tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-93966072024-03-23T13:16:01.921-05:00Kyogen: Wild Speech!Kyogen is a short, usually comedic, thought-provoking play from Japanese history. It kept people awake and interested during long, boring Noh Theatre.
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Can we keep you awake?Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-63074633956016651402007-04-17T22:33:00.001-05:002007-04-17T22:33:38.303-05:00Henry Rollins in Israel... Ember of Rage<object width='448' height='336'><param name='movie' value='http://www.glumbert.com/embed/emberofrage'></param><param name='wmode' value='transparent'></param><embed src='http://www.glumbert.com/embed/emberofrage' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='transparent' width='448' height='336'></embed></object><div><a href='http://www.glumbert.com/media/emberofrage'>glumbert.com - Henry Rollins' Ember of Rage</a></div>Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-33807569625777824162007-04-10T18:52:00.000-05:002007-04-10T18:54:36.931-05:00A brilliant article... "Iraq: Why the media failed"It's no secret that the period of time between 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq represents one of the greatest collapses in the history of the American media. Every branch of the media failed, from daily newspapers, magazines and Web sites to television networks, cable channels and radio. I'm not going to go into chapter and verse about the media's specific failures, its credulousness about aluminum tubes and mushroom clouds and failure to make clear that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11 -- they're too well known to repeat. In any case, the real failing was not in any one area; it was across the board. Bush administration lies and distortions went unchallenged, or were actively promoted. Fundamental and problematic assumptions about terrorism and the "war on terror" were rarely debated or even discussed. Vital historical context was almost never provided. And it wasn't just a failure of analysis. With some honorable exceptions, good old-fashioned reporting was also absent.<br /><br />Full and excellent article here: <a href="http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/04/10/media_failure/" target="new" rel="nofollow">http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/04/10/media_failure</A><br /><br />Enjoy. and spread the word. 8-)Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-83707132039966202982007-02-05T10:45:00.000-06:002007-02-05T10:50:03.858-06:00Flaws found in firefighters' last line of defense<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16890732/">U.S. waited 5 years to heed expert's warning on ‘man down’ alarms</a></span><br /><br />Worn by a million firefighters in the U.S., the PASS device is a motion sensor that makes an awful racket if a firefighter stops moving for 30 seconds while battling a blaze. It flashes its lights and lets loose a series of ear-splitting beeps — an urgent call to help a fallen comrade.<br /><br />It’s a call that hasn't always been heard. Tests by federal and independent labs show that some PASS alarms can fail to perform as intended if they get too hot or wet — a serious problem for people who rush into burning buildings with water hoses. And federal investigative reports reviewed by MSNBC.com show that 15 firefighters have died since 1998 in fires where a PASS, or Personal Alert Safety System, either didn't sound or was so quiet that rescuers weren't given a chance to find the firefighter quickly.<br /><br />Documents made public under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that nine of those deaths came after the federal government blocked an investigation by its own expert into possible failures of PASS alarms and other firefighting equipment. A manager for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal agency that is charged by Congress with investigating firefighter deaths, ordered an agency fire safety engineer on Feb. 14, 2000, to "minimize your fact gathering during investigations" and to restrict his investigations to issues relevant "for the prevention of future similar events."<br />...<br />For Rob Morrison's widow, who comes from a firefighting family in St. Louis, the lack of accountability is baffling.<br /><br />"I just couldn't figure that out," Laura Morrison said, "when firemen are giving their lives everyday to help the community and save people — and companies knew about this and never told anybody what the problem was, and let them, still today, go into a burning building not knowing if their PASS device is going to work or not."<br /><br />---<br />This is just crazy and unacceptable! Call or email your <a href="http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm">Senator </a>or <a href="http://www.house.gov/">Representative </a>now, and urge an investigation on this issue!Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-90133706226570414902007-01-21T15:52:00.000-06:002007-01-21T15:54:49.510-06:00Democrats: Buying Mideast oil gives cash to dictators• Governor: Without energy independence, U.S. will fight wars in Mideast <br />• Montana's Gov. Schweitzer against embedding troops in Iraqi army <br />• Schweitzer: Energy independence would mean hundreds of thousands of jobs<br />• With it, "You'll never have to send children .. to war in the Middle East again"<br /><br />HELENA, Montana (AP) -- <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/20/Dems.radio.ap/index.html" target="new" rel="nofollow">Montana's Democratic governor says President Bush is wrong on Iraq and has failed to recognize the importance of energy independence.</A><br /><br />Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who learned Arabic while building irrigation projects in the Middle East for six years, said political solutions are needed in the region.<br /><br />"Mr. President, there are animosities between Sunni and Shiite people in the Middle East that have developed over centuries," Schweitzer said Saturday in the Democrats' weekly radio address. "Outsiders cannot resolve this conflict unless the Iraqi people want security and freedom at least as much as us."<br /><br />---<br />A great position... More of the Democratic leadership should use this messaging.Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-31398129002664357702007-01-15T11:02:00.000-06:002007-01-15T11:06:15.672-06:00Bush's legacy: The president who cried wolfBush's strategy fails because it depends on his credibility<br /><br />By Keith Olbermann<br />Anchor, 'Countdown'<br />MSNBC<br /><br /> <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16583889/" target="new" rel="nofollow">Only this president, only in this time, only with this dangerous, even messianic certitude, could answer a country demanding an exit strategy from Iraq, by offering an entrance strategy for Iran.</A><br /><br />Only this president could look out over a vista of 3,008 dead and 22,834 wounded in Iraq, and finally say, “Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me” — only to follow that by proposing to repeat the identical mistake ... in Iran.<br /><br />Only this president could extol the “thoughtful recommendations of the Iraq Study Group,” and then take its most far-sighted recommendation — “engage Syria and Iran” — and transform it into “threaten Syria and Iran” — when al-Qaida would like nothing better than for us to threaten Syria, and when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would like nothing better than to be threatened by us.<br /><br />This is diplomacy by skimming; it is internationalism by drawing pictures of Superman in the margins of the text books; it is a presidency of Cliff Notes.<br /><br />And to Iran and Syria — and, yes, also to the insurgents in Iraq — we must look like a country run by the equivalent of the drunken pest who gets battered to the floor of the saloon by one punch, then staggers to his feet, and shouts at the other guy’s friends, “Ok, which one of you is next?”<br /><br />Mr. Bush, the question is no longer “what are you thinking?,” but rather “are you thinking at all?”<br />---<br /><br />Great commentary by Olbermann. <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16583889/" target="new" rel="nofollow">Read it all here.</A>Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1167942000433942492007-01-04T14:18:00.000-06:002007-01-04T14:20:00.446-06:00Bush says feds can open mail without warrantWASHINGTON — <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003508676_mail04.html" target="new" rel="nofollow">President Bush quietly has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant.</A><br /><br />Bush asserted the new authority Dec. 20 after signing legislation that overhauls some postal regulations. He then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open mail under emergency conditions, contrary to existing law and contradicting the bill he had just signed, according to experts who have reviewed it.<br /><br />---<br />Does this guy ever learn? He's still stepping all over the constitution... hopefully this new congress will slap him around some and restore the balance of power.Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1167746548789780012007-01-02T07:58:00.000-06:002007-01-02T11:35:27.936-06:00HOW OLD IS THE GRAND CANYON? PARK SERVICE WON’T SAYOrders to Cater to Creationists Makes National Park Agnostic on Geology<br /><br />Washington, DC — Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=801" target="new">Full Article here.</A><br />---<br />Um, what? This is absolutely ludicrous! How can the government do this?Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1162217615885627152006-10-30T08:12:00.000-06:002006-10-30T08:13:35.903-06:00GAO chief warns economic disaster looms<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061028/ap_on_go_ot/america_the_bankrupt" target="new" rel="nofollow">Basically, that makes Walker the nation's accountant-in-chief. And the accountant-in-chief's professional opinion is that the American public needs to tell Washington it's time to steer the nation off the path to financial ruin.