diminished in leaving.

I must, however. Principled action is rarely to the gain of personal comfort. The afterthought of grief for what is lost seems such an awful fee, though.

Heed what I say to you now, bloggers.

Speak your peace fearlessly, stand your ground resolutely, and fight for right tirelessly that at the end of your days you will not lie down to die, but yet will rise to depart this world the magnificent hero remembered forever by those who matter.


The Dark Wraith has spoken.

PAUL KRUGMAN on Talk Show Joe

Mr. Lieberman has been playing to a Washington echo chamber that is increasingly out of touch with the country's real concerns. The nation, which rallied around Mr. Bush after 9/11 simply because he was there, has moved on — and it has left Mr. Lieberman behind.

Brian Keeler, co-founder of ePluribus Media is holding his official public announcement to run for the Senate of the 41st District of New York on Thursday, May 25 at 12:30 PM along the waterfront in Poughkeepsie.

To quote Brian Keeler or NYBri:

"The 41st District is primed and ready for change in Albany. Our job is to offer the voters an alternative to the calcified Republican status quo in the State Senate. To point out that there has been a lack of leadership in our district, that leadership means more than just showing up, that doling out member item dollars doesn't solve the the property tax crisis...the drinking water crisis...the energy crisis...the deficit crisis...the loss of jobs crisis...the health care crisis...the disappearing pension crisis...the creeping sprawl crisis. Pork doesn¹t solve problems, it buys complacency.

True leadership means solving problems, making tough choices and taking a stand.

After 26 years, it¹s time for No Stand Saland to step aside and make way for a NEW kind of leadership in the State Senate. It's time for a NEW team.

It¹s time for a NEW sense of hope, a NEW vision for the future, a NEW New York.

It would be a great honor if you could make it to the event to stand next to me as we embark on this excellent adventure. We are going to give Duck and Cover Steve a run for his rather large sum of money. The fight is on."

To contribute to this very deserving candidate, please send a buck or two.

Your contribution would be so very appreciated.

Let us take back our country, one district at a time.

WHEN THE CITIZENS RISE UP


I will always remember the words of Digby, when he wrote:

I believe that there is finally a recognition that the Party has hit the wall. We have moved as far to the right as we can go and we have been as accomodating as we can be without thoroughly compromising our fundamental principles.

Connecticut has come to realize that their representation in Washington is indeed compromising their principles. I said it once and I will say it again regarding Ned Lamont: Thars gold in them thar hills if you care to look and the people of Southbury certainly looked and Kevin Rennie noticed it.

The darkest omens for Lieberman came near the end of the night when Southbury, nearly the last to vote, announced it was still waiting for a response to a winter invitation to Lieberman to meet. Until he does, Southbury cast five votes for Lamont, three abstentions and zero for Lieberman. One of the night's loudest cheers rang out.

And cheer they should. Branford Boy at My Left Nutmeg recently wrote a post regarding the "Liberal Wraith in Connecticut", and he makes a statement about the New York Times article:

The piece is classic "he-said-she-said" journalism, with no attempt to call the Lieberman camp on its distortions. It also tries hard to hew to the DLC line that the best hope for Dems is to become more like Republicans.

"A very simple thing happened that changed Democratic politics dramatically, and that was that the war turned bad," Mr. From said, adding of the senator's critics: "There's a group in our party that makes a lot of noise and I don't think they've ever won an election. They're trying to take out one of the great statesmen our party has and that's wrong."

Am I understanding that From is calling for purging us from the party. That's what happens when the citizens rise up, as did the folks of Southbury. Do not let it shake your will. You are the heart of the Democratic party in Connecticut and you can make a difference.

They won. The terrorists, that is. Their goal was to shake up our lives, bring fear into our homes, and change the Democratic way of life in America. Oh, how very soundly they have won. Tommy Franks spells it out quite solidly, contradicting himself along the way:

Franks: GI Deaths Is the Cost of Security

MILWAUKEE - Those who count the increasing number of American soldiers killed in
Iraq are missing the bigger picture, retired Gen. Tommy Franks said Saturday night.

"What we're talking about is neither 2,400, 24,000 or 240,000 lives," Franks said at the National Rifle Association's annual banquet. "Terrorism is a thing that threatens our way of life. It doesn't have anything to do with politics."

