tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119475722011-08-16T21:12:08.981-06:00A potentially extinguishable blog that ostensibly deals with politics (how obscure), occasionally with literature (how pretentious), and with film awkwardly (how mundane.)General Stannoreply@blogger.comBlogger11521100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1141421755238828842006-03-03T14:33:00.000-07:002006-03-03T14:35:55.320-07:00

Yes, that's right, The AntiCentenarian is on hiatus. Hopefully we'll come back with that thrilling commentary you've come to love. But until then...Read a book or something...

General Stannoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1140626480631815892006-02-22T09:34:00.000-07:002006-02-22T09:41:20.716-07:00

This morning in Iraq a group of Sunni militants attacked an ancient Shiite temple in Samara, causing masstive damage. Thousands of Shiites are protesting, and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has declared 3 days of mourning for the destruction caused to the beautiful, golden-domed structure, which containes tombs of two descendents of Muhammad.Things just got a whole hell of a lot worse in Iraq.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1140544746473003032006-02-21T10:58:00.000-07:002006-02-21T10:59:06.586-07:00

Extremely light blogging through the week- sorry! Work demands it!

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1140217424300513002006-02-17T15:59:00.000-07:002006-02-17T16:03:44.303-07:00

I love it. Harry Whittington, shot by Dick Cheney, actually apologized for Dick Cheney's inconvenience."We all assume certain risks in whatever we do," Whittington said. "Whatever activities we pursue and regardless of how experienced, careful and dedicated we are, accidents do and will happen." Whittington, wearing a suit and tie, appeared with several bruises on his face and neck. His discharge

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1140217045134340402006-02-17T15:35:00.000-07:002006-02-17T15:57:25.206-07:00

Donny had a busy day today. First up:US lags in propaganda war: Rumsfeld The United States lags dangerously behind al Qaeda and other enemies in getting out information in the digital media age and must update its old-fashioned methods, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday.Modernization is crucial to winning the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide who are bombarded with negative

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1140129573198291762006-02-16T15:27:00.000-07:002006-02-16T15:39:33.266-07:00

Iran continues to prove that it has learned its best tricks in terms of international politics, embattled divisive ideology, electoral politics, and domestic propaganda from the best of all masters: The American State.Here, while continuing to enrich their "preemptive" nuclear capabilities, they've also taken the high-road somewhere else, using the model of Washingtonian nonsense. Instead of

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1140128806381257812006-02-16T14:56:00.000-07:002006-02-16T15:26:46.443-07:00

In some tough timing that coincides with the relase of many new, gut-wrenching photos from Abu Ghraib torture, the UN is calling for Guantanamo to be closed, and detainees released or prosecuted immediately:"The United States government should close the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities without further delay," the human rights rapporteurs declared. Until that happened, the U.S. government

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1140126933072769962006-02-16T13:51:00.000-07:002006-02-16T14:55:33.700-07:00

Dick Cheney, fresh from telling the world his woe and sadness after shooting his friend, has had another demon to face of late: Scooter Libby says Papa Dick told him to leak a covert CIA operative's name in the wake of Joseph Wilson's scathing editorial denouncing the most compelling Administration evidence that Iraq wanted nuclear arms. Thus, Cheney begat the Plame Affair.Cheney's response to

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1140043922973294662006-02-15T15:46:00.000-07:002006-02-15T15:52:03.036-07:00

By the way... there's more to the illegal surveillance story - more spying programs, that is:WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights. Russell D. Tice told the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1140029704231189782006-02-15T11:42:00.000-07:002006-02-15T11:55:04.296-07:00

While shooting somebody in the face with a shotgun is not illegal if it's accidetal, during a hunting trip, and the other guy's fault, setting up a spy ring to bypass existant surveillance law in order to dodge any congressional, judicial, or popular review, still is illegal.And that's exactly why The Administration has done everything in their power to derail an official congressional

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139968033023778582006-02-14T18:39:00.000-07:002006-02-14T18:47:13.280-07:00

America and Turkey seem to be playing out some not-so-hidden hostilities with one another through the lenses of cameras:ISTANBUL -- In "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq," U.S. soldiers shoot small children at point-blank range, harvest kidneys from Iraqi prisoners for shipment to Tel Aviv, blow a Muslim cleric out of his minaret and, to top it all off, display utter contempt for Turkish foreign policy.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139955544085500512006-02-14T15:02:00.000-07:002006-02-14T15:32:01.520-07:00

Harry Whittington, who suffered a shotgun blast to the face, shoulder, and chest from Vice President Dick Cheney, was moved back into the ICU today. One of the lead shotgun pellets lodged next to his heart caused an irregular heartbeat, and, ultimately, a "minor" heart attack. That's the scary, personal news.Atrios points out the disregard on the right and in certain wings of the media for the

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139867734200241602006-02-13T14:19:00.000-07:002006-02-13T15:03:29.853-07:00

Bush Did Not Learn for Several Hours That Cheney Shot HunterThe incident occurred Saturday but was not made public for nearly 24 hours – and then by a private citizen. And looking back..."I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.""If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today -- and we do -- does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he grows even