More than 2,400 soldiers have died since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, the plan for which Franks developed and executed. He also oversaw combat in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"I watched as America changed," Franks said. "That's not near done. We have to secure ourselves. We have to secure our Constitution."


Has your life changed since 9/11? Is it for the better or for the worse? I knew the instant they increased security at the airports that the terrorists won. Punishing millions to find and destroy a handful of bad guys simply isn't the American way. I mourned the loss of our brief but poignant unity just after 9/11, as soon as politics started using it to divide and scare. I shouted at my Representatives and Senators and begged them not to take us to war - not yet - where's the evidence, where's the diplomacy? These are things that bad guys do. I cry when I hear of deaths in Iraq. Truth be told, I am more sad to hear of the civilian Iraqi losses than the American soldier losses; not that I blame the soldiers, nor that don't support them, but that the acceptance of civilian losses comes so easily to us now? How many is too many?

We must fight this war to secure the American way of life? The irony is so thick, it pierces into my soul.

A warm welcome aboard to

{{{ROSE!!!}}}

Our newest contributor at
Night Bird's Fountain!!!

Ned Lamont gets a big thumbs up
at the Connecticut Convention


1509 votes count
Ned Lamont - 505 (33.4%)
Joe Lieberman - 1004 (66.5%)


Brandford Boy at My Left Nutmeg says it beautifully:

The most exquisite irony in all this is that, in their attempts to raise expectations for Lamont's vote total to what they assumed would unrealistic levels, the Lieberman camp turned out to be the most prescient progosticators of the final result.

The Lamont Blog has some early reactions:

"Joe Lieberman is an icon in Connecticut," said Al Simon, 46, a delegate from Windsor, which passed a resolution this year censuring the senator for his position on Iraq. "For this to happen is indicative of the depth of anger felt by a lot of rank-and-file Democrats against Democratic leaders."

Read it and weep Joe Momentums.
Ned is on the ballot and
has on the ground!

Analysis:
Index Portfolio Performance during the Bush Administration to Date

After sustaining punishing losses earlier in the week, the major market indices staged a modest recovery on Friday. Such a minor uptick is often believed to be the result of bargain hunters purchasing stocks that were taken down in the heavy trading of a broad-based sell-off. Friday's recovery offered little, however, in the way of glad news for investors. Over the span of the Republican control of the Executive and Legislative Branches of government in this still-young 21st Century, the performance of the equities markets in the United States has been nothing short of disastrous. The blame for this significant erosion of real stock portfolio values goes directly and unequivocally to the GOP, which rode into office on a long-standing platform of fiscal prudence and policies tilted toward economic growth through low taxes and reduction of regulatory hurdles to business investment and growth.

As of Friday, May 19, 2006, George W. Bush had been President of the United States 1,945 days. Other than for a brief period in mid- to late-2001, when a Republican who had become an Independent created a near-even major party split in the U.S. Senate, both Houses of Congress have been controlled by the Republican Party to which Mr. Bush belongs. Economic policy during these nearly five-and-a-half years has been completely controlled by President Bush and his Republican Party members in Congress. Democrats have had no control over the formulation of economic policies and the federal budgets arising therefrom: they have been largely shut out of taxation and spending decisions by iron-fisted, uncompromising rules and actions imposed by the Republicans, who have displayed no intention of or interest in consensus in governance. Consequentially, responsibility for the spiraling, year-over-year federal budget deficits that have hallmarked the reign of the Republicans rests squarely with the Republican Party, its legislators in Congress, and the policy-makers in the White House, including George W. Bush, himself.

The public sector has suffered the long-held hope of certain branches of conservativism that the federal government could be reduced in size, crippled in carrying out certain of its regulatory duties, and diminished in it tax revenue generating capacity. The desirable goal of this political prescription of "limited government" has been that, through the degradation of the public sector, the private sector would flourish. No reasonable argument could be made that, if the private sector were indeed the great beneficiary of entrepreneurialism at its most productive, ownership in business would reflect this through substantial returns on equity. Investors in the stock markets of the United States, particularly investors abiding by prudent portfolio diversification rules and reasonable buy-and-hold strategies, should have seen appreciation in the real value of the money they invested in stocks. This is the necessary reward to induce surrender of current consumption. It is the motivation for investors all the way from the individual of modest means to the giant mutual fund to invest: the goal is to realize more purchasing power at in a future time through consumption opporunities surrendered in the here and now. For many Americans, long-term investments in stocks and other securities are to the end of having some degree of financial security in retirement. For businesses, the accumulation of equity positions in other companies is in its ideal a signal of conviction that gain is to be had through the long-term, expected future cash flows of enterprises acquired.

From the first day of trading, January 22, 2001, after President Bush became the 43rd President of the United States, until the publication date of this article, May 19, 2006, the performance of the major stock markets—measured by the index portfolios of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Standard & Poor's 500, and the NASDAQ Composite—has been catastrophic.

January 22, 2001, was the first day of trading after Mr. Bush became President. Three major indices stood at the following levels at the close of trading on that day:

January 22, 2001, Index Closing Values
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 10,578.24
Standard & Poor's 500: 1,342.90
NASDAQ Composite: 2,757.91

At the close of trading on Friday, May 19, 2006, these same three averages stood at the following levels:

May 19, 2006, Index Closing Values
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 11,144.06
Standard & Poor's 500: 1,267.03
NASDAQ Composite: 2,193.88

If an investor were to have formed a portfolio based upon each of these three indices and managed each portfolio in terms of composition and balance to mirror the relevant index, the investor would have earned the following total nominal returns on investment over the 1,945 days from January 22, 2001, to May 19, 2006:

Total Nominal Portfolio Returns over 1,945 Days
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +5.35%
Standard & Poor's 500: —5.65%
NASDAQ Composite: —20.45%

Expressing these returns on an annualized (that is, "percentage return per year compounded") basis, the nominal results just presented are as following:

Annualized Nominal Portfolio Returns over 1,945 Days
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.98% per year
Standard & Poor's 500: —1.09% per year
NASDAQ Composite: —4.21% per year

The above are nominal (that is, "not corrected for inflation") results. Taking into account the erosion of purchasing power (that is, "the effect of inflation") on portfolio values over the holding period requires adjusting each of the current values to its equivalent purchasing power value on January 22, 2001. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index data for January 2001, the CPI stood at 175.1, and for April 2006, the CPI stood at 201.5. The May 2006 figure can be estimated by various methods, and here, a conservative projection of 202.9 is derived from the three-month moving average of the CPI, implying an annualized inflation rate for the current month of 8.8 percent, based upon the average of the annualized inflation rates for the previous three months, respectively, of 2.4%, 6.8%, and 10.7%. The chart below shows the month-by-month annualized inflation rates for January 2005 through April 2006, along with the attendant three-month moving average.

Expressing the closing index portfolio values as of Friday, May 19, 2006, in terms of their January 2001 purchasing power equivalents yields the following:

May 19, 2006, Index Values in January 2001 Purchasing Power Value
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 9616.35
Standard & Poor's 500: 1093.34
NASDAQ Composite: 1893.13

The total real return on investment for each portfolio is then the quotient of the January 2001 index value when divided into the adjusted May 19, 2006, value:

Total Real Portfolio Returns from January 22, 2001, to May 19, 2006
Dow Jones Industrial Average: —9.09%
Standard & Poor's 500: —18.58%
NASDAQ Composite: —31.36%

Finally, expressing these real returns on an annualized (that is, "percentage return per year compounded") basis, the total real return results just presented are as follows:

Annualized Real Portfolio Returns from January 22, 2001, to May 19, 2006
Dow Jones Industrial Average: —1.77% per year
Standard & Poor's 500: —3.79% per year
NASDAQ Composite: —6.82% per year

The results above are summarized in the following chart:


The total and real returns to the selected portfolios are presented below in graphical form:


An investor forming a portfolio tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average from the beginning of the Bush Administration in January of 2001 until May 19, 2006, would have suffered a total loss in real value of the portfolio of more than nine percent, which is equivalent to a compounding rate of loss in purchasing power of the portfolio over the term of the Bush Administration of one-and-three-quarters percent per year; the investor forming a portfolio tracking the Standard & Poor's 500 over that period would have suffered a total loss in real value of the portfolio of more than eighteen-and-a-half percent, which is equivalent to a compounding annual rate of loss in purchasing power of the portfolio over the term of the Bush Administration of more than three-and-three-quarters percent per year; and the investor forming a portfolio tracking the NASDAQ Composite index over that period would have suffered a loss in total real value of the portfolio of more than thirty-one-and-a-third percent, which is equivalent to a compounding rate of loss in purchasing power of the portfolio over the term of the Bush Administration of almost seven percent per year.