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139865501736385772006-02-13T13:55:00.000-07:002006-02-13T14:18:21.896-07:00

On Saturday, Mr. Cheney shot a hunting friend in the face, a big Bush/Cheney friend and donor named Harry Whittington. [While "covering" the story for CNN, Chris Matthews called "Mr. Whitting... or whatever his name is." Nice and dismissive, Mr. Journalist, of the victim of a serious injury at the hands of the VP] Fortunately for everyone involved, Mr. Whittington is stable and doing well.Yet

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139780933866262172006-02-12T14:40:00.000-07:002006-02-12T14:48:53.936-07:00

Oh my:WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday.Harry Whittington, 78, was "alert and doing fine" after Cheney sprayed him with shotgun pellets on Saturday while the two were hunting at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong.Armstrong said Whittington

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139710909318037942006-02-11T19:15:00.000-07:002006-02-11T19:21:49.473-07:00

Anybody want to explain to me, how in the hell, exactly, you can tell people that you did NOT sign a bill which will sell off millions of acres of federal lands, such as forests, nature reserves, etc for private use when, in fact, not only did you sign the bill- not only did you ENDORSE the bill...but you CO SPONSORED IT. Somebody explain this one to me?Because that's exactly what Wyoming's

General Stannoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139621950128196262006-02-10T18:34:00.000-07:002006-02-10T18:39:10.130-07:00

Highly intelligent, influential, career worker in top-level position says that The Administration misused intelligence to promote a political agenda in order to invade Iraq.I'm sure you have heard it before. Because it's come up quite a bit.But add to the list former CIA counterterrorism specialist Paul Pillar. Pretty vital, and damning, reading.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139621376068583222006-02-10T18:24:00.000-07:002006-02-10T18:29:36.073-07:00

There's an interesting story in the WaPo about American professional basketball players who move through the European and Asian professional circuit after their careers in the NBA end. Some of them land in unexpected places- Iran and Syria:He shook his head, just inches from the ceiling in his bleak, two-bedroom apartment overlooking the Sadr Expressway, its traffic roaring through the gray of

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139621045319891552006-02-10T18:21:00.000-07:002006-02-10T18:24:05.383-07:00

At least some American Christian religious groups get it: Torture Is A Moral Issue: A Statement of the National Religious Campaign against Tortureby Chuck Currie Thu Feb 9th, 2006 at 12:39:04 PDT Dr. George Hunsinger from Princeton Theological Seminary sent me the following note a few days back: Please join in endorsing this statement of faith leaders Torture violates the basic dignity of

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139518830519218752006-02-09T13:52:00.000-07:002006-02-09T14:00:30.523-07:00

It is a day of lists. Bush released a really informative list of 10 major terror plots that he's been able to prevent, including a 2002 plot to attack LA. While those disrupted plans leave something to be missed in terms of informative detail, Bush recently released another list.In line with his new budget recommendations, Bush is requesting cuts to over 100 domestic programs that should be "

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139517580729646112006-02-09T13:34:00.000-07:002006-02-09T13:47:31.503-07:00

First Jack, then Scooter... What other big name Administration ideologues, sleazeballs, and incompetent insiders are turning heel on their beloved?Potentially, Mr. Michael Brown, disgraced "heck of a job" leader of FEMA, who boldly led the disaster managment forces of Homeland Security into new levels of worthlessness and betrayal:Brown's stance, in a letter obtained Wednesday by The Associated

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139513012718028022006-02-09T12:18:00.000-07:002006-02-09T12:23:32.723-07:00

Here's a hairy situation: What do you do to cull information about terrorism when so much of it is propagated or otherwise indicated digitally, on the internet?Well, you just datamine the entire internet, see. And the nice thing is, you don't have to worry about that whole question of domestic or international; or really any of the legal questions any more. Anybody wondering why, exactly, the

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139512670653450192006-02-09T12:09:00.000-07:002006-02-09T12:17:50.730-07:00

Quite an intriguing news day today. First up- Libby's squealing... kind of. And it's not pretty for the Veep:Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139434679868065992006-02-08T14:22:00.000-07:002006-02-08T14:37:59.930-07:00

This is interesting: a crack in the reasoning for The Administration's authorization of the NSA to illegally tap international calls:The question from both Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing Monday was: Why stop there? Why not intercept domestic calls, as well? "I don't understand why you would limit your eavesdropping only to foreign conversations,"

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139433703751546652006-02-08T14:13:00.000-07:002006-02-08T14:21:43.760-07:00

The new House Majority leader, taking over for Tom Delay with a mild agenda of ethics reforms, knows that in this housing market, it really makes just as much sense to rent rather than buy:Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who was elected House majority leader last week, is renting his Capitol Hill apartment from a veteran lobbyist whose clients have direct stakes in legislation Boehner has

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139432673855639792006-02-08T13:53:00.000-07:002006-02-08T14:12:24.233-07:00