From a well-balanced portfolio of the common stock of reasonably low-risk, very large public corporations to an equally well-balance portfolio of the common stock of relatively riskier, small-cap public corporations, common stock—the equity, or ownership claim on corporations—has provided significantly negative real returns over the course of the Bush Administration.

Securities markets do not make long-term assessments of the value of the American economy based upon political biases for one party or against another: billions of shares of stock trade each day, and the total value of these trades is an order of magnitude or more greater than this. Over the period of the past nearly five-and-a-half years, the absolute control of the government by the Bush Administration and its Republican allies in Congress has been subject to an on-going, objective assessment by the securities markets of the United States. The result to date of this real value assessment is that the American economy, as represented by the market values of stocks of large, medium, and small companies, has eroded. This is an undeniable, unavoidable fact, regardless of the particulars of the grandly positive economic news that proceeds from the Administration and the agencies thereof.

Regardless of how large the nearly daily dose of good economic news the Bush Administration induces the mainstream media to repeat, the Administration can neither manipulate the stock market data, nor can it find a scapegoat for the broad-based, long-term depletion of private equity value its policies have caused. For the average American who contemplates retirement in part or in whole based upon investments made and held in the stock market over many years, the Bush Administration's record is nothing short of catastrophic in terms of the financial security for what will be generations of citizens in their retirement years. For most, however, the full realization of the value lost and the disrupted, nearly irreparable damage to future capital appreciation of their investments in the stock markets will come only after the era of the neo-conservatives has come to an end.

The masterminds of this financial wreck that has been loosed upon the American people will be able to exit public life long before the full and dire consequences of their disastrous incompetence is fully, or perhaps even partially, understood by the millions upon millions who will suffer as a result. As such, it will be for future politicians to repair as much of this damage as possible while quite probably bearing the brunt of citizens' ire for what was done in the current era, when malfeasant radicals governed so recklessly.


During the course of that degraded and dim future, the Dark Wraith will offer frequent and pointed reminders about those who bear the blame.

---

This article is cross-posted from The Dark Wraith Forums.

Connecticut Democratic Convention

I had hoped to join Pam at the Lamont Tent, but things did not pan out so I will do my best by providing some good websites that will be live blogging the Convention. I know that Pam will be a wonderful asset for the Lamont Campaign. I look forward to reading her point of view later tonight.

Tim at the Lamont Blog will be posting all through the Convention.

Connecticut Network will be streaming the convention.

Matt at MyDD will be reporting from inside the hall. You can find out alot from Matt, even what they have been eating and what goodies are being placed on the chairs.

Connecticut Blog will be streaming the Convention starting at 6:00 pm. (Pam we will be searching for you )

A new website was set up by Neal Fink called Convention Blog and they will be live blogging as well.

Third Party at the Lamont Blog will also be reporting through the night.

and finally Spaze Boy at La Resistance has some pictures up already.

May the force be with you NED!!

Today marks a milestone in science. British scientists announced analyzing the final sequence of DNA in the Human Genome Project. Paradoxically, of the twenty three pairs of chromosmes in the human body, the last one to be analyzed was Chromosome 1.

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Scientists have reached a landmark point in one of the world's most important scientific projects by sequencing the last chromosome in the Human Genome, the so-called "book of life".

Chromosome 1 contains nearly twice as many genes as the average chromosome and makes up eight percent of the human genetic code.

It is packed with 3,141 genes and linked to 350 illnesses including cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

"This achievement effectively closes the book on an important volume of the Human Genome Project," said Dr Simon Gregory who headed the sequencing project at the Sanger Institute in England.

The project was started in 1990 to identify the genes and DNA sequences that provide a blueprint for human beings.

And let's call it what it is: a triumph for publically funded scientific research. Several privately funded ventures set out to do the same thing, but they all were overwhelmed by the size and complexity of the project and came up short.

As I wrote in a post last July entitled, In Defense of Public Funding for Basic Research,

There are those who say that any research worth doing will appeal to private donors or for profit corporations, and so the government should not be in the research business.

Yet, when we think of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the past century-- the splitting of the atom, landing a man on the moon, the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, all of these were accomplished with the support of government, not of private industry.

That is not to say that private industry doesn't have a role to play in carrying out basic research. Once the private enterprises involved accepted the fact that publically financed institutions (in this case, a group of several government funded research institutions around the world acting in concert) were providing the heavy lifting for the project, a productive partnership developed. Unlike such projects as building an atomic bomb and landing a man on the moon, the immediate profitability of the genome project has generated a lot of support from private industry, primarily in the biomedical field. And that is good. But, as the article on the role of private industry points out:

Substantial public-sector R&D investment often was needed in feasibility demonstrations before such start-up ventures as those by Celera Genomics, Incyte, and Human Genome Sciences could begin. In turn, these companies furnished valuable commercial services that the government could not provide, and the taxes returned by their successes easily repay fundamental public investments.

This makes at least three points: 1) The initial investment before the project was raised to profitability was provided by government (in this case, primarily the British government); 2) private industry does have its place, just not as the driver of the program, and 3) in the long run, this is a win/win situation, and I suspect that over the long term the British and other governments will get a substantial return on their investment as the sales of pharmaceuticals and other technology or information that come from this project produce much in the way of tax revenue.

But the really best argument in favor of public funding, the argument that really hits the ball out of the park here, is that the genome, now completed, is free and accessible to anyone who wants to look at it. Suppose for a moment, that a private company had in fact carried out this project and sequenced the entire genome. Do you suppose they would simply open it up to free inspection, and tell potential competitors, 'Here?' They would have guarded it like Colonel Sanders guarded his secret recipe, and if they let any of it out at all, you can be sure that it would have only been in pieces, and at a hefty price. In the long run, research into applications would be limited only to that company, and to those who they chose to give the information to. And to compound matters, competitors, not willing to allow that situation to continue permanently, would have certainly begun their own DNA sequencing project. So, the same research would probably be done half a dozen, a dozen or even more times, resulting in a tremendous waste of academic resources. But now, none of them will have to do that, they can go to the public database of the project, and go get anything and everything they want either for free or for a nominal fee.

I respect the ability of private industry to conduct research into those areas that immediately benefit them, but for a project of this magnitude and scope, public financing is still the best avenue to take, and one which today celebrated an enormous achievement.

Cross posted at Deep Thought and Coalition for a Republican Free America.

This MSNBC photo has to be one of the dumbest I've ever seen. And, the reference to Ground Zero is simply another attempt to link everything to 9/11.

However, on the up side, it gives us a chance to come up with our own snarky captions.

Have at it!

P.S. WTF are they looking at?

Inflation Surges, Stock Markets Plunge

UPDATE for Thursday, May 18, 2006
The beating continued on Wall Street today, despite early indications that yesterday's pounding was the extent of it. Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost another 77.32 points, or 0.69 percent; the Standard & Poor's 500 shaved off an additional 8.51 points, or 0.67 percent; the NASDAQ composite index slipped a further 15.48 points, or 0.70 percent; and the New York Stock Exchange composite index, the biggest loser on Wednesday, surrendered yet another 51.20 points, or 0.62 percent. The losses today indicate, as noted below, that more than just unexpectedly bad inflation news is driving the markets down.

Off its 52-week high of 11670.19 earlier this month, the Dow has lost 4.64 percent; off its 52-week high of 1326.70, the Standard & Poor's 500 has lost 5.14 percent; off its 52-week high of 2375.54, the NASDAQ composite has lost 8.21 percent of its value; and off its 52-week high of 8651.74, the NYSE composite has lost 5.82 percent of its value.

◊ End of UPDATE for Thursday, May 18, 2006 ◊
Wednesday, May 17, 2006, was the worst day on Wall Street in recent memory. Market bulls, who had only recently stampeded the Dow to within 80 points of its all-time high, were taken to the slaughterhouse and turned into ground beef in a rout that began earlier in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip companies lost more than 214 points, shedding 1.88 percent of its value. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost almost 22 points, surrendering 1.68 percent of its value; and the NASDAQ Composite Index of thousands of smaller-cap companies fell 33.33 points, or 1.50 percent of its value. By far the biggest loser, however, was the composite index of the massive New York Stock Exchange, which dove over 188 points, representing a loss in value of 2.24 percent.