Every now and again, a really valuable person gets nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Somebody with the dignity, reserve, and capability to enact really positive social change finally gets noticed with the simple nomination- demonstrating their even-headed personalities and good work to end major conflict around the world, peacefully.This year, however, we have the great moustachioed man, the [

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139431996157491382006-02-08T13:43:00.000-07:002006-02-08T13:53:16.246-07:00

Trivia Time!In response to Bush's SotU speech, where he stated [metaphorically, of course] that he would end America's addiction to oil by reducing our dependence on Mid East oil exports by 75% by 2025, who said this: "Realistically, it is simply not feasible in any time period relevant to our discussion today," and claimed that it is a "misperception" that the US could reach oil independence,

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139263768390804472006-02-06T14:58:00.000-07:002006-02-06T15:09:28.496-07:00

The President, at the State of the Union address, announced his plan to re structure America's health care system. Actually, he announced that he had a plan, but we thus far have heard virtually nothing about the plan itself.But any and all of us should be very concerned in light of The Administration's recent overhaul of Medicare. Why? Because so far, those who have benefitted from the

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139262577157129022006-02-06T14:48:00.000-07:002006-02-06T14:49:37.160-07:00

The NYT has a striking graphic map showing incidents in Iraq over the past 31 days. Check it out here.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139262351222005202006-02-06T14:39:00.000-07:002006-02-06T14:45:51.450-07:00

And guess what? The new House Majority Leader thinks that, in spite of tremendous corruption in Congress based around abuses by Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay and their calculated system of dirty business, despite the fact that now at least one GOP Representative has resigned and plead guilty to corruption charges from lobbiests, and Boehner's successor as Majority Leader put in place such a system

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139244104233063592006-02-06T09:37:00.000-07:002006-02-06T10:32:46.240-07:00

Watch the Gonzales testimony in front of Congress live on C-SPAN now. And yes, it's every bit as spinetingly thrilling as you'd imagine it to be!Check the liveblogging over at Aravios' place, Americablog, and over at Greenwald's place, Unclaimed Territory.Since I've been watching, Sen. Biden has just said [filtered, of course, through the AntiC] that if Gonzales is unable to provide testimony

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139174793360083542006-02-05T14:19:00.000-07:002006-02-05T14:26:33.423-07:00

We here at the AntiC are huge Werner Herzog fans - both his work as a filmmaker and his work as One Of The Most Intriguing People... EVER. Just thought I'd get that out in the open. And he's a minor spectre in two very intriguing stories in the news, so we have to give a mention.He, of course, was the ghostly figure that came upon Jaoquin Pheonix' upturned car the other night, saving the Johnny

General Stannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139173219668043212006-02-05T13:52:00.000-07:002006-02-05T14:00:19.670-07:00

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will emphasize domestic-spending austerity when he unveils a $2.7 trillion budget on Monday that aims to counter a spendthrift image and rally Republicans in an election year. The budget for fiscal 2007, which begins October 1, is expected to propose cuts in an array of discretionary programs and $36 billion in cost savings over five years from

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139172707532963842006-02-05T13:42:00.000-07:002006-02-05T13:51:47.686-07:00

The AntiC is somewhat late to this story, but it's important enough to hit.A week after a leading NASA climatologist exposed the fact that The Administration has been directing science initiative within NASA to fit the Bush ideology.What's particularly frightening about this effort is the simple lack of any kind of respect for the highly-capable scientists at NASA. They have been told for the

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1139170511714735182006-02-05T13:12:00.000-07:002006-02-05T13:24:29.556-07:00

Tomorrow, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [of the "torture memos" fame] will testify in front of a congressional committee that The Administration's super double secret NSA phone tapping surveillance program is legal, meaningful, precision targetted, and vital in the war on terror.This will be the big moment in a recent publicity blitz by Administration big wigs in support of the program,

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138914627932721222006-02-02T14:06:00.000-07:002006-02-02T14:10:27.936-07:00

Bush wanted to paint a US spyplane in UN colors, fly it over Iraq, and have the Iraqis shoot it down.This would have given him enough reason to invade. Because, you see, they knew the WMD evidence wasn't complete. They knew that Saddam's heinous past wasn't compelling enough to invade, destroy, and occupy a nation.No. I'm serious:President Bush said that: "The US would put its full weight behind

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138913884597723402006-02-02T13:53:00.000-07:002006-02-02T13:58:04.696-07:00

Think Progress has compiled a brilliant list of some of the Other Things Bush Has Said That You Shouldn't Take Literally:Yesterday, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman admitted that when President Bush said that he had a plan to cut America’s dependence on Middle East oil by 75 percent, he didn’t really mean it: One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America’s dependence on Middle East oil by

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138907176009398242006-02-02T11:59:00.000-07:002006-02-02T12:08:56.123-07:00

Kos points out what can only be a very bad, if illuminating, omen:Is this funny or scary?"House Republicans are taking a mulligan on the first ballot for Majority Leader. The first count showed more votes cast than Republicans present at the Conference meeting."Excuse me? Kos likens the Republican vote for House leadership to the management of Florida's election, 2000.I, however, believe it is

General Stannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138860800010121382006-02-01T22:55:00.000-07:002006-02-01T23:21:35.543-07:00

Apart from the HSA announcement at the SotU speech last night, The President dropped another bombshell [and no, I'm not talking about his strange apparent fear of Humanzees, Manimals and Humicorns] on the Union last night:He will singlehandedly reduce America's Addiction to Foriegn Oil, replacing 75% of our imports by the year 2025 with alternative energy supplies!Holy shmoly, did we just hear

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138837098366147292006-02-01T16:32:00.000-07:002006-02-01T16:38:18.370-07:00

[via Atrios]Talking Points Memo uncovers some exceedingly worrisome tidbits tucked away in a paragraph's report about the ongoing CIA leak investigation:But down there in the last graf there's this ... Fitzgerald, who is fighting Libby's request, said in a letter to Libby's lawyers that many e-mails from Cheney's office at the time of the Plame leak in 2003 have been deleted contrary to White

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138836474598834162006-02-01T15:49:00.000-07:002006-02-01T16:27:55.393-07:00

Last year, oh, around this time, The Administration tried to distract America from the the crisis in Iraq- the deterioration of the occupation over 2004 - by proposing a bold new initiative to the people: Social Security Reform. The President's plan: privitize with personal social security accounts!The President then went on a barnstorm tour to sell America on his bold new plan- but this did not

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138684295886399502006-01-30T22:02:00.000-07:002006-01-30T22:11:35.973-07:00

Avant Garde video sculptor Nam Jun Paik has passed on.Thanks for stretching the medium video and electronics beyond what many dreamed possible- into introspection and beauty.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138672303084998382006-01-30T18:45:00.000-07:002006-01-30T18:51:43.513-07:00

While the Oil Industry has benefited with record profits due to limiting supplies and expanding prices across the board under The Administration, the State hasn't quite had the same luck. The Bush Administration's annual budget has grown over the past 5 years to record expenditures, and with his record tax cuts ["make them permanent!" they cry], the State has been borrowing record, and harrowing,

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138663342588417702006-01-30T16:19:00.000-07:002006-01-30T16:22:22.590-07:00

$1073 every second.That's how much money in profits Exxon Mobile made last year. The highest profit level in corporate history.I'm glad that the Peak Oil crisis is good for some.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138663142080644782006-01-30T16:03:00.000-07:002006-01-30T16:19:02.173-07:00

A friend sent me this news story about the difference between "wet" and "dry" earwax. No big deal, right? Some quirky, bizarre story about a strange bodily function few of us ever think about.Then, via Tbogg, I see this: Incredibly, the reprehensible Debbie Schlussel had decided to use this story as "evidence" supporting her racist anti-native agenda:Stolen Land?: Earwax, B.O. More Proof "Native"

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138559046314197042006-01-29T11:14:00.000-07:002006-01-29T11:24:06.316-07:00

[The first of two interesting news items from today, both which exhibit the Law of Unintended Consequences.]Guess who is absolutely pleased that the US has gotten stuck in a thusfar unsuccessful occupation of their neighbor state Iraq? Guess who feels both threatened by the invasions of two major neighborstates, Iraq and Afganistan, but benefits from America's inability to succeed on either front

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138558462091608362006-01-29T11:03:00.000-07:002006-01-29T11:14:22.286-07:00

The second of two interesting news items from today, both which exhibit the Law of Unintended Consequences.Border Patrol.What happens in America when rogue groups pressure government into a full-thrust of somewhat disorganized border patrols on our souther border? What happens when they work to close the border, with fence posts and drunken vigilantes, in order to lock illegals out, without

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138557209964991482006-01-29T10:41:00.000-07:002006-01-29T10:53:30.036-07:00

Although, I'm not talking about flying cars and pyramid hats.I'm talking about Peak Oil. With one comprehensive study, we have travelled forward in time- we now live approximately in August of 2007, in Peak Oil time- accellerating toward that moment where our oil reserves and oil consumption rates peak- and prices skyrocket, and economies halt, and blahblahblah...Word just came out that Kuwait,

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138556209759134792006-01-29T10:30:00.000-07:002006-01-29T10:41:03.573-07:00

Common Dreams.org has released their annual list of Project Censored's most censored, blocked, and underreported news stories of 2005.Number 1:1. White House Erodes Open Government While the White House has expanded its ability to keep tabs on civilians, it's been working to curtail the ability of the public—and even Congress—to find out what the government is doing. One year ago, Rep. Henry A.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138488018319559742006-01-28T15:35:00.000-07:002006-01-28T15:40:18.323-07:00

The US Army likes The Administration's rhetoric of winning the hearts and minds of the population of the states that they occupy. But it just doesn't seem to be working. And for every heart and mind they think they've won, another insurgent rises.So they've got a new tactic. You'll like this one. When they can't win the hearts and minds of the insurgency, they take their family members instead:

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138487697647016792006-01-28T15:24:00.000-07:002006-01-28T15:34:57.653-07:00

Paul Weyrich, arch-conservative voice coming out of the Free Congress Foundation, has some things to say about the results of the recent election in Canada:"The people of Canada have become so liberal and hedonistic that the public ethic in the country immediately could not be reversed," Weyrich says in an email analysis to allies. "It will take time. But with leadership it well may be possible

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138486882658840802006-01-28T14:57:00.000-07:002006-01-28T15:21:22.736-07:00

Guess how this story ends up:A strong Category 3 hurricane strikes the below-sea-level city of New Orleans; the levees break, designed by the US Army Corps of Engineers to withstand a Cat 3 storm, the levees show signs of poor construction. Thousands are killed, but millions upon millions are heartbroken by the deep racism and neglect which the storm uncovers.The president, who had previously

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138309977712683272006-01-26T14:09:00.000-07:002006-01-26T14:12:57.950-07:00

CNN's Breaking News banner says that John Kerry is calling for a fillibuster of Alito. Internally, the Democrats are divided on this- and at least two Dems have stated their intention to vote Yes to Alito.Could Get Nasty. But kudos to Kerry- keep the pressure on.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138307610600760682006-01-26T13:29:00.000-07:002006-01-26T13:33:30.860-07:00

The President denies that any photos taken that feature him and Jack Abramoff [who raised over $100,000 in campaign funds, making him a Bushy "Pioneer"], are to be discounted because he "doesn't really know him" and that "it's part of the job" to take lots of pictures with people you don't know.So why is The White House so adamant about scrubbing official GOP photographs taken with Bush and

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138254901444907242006-01-25T22:47:00.000-07:002006-01-25T22:55:01.503-07:00

Aravois' thoughts on that fascinating story blogger Glenn Greenwald broke yesterday:The Bush Administration opposed legislation that would have given them the very power they now claim they needed, power they now claim they didn't have under FISA. It's because they didn't have this power, they now claim, that they had to break the law and spy without a warrant. But this law would have given them

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138234795201732542006-01-25T17:05:00.000-07:002006-01-25T17:19:55.270-07:00

If there's one thing The Administration loves to do in the aftermath of great tragedy and political malfeasance, it's stonewalling the investigation. The latest- the Senate investigation into the dismal efforts of the federal government in the aftermath of Katrina:The White House is crippling a Senate inquiry into the government's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina by barring administration

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138209589242318832006-01-25T10:09:00.000-07:002006-01-25T10:19:49.306-07:00

Today's Fortune is:Put to the test daily by the present political leadership.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138142538086115142006-01-24T15:24:00.000-07:002006-01-24T15:42:18.270-07:00

Here's a good one: Alberto Gonzales says that criticism against The Administration's illegal NSA spying is "misleading:"Gonzales cautioned his listeners about critics and journalists who have mischaracterized details about the program. "Unfortunately, they have caused concern over the potential breadth of what the President has actually authorized," he said. The attorney general's appearance at

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138141227336545922006-01-24T15:12:00.000-07:002006-01-24T15:22:42.776-07:00

The lesson plan is simple. First- identify your target based on past history. Fabricate reasons for hatred; stew with deep fear and anxiety among your populace from recent horrible attacks. Maintain fear and anxiety at all times among your populace.Invade.Now- here's where it gets really good.Neglect to make any plans for your post-invasion strategy. Hire a bunch of your pals- cronies, if you

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138120012189021752006-01-24T08:58:00.000-07:002006-01-24T09:26:52.273-07:00

The Administration pulls out one of their handful of effective but sleazy political tricks in defense of their domestic spying program: Congress knew about it.You may remember this particular defense from, oh, only a few months ago, when The Administration tried to pin the failure of the Iraq war on the decision making process of Congress, claiming that Congress had access to all the information

General Stannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1138118326668503032006-01-24T08:45:00.000-07:002006-01-24T08:58:46.733-07:00

Overseas, the investigation into the secret CIA flights through Europe to secret prisons in the Eastern Bloc and across the globe deepens. And nobody's coming out looking good in this one:EUROPEAN governments knew that so-called CIA "torture flights", some of which landed in Edinburgh, were taking place, investigators said today. The head of a European investigation into the transportation of

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137768291777973592006-01-20T07:22:00.000-07:002006-01-24T07:12:13.720-07:00

[Whoops... bad typo in the title...]In several states, some version David Horowitz' misnamed "acedemic bill of rights" legislation is getting a considerable hearing. This legislation's stated goal is to end any rights infringement by "activist professors" against their students for political reasons. But in states like Colorado, where Gov. Owens tried in 2003 to push through a literal quota to

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137736208300604632006-01-19T22:19:00.000-07:002006-01-19T22:50:08.393-07:00

Updating/appending/commenting on this earlier post on the recent Bin Laden Tape.In that post, I show some [lots of] skepticism as to the authenticity of the tape. Frankly, I still am skeptical. The fact that the CIA and other US officials have verified that they believe the voice on the tape belongs to OBL himself only does so much to alleviate my concerns... if it does anything at all.But I

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137619783433530592006-01-19T18:09:00.000-07:002006-01-19T18:13:04.923-07:00