The spirals downward in major stock indices were attributed by mainstream financial news networks to the back-to-back reports of unexpectedly strong inflation at both the wholesale and retail levels. On Tuesday, May 16, the Bureau of Labor statistics reported that the producer price index, measuring price inflation in wholesale goods and services, rose in April by 0.9 percent, which translates into an annualized inflation rate of 11.4 percent. Excluding the food and energy sectors, the so-called "core" wholesale inflation rate for April was 0.1 percent, for an annualized rate of 1.2 percent. Wednesday, the Bureau released the April consumer price index data, which showed that price increases at the wholesale level were being passed to goods and services on the shelves at an aggressive pace. The consumer price index for April rose an unexpectedly sharp 0.6 percent, for an annualized rate of retail inflation of 7.44 percent. Excluding food and energy price increases, the "core" inflation rate at the consumer level came in at 0.3 percent, for an annualized rate of 3.7 percent.

The conventional wisdom is that market participants had been hoping for an end in the near future to the Federal Reserve Board's string of short-term interest rate hikes that goes all the way back to the Summer of 2004. Recent statements by both the Fed Chairman and by other Fed governors had been interpreted to this effect, and stock markets had reached near-record levels in recent weeks in the belief that the Fed would soon be taking pressure off interest rates because the fight against inflation had been successful and the economy could use a breather from higher and higher costs of borrowing. Such a move by the Fed would translate into stronger business growth and consumer spending in the months ahead. However, with the one-two punch of bad inflation numbers at both the wholesale and retail levels in April, the hopes of an end to Fed rate hikes were dashed: the central bank simply cannot shift its monetary policy in the foreseeable future. Clearly, inflationary pressures are still present and perhaps even more ominous than they have been in previous months, which means rising interest rates and the risk of a resulting economic slowdown will dog the economy at least into the Summer and quite possibly well beyond.

This week's stock market losses came on the heels of the financial news media breathlessly panting about "near-record" highs for the major market indices early last week. Unfortunately for investors lured by what appeared to be the good times rolling, long-simmering effects of disastrous U.S. economic policies are finally beginning to wash up on the happy beaches of securities and commodities markets around the world: staggering U.S. budget deficits coupled with debilitating, month-after-month, year after year trade deficits have left the American economy on the verge of significant difficulties, despite the constant stream of good economic news that pumps from the Bush Administration in its unrelenting effort to convince average Americans that the mounting economic problems they're experiencing in their own lives are entirely at odds with the great economic success everyone else is having.

Global currency markets aren't buying the hype anymore. The U.S. dollar has been dropping since late last year against major foreign currencies. Relative to the euro, the greenback has lost about eight percent since its intermediate high last November. Even against the yuan, the dollar is finally losing noticeable ground: for the first time in memory, the Mainland Chinese currency has strengthened to a level above eight to the dollar. The brutally efficient, mercantilist Chinese Communists—willing and able as they have been to prosecute a years-long policy of exchange rate manipulation against the dollar—can no longer hold back the tide of the collapsing greenback. The current sentiment that interest rates in the U.S. are on the rise will only temporarily halt the long-term decline in the value of the American dollar against other currencies.

Ultimately, unless dramatic action is soon taken to display to the world that the United States leadership has finally and resolutely come to grips with its fiduciary duties, and unless that leadership puts on clear and earnest display meaningful and perhaps even draconian measures to return policy to a responsible course with respect to taxes, budgets, and international relations, the status of America as the premier and most powerful economy on Earth will fade permanently into memories of a previous century, one in which a far better breed of stewards guided the republic.

Further analysis of the looming and dire situation currently facing the country will be forthcoming at The Dark Wraith Forums.


In the meantime, the Dark Wraith certainly wishes everyone a good and profitable investment experience in the days and years to come.

---

This article is cross-posted from The Dark Wraith Forums.

My Flower Child :-)

Let there be peace on earth
and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
the peace that was meant to be.
With God as our father
sisters all are we.
Let me walk with my sister
in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me
let this be the moment now.
With every step I take
let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment

and live each moment

with peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth,
and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
and let it begin with me.

Budget Scrapped Border Agents

Bush budget scraps 9,790 border patrol agents

President uses law's escape clause to drop funding for new homeland security force

- Michael Hedges, Houston Chronicle
February 9, 2005

Washington -- The law signed by President Bush less than two months ago to add thousands of border patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border has crashed into the reality of Bush's austere federal budget proposal, officials said Tuesday.