Another Brokeback post. There's a reason for all these Brokeback posts- but the primary reason is that I loved the film.To recap: before The General had seen the film, we said this:And it is a self-contained non-debate- not one person in this article says that the film was ever considered, or in its current form, deserving, of an NC-17 rating. Yet the supposition that it somehow culturally

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137703756112550862006-01-19T13:26:00.000-07:002006-01-19T22:51:29.323-07:00

Osama Bin Laden says he's gonna get us. But if we're nice, then he pinkie swears that he'll be nice too:Al-Qaida is making preparations to attack the United States again but offering a truce “with fair conditions,” the terrorist group's leader, Osama bin Laden, purportedly says in an audiotape aired Thursday by Arab news network Al-Jazeera.The tape’s release came days after a U.S. airstrike in

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137701240113497552006-01-19T12:56:00.000-07:002006-01-19T13:07:20.236-07:00

And in Other News:The highly regarded and admirable Human Rights Watch has released its 2006 assessment, including some valuable information which should be obvious, but apparently isn't, about the net-result from US santioned torture of detainees: that torturing the enemy inflames them and does more to raise awareness for terrorist recruiters than to deter new recruits. In other words- when we

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137627975954020132006-01-18T16:29:00.000-07:002006-01-18T17:31:01.240-07:00

KANAB - After unanimously endorsing a conservative think tank's resolution supporting the "natural family," Kanab's City Council is coming under fire - naturally. Gay-rights advocates and even some residents are scolding city leaders for embracing a nonbinding proposal that: l Labels marriage between a man and a woman as "ordained of God." l Sees homes as "open to a full quiver of children."l

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137619813743211022006-01-18T14:29:00.000-07:002006-01-18T16:23:39.353-07:00

The Christian Science Monitor, despite the ongoing, terrible drama of kidnapped CSM freelance journalist Jill Carroll in Iraq [ and the negotations surrounding her fate- don't they know that this kind of death threat doesn't help their cause or their case? The AntiC's heart goes out to Ms. Carroll and her family], continues to put out compelling cultural analysis uncovered by other large media

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137606577743646052006-01-18T09:46:00.000-07:002006-01-18T14:45:12.730-07:00

In the scortched footprints left in the sand by the Abramoff scandal, a real reformist agenda has yet to emerge from Democrat leaders, and Republicans/conservative interests are quick to fill that hole... Sort of. All three Republicans vying for the leadership of the Senate have placed reform as their primary talking point, as seen with appropriate irony on The Daily Show last night, considering

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137516875673640042006-01-17T09:45:00.000-07:002006-01-17T09:54:35.680-07:00

Atrios finds the story behind the story of The Administration's domestic spying program:And Here It Is How many times has Bush told us that this was a limited program only for people who got phone calls from the Al Qaeda address book?WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 - In the anxious months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the National Security Agency began sending a steady stream of telephone numbers, e-mail

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137516269582301542006-01-17T09:02:00.000-07:002006-01-17T09:44:30.183-07:00

I'm about a week late to this story, but I want to add something. Michelle Malkin, always reliable muse of leftist bloggers everywhere, was quick to judge the recent bomb found in a Seattle Starbucks as an act of leftist anti-corporate terrorism. Fortunately, the brave men of Seattle do what they do best, protecting Americans, by successfully disarming the explosive device... er... old rusted

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137447830605985852006-01-16T14:26:00.000-07:002006-01-16T14:43:50.690-07:00

Al Gore has, once again [too late, of course] unleashed the famed Gore Fury upon the Bush administration on a well-timed MLK Day speech. [yes, that's a link to the Drudge Report for the transcript. Deal with it.]In spite of our differences over ideology and politics, we are in strong agreement that the American values we hold most dear have been placed at serious risk by the unprecedented claims

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137267921953168522006-01-14T12:33:00.000-07:002006-01-14T12:45:22.070-07:00

Atrios pins "the war march" down. His seasonal breakdown- copied in full:How It Goes Winter/Spring - The clone army of foreign policy "experts" from conservative foreign policy outfits nobody ever heard of before suddenly appear on all the cable news programs all the time, frowning furiously and expressing concerns about the "grave threat" that Iran poses. Never before heard of Iranian exile

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137253430013948002006-01-14T08:35:00.000-07:002006-01-14T08:43:50.160-07:00

In a shocking turn of events, Ayman al-Zawahiri body likely was not among the 17 killed in last night's strike of a suspected hideout. Pakistan responded to the US Embassy with frustration that the US violated their airspace and disrupted the ongoing investigations of Al Qaeda leadership and operatives following the attack of a potential hideout of Al Qaeda number 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri. Said

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137204480839154292006-01-13T19:01:00.000-07:002006-01-13T19:08:00.843-07:00

The second in command of all of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri may have been killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan.After all:The building where Ayman al-Zawahiri was thought to be is in Damadola, a small village near the Afghan border.It is believed that a building he might or might not have been in was possibly struck by an alleged US airstrike in a town [or village] that may or may not have been

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137204001807884602006-01-13T18:36:00.000-07:002006-01-13T19:00:01.870-07:00

When Bush signed the bill that created the Department of Homeland Security, it triggered the largest, most expensive federal reorganization in US history. It also gave him many opportunities to replace the heads of each department, like FEMA and the FDA, with cronies. Cronyism, as we all know, is a trait Mr. Bush holds close to his heart. Unfortunately, in the case of the established,

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137202545061232792006-01-13T18:11:00.000-07:002006-01-13T18:35:45.143-07:00

Bush and more-friendly new German Chancellor Angela Merkel today discussed the likelihood of taking Iran to the UN Security Council. Iran has stated that this move will push them to refusing UN nuclear investigators into their borders, ending international nuclear cooperation with them, but the EU and most western states find Iran's efforts to revitalization their nuclear programs so compellingly

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137200907277532222006-01-13T17:56:00.000-07:002006-01-13T18:10:05.073-07:00

The First Post e-mag resurrects a truly bizarre and mischievous image of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld entertaining a Geisha upon one of his visits to Tokyo in the seventies.Rumsfeld Then:Rumsfeld Then... later:Rumsfeld... Now??

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137040229607469222006-01-12T17:19:00.000-07:002006-01-12T16:23:25.050-07:00

Okay. The Alito Hearings.Go find coverage somewhere else- I really can't offer anything worthwhile to the Alito hearings- follow Armando's coverage at dkos, or any number of other great blogs. Do I think that he'll be confirmed? Judging from the pathetic treatment by Democrats, yes- there's certainly not enough good resistence to prevent him that I can see.But this was too juicy to resist:

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137110748881154252006-01-12T16:54:00.000-07:002006-01-12T17:05:49.076-07:00

There's one more thing enjoyable that we smirking anti-DeLay folk can enjoy in the wake of his monumental fall from grace. It has to do with one of the most incredible political schemes that is still misunderstood: DeLay's unending efforts to illegally redistrict Texas, handing an amazing 6 House seats to Republicans last year.In this insane effort, the Texas Democrats, stonewalled from having

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137039256161784202006-01-11T21:11:00.000-07:002006-01-11T21:14:16.166-07:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Indictments, investigations, a resignation -- and now a top lobbyist has struck a deal to tell his presumably sordid tale to prosecutors. It's enough to rattle the handcuffs of even a convicted official. The past year was a tough one for ethics in Congress, and the coming year may be worse. So why is the House ethics committee so steadfastly silent? Blame it on a deal made in

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137039084318193402006-01-11T21:09:00.000-07:002006-01-11T23:26:24.560-07:00

"Dr." Pat Robertson- look. Just shut up. It will be good for you. You sound insane.And now Isreal has disowned you; and you've made your cause look just a little bit more maniacal:Tourism Minister Abraham Hirchson said he gave instructions to "stop all contact" with groups associated with Robertson. Last week, Robertson implied Sharon's massive stroke was a blow for "dividing God's land" with the

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1137038942320825392006-01-11T20:57:00.000-07:002006-01-11T21:09:02.430-07:00

Tony Blair has threatened to take Iran to the UN for reconstituting it's nuclear program:UK Prime Minister Tony Blair says Iran's decision to resume its nuclear activities is likely to result in a referral to the UN Security Council. Speaking in parliament, Mr Blair said European ministers meeting in Berlin on Thursday would decide how to proceed. A US state department spokesman also said it was

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136936108074890962006-01-10T16:23:00.000-07:002006-01-10T16:35:08.153-07:00

Ah yes. Always so fun to hear this ridiculous line of thinking from our Fearless:WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 - President Bush issued an unusually stark warning to Democrats today about how to conduct the debate on Iraq as midterm elections approach, declaring that Americans know the difference "between honest critics" and those "who claim that we acted in Iraq because of oil, or because of Israel, or

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136858796433054492006-01-09T18:41:00.000-07:002006-01-09T19:06:36.583-07:00

The timing, as usual, is suspicious: the field office in Iraq of a very recent winner of the foreign press award is raided by US troops; his tapes seized and possibly destroyed; he is incarcerated, interviewed, and released. Only days before, Dr. Ali Fadhil and his producer Callum Macrae at the Guardian announced to the US that they were filming a story about millions of dollars that the US has

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136851022397947592006-01-09T16:45:00.000-07:002006-01-09T16:57:02.473-07:00

[Via Kos]The President has upheld a surprising statistic in Presidential history: he has never vetoed a law. When McCain's anti-torture amendments began to kick up steam, Cheney attempted to strongarm friendlies into accepting their torture exceptions, while Bush vowed to pull out the veto stamp- which would be a first. Finding this political situation untenable in the face of a 90-9 vote

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136654494420941442006-01-07T10:05:00.000-07:002006-01-07T10:21:34.543-07:00

Truthiness (trōōth•ē•ness)- adj. 1. the quality of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the facts; n. 2. The Colbert Report's award-winning, high impact satirical meme that just won the dubious honor of "Word of the Year." Congrats, Stephen!