Officially approved by Bush on Dec. 17 after extensive bickering in Congress, the National Intelligence Reform Act included the requirement to add 10,000 border patrol agents in the five years beginning with 2006. Roughly 80 percent of the agents were to patrol the southern U.S. border from Texas to California, along which thousands of people cross into the United States illegally every year.

But Bush's proposed 2006 budget, revealed Monday, funds only 210 new border agents.

The shrunken increase reflects the lack of money for an army of border guards and the capacity to train them, officials said. [...]

The law signed by Bush had a caveat that went virtually unreported at the time. A summary, published by the Senate Government Affairs Committee, required the government to increase the number of border patrol agents by at least 2,000 per year, "subject to available appropriations." [...]

Ned Lamont goes on the Air!!

Circle your wagons, friends, the attack is on.

I figured out yesterday that there is an incredibly organized network among the 29% of Americans who remain loyal to W. Every single one of these people has a fresh bumper sticker on their SUV's. Although it's less than 3/10 of the vehicles on the road, their blatancy and newness looks like rather impressive, I must say. I saw "I'd rather go hunting with Cheney than go for a ride in Teddy's Oldsmobile", "I support my President and this war", "I support my President and I am a veteran", "Real men vote Republican", "Support the troops, support the GOP", "Democracy under attack by the Liberal Elite", etc.

Time to put our stickers out, friends. After all, there's 7 of us to 1 of them. Let's drown them out! Let the bumper sticker wars begin!!!

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea

A very interesting thing is occuring in countries since Bush declared war on Oil rich countries. Just yesterday it was decided by "The Decider" that no longer is Libya a terrorist state. For 18 years American oil companies were banned from operating in Libya until old Georgie lifted most restrictions on doing business in the country in 2004.

According to some estimates, Libya could double its daily production of 1.5 million barrels of oil a day within a decade with new American investment and new drilling technologies.

Assuming that Congress does not disapprove of Libya's removal from the State Department's terror list in the 45 days that are allowed for review, "the oil companies will send whatever they want to send for their operations," Lichtenbaum, an international lawyer with Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, said.

But of course Congress is going to approve the disappearance of terrorism in an oil rich country. So while everyone in the oil business and our fearmongering government is licking their chops to get their hands on oil, Ecuador stands up and delivers a bold blow.

Ecuador began on Tuesday to take over operations of U.S. oil giant Occidental Petroleum Corp, the latest move in Latin America against foreign energy producers after nationalization in Bolivia and growing state intervention in Venezuela.

Ecuador revoked Occidental's contract on Monday after accusing it of transferring part of an oil field without authorization.

That announcement did not sit well with the shares of Occidental as their prices fell by 2.35 percent on Tuesday.

Leopold vs. The Decider

I am going to go out on a limb here and state that I trust what Jason Leopold wrote on Saturday.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald spent more than half a day Friday at the offices of Patton Boggs, the law firm representing Karl Rove. During the course of that meeting, Fitzgerald served attorneys for former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove with an indictment charging the embattled White House official with perjury and lying to investigators related to his role in the CIA leak case, and instructed one of the attorneys to tell Rove that he has 24 business hours to get his affairs in order, high level sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said Saturday morning.

Truthout is an extremely reliable website and I don't believe Jason would publish this article if he had not checked the sources. I have been following what Talk Left has reported.

Jason says he spoke with Josh Gerstein of the New York Sun and Gerstein told him Corallo called both York and Gerstein, not the other way around. In other words, Corallo reached out to a few select reporters to debunk Jason's article. Corallo told Gerstein, as he told York, Jason's article reporting Rove has been indicted is a baseless lie. A New York Sun article today reports Carollo's comments to the paper.

Jason stood by his sources and as Jane at Firedoglake says:

That's FANTASTIC. That really turns this whole thing into a win-win. If Rove has already been indicted, we all celebrate. If not, we get to show that the blogosphere has higher standards than the MSM when Leopold outs his sources.

The fact is Bush, the Decider, has decided he is sending 6,000 National Guards to the border. He decided this was going to be aired on Prime Time and the MSM bowed to the President's order and failed to tell the country that Rove was indicted. This country is a definitely under the rule of a dictator. God Help Us.