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136653406655022812006-01-07T09:51:00.000-07:002006-01-07T10:03:26.793-07:00

All of that talk about the shortages in the Army leaving soliders without appropriate armor- soldiers having to pick scrap metal out of trash heaps to weld to their trucks as armor- soldiers ordering body armor online and having it shipped over seas to Iraq because the Army wouldn't provide it to them...All of that we knew to be true, and didn't want to believe. Could our own armed services be so

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136585923448375002006-01-06T15:12:00.000-07:002006-01-06T15:18:43.510-07:00

Here's a very interesting development in the Jack Abramoff case- Duke Cunningham, who resigned his position in one of California's House districts after he came clean with his $2.4 million bribes from Abramoff[and who single-handedly shortened Stephen Colbert's "Know Your Districts" series from a 435 part series to a 434 parter, out of Colbert's disgust for Cunningham's behavior], apparently wore

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136584580962113942006-01-06T14:52:00.000-07:002006-01-06T14:56:20.963-07:00

House Republicans are scurrying to snag a mass of 50 Republicans Reps to sign a petition which would force a vote to determine new leadership of the House. Following closely from Jack Abramoff's plea deal, it seems that Republicans are scrambling to shove some much needed distance between the dirty lobbyist and themselves- starting with combatative former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has vowed

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136584298922003912006-01-06T14:47:00.000-07:002006-01-06T14:51:39.000-07:00

The executive branch shall construe Title X in Division A of the Act, relating to detainees, in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power, which will assist in achieving the shared objective of the Congress and the President,

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136575154920016962006-01-06T11:54:00.000-07:002006-01-06T12:19:15.000-07:00

The Administration's systematic efforts to render every other branch of government as subservient to the Executive branch seems to be the most damaging aspect of the Bush Presidency. The goal is to consolidate what Bush and Cheney's cronies see as the presidential powers other administrations have forfeited in the past. So, controversially, the President can reserve the right to obey or disobey

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1136175829075167612006-01-05T13:23:00.000-07:002006-01-06T14:30:20.916-07:00

Back from the long vacation.Where to begin? So much has happened here in the past 2 weeks, it's incredible. Jack Abramoff the turncoat threatens even more Republicans in high places [Yes, Democrats too]. The President has decided to further reinforce his "mandate" to reclaim supposed Presidential powers by using his powers of recess appointment to ram more corrupt, inept, ridiculous BushCo.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1135471404440737122005-12-24T17:32:00.000-07:002005-12-24T17:55:14.763-07:00

Merry Christmas, eh! Nothing more cherry than old Donald Rumsfeld barking lies on CNN while waiting for our delayed flight telling us everything in Iraq is aokay. It's a Christmas Miracle![posting intermittent! Why politicize the holiday? Just have a happy time.]

General Stannoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1135313862626599102005-12-22T21:46:00.000-07:002005-12-22T22:11:01.136-07:00

Ah yes, Ahmed Chalabi.International banking criminal and Iraqi dissident whose "intelligence gathering" operation was paid $30 million a year for the past ten years or so, in order to both stoke the flames of a neocon-driven Invasion of Iraq, and position himself as its democratic reformist savior turned US pariah, finds himself in yet another confusing postition. Not only did his paltry attempt

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1135292417492809352005-12-22T15:56:00.000-07:002005-12-22T16:00:34.363-07:00

...seems to be one we're losing. That whole Coalition of the Willing thing continues to crumble.

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1135291097977420472005-12-22T15:23:00.000-07:002005-12-22T15:38:18.046-07:00

Michelle Goldberg over at Salon [click for the "free day pass"] works around the likelihoods in the discussions about Bush's culpability for illegally authorizing wiretaps of Americans; and the the tenuous usage of the "I" word... Impeachment [all emphasis in the following quotes are mine]-Indeed, speaking on the Diane Rehm show on public radio, Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the conservative

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1135219571244767552005-12-21T19:35:00.000-07:002005-12-21T19:46:11.416-07:00

Dick Cheney, the highest official voyeur in current American politics, says that American's are cool with the government spying on American citizens and the FBI monitoring vegans and Catholics. Dick says that American's support it.No...Dick says that they like it. [Other notable figures in history who have said that they "liked" it or "asked" for it: The Rapist]

General Stannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1135186501234844442005-12-21T10:27:00.000-07:002005-12-21T17:58:59.013-07:00

[Behold! an actual "Movie post!" - And likely SPOILERS.]As our friend Lons over at Crushed By Inertia has said, when you call a film by it's shortened title, you infer alot about your relationship to it.Don't get me wrong...She's never come out and said anything. We just talk about movies. But she just always asks me about whatever gay-themed film we've gotten in that week, as if I'll have seen

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11947572.post-1135184343301289122005-12-21T09:56:00.000-07:002005-12-21T10:15:42.253-07:00

Not everybody thinks these tactics are reasonable.Today, a powerful, secret judge has resigned in direct protest to the President's assertion that he has ulitmate power [and his Attorney General's basic agreement to that despite what happens to the PATRIOT ACT and congressional or judicial power checks]. The powerful federal judge, U.S. District Judge James Robertson, sits among a council of 11

General Stannoreply@blogger.com0