</A><br /><br />What they don't talk about is a dirty little secret everyone in Washington knows, or at least should. The vast majority of economists and budget analysts agree: The ship of state is on a disastrous course, and will founder on the reefs of economic disaster if nothing is done to correct it.<br /><br />There's a good reason politicians don't like to talk about the nation's long-term fiscal prospects. The subject is short on political theatrics and long on complicated economics, scary graphs and very big numbers. It reveals serious problems and offers no easy solutions. Anybody who wanted to deal with it seriously would have to talk about raising taxes and cutting benefits, nasty nostrums that might doom any candidate who prescribed them.<br /><br />---<br />Ouch!Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1162147008067396262006-10-29T12:35:00.000-06:002006-11-05T09:45:10.546-06:00Waterboarding<B>Fact: </B>- The Army Field Manual printed by the US DoD does not list waterboarding as an approved technique for interrogation, and is therefore not permitted for detainees under DoD control.<br /><br /><B>Fact: </B>- In 2005, the US Department of State recognized waterboarding as a form of torture in its examination of Tunisua's human rights record.<br /><br /><B>Fact: </B>- in 1947, a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano was tried and convicted of war crimes when he waterboarded a civilian American victim.<br /><br /><B>Fact</B>: - In their January 21, 1968 issue, the Washington post published a photograph of American GIs waterboarding an enemy suspect in Da Nang. The soldier depicted in the photograph was court martialed and drummed out of the army.<br /><br />Tell me, why is it suddenly okay now, when it was never okay before? What happened to our soul? Our moral superiority? I believe we are doomed as a people as long as we blithely traipse through life, ignorant of the horrors our government exercises in our names.<br /><br /><B>Shame on you if you don't vote on Tuesday.</B><br /><br /><a href="http://fraize.com/cs/blogs/fraizeblog/" target="new" rel="nofollow">Thanks Fraize!!!</A>Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1162145935128059992006-10-29T12:15:00.000-06:002006-10-29T12:18:55.146-06:00Cheney Still Doesn't Get It on Iraq<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15460708/site/newsweek/" target="new" rel="nofollow">A surreal and ultimately disgusting facet of the Iraq fiasco is the lag between when a fact becomes obvious and when the fiasco's architects acknowledge that fact.</A><br /><br />...<br />A mordant joke told during the Cold War concerned asking an Italian, a Frenchman, an Englishman and a Russian to each describe his most cherished dream. The Italian said, "I want my country to produce the greatest artists." The Frenchman said, "I want my nation to produce the greatest philosophers." The Englishman said, "I want my country to produce the greatest parliamentarians." The Russian said, "I want my neighbor's cow to die."<br /><br />The joke was no laughing matter because it turned on this truth: A history of brutalizing tyranny had stunted the Russians' aptitude for collective aspirations.<br /><br />--- <br />Great article.Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1161090558984328952006-10-17T08:04:00.000-05:002006-10-17T08:09:19.700-05:00Bizarre Contradictions in Bush Policies: Flip-floping again<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061017/ap_on_re_us/abu_ghraib_officer" target="new" rel="nofollow"><B>General: Officer allowed detainee abuse</B></A><br /><br />Fay said Jordan knew about some of the abuses and did not stop them. He said Jordan "told us a story that was deceptive and it was misleading, and he tried to avoid responsibility for his role at Abu Ghraib."<br /><br />Jordan, 50, of Fredericksburg, Va., is charged with 12 offenses, including one count of cruelty and maltreatment for allegedly subjecting detainees to forced nudity and intimidation by dogs. He faces a maximum of 42 years in prison if convicted of all counts.<br /><br /> --- AND ---<br /><br /><a href="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-10-17T051334Z_01_N17413926_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-BUSH.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C2-TopNews-newsOne-2" target="new" rel="nofollow"><B>Bush to sign law authorizing harsh interrogation</B></A><br /><br />The Military Commissions Act of 2006 sets standards for interrogating suspects, but through a complex set of rules that human rights groups say could allow harsh techniques bordering on torture, such as sleep deprivation and induced hypothermia.<br /><br />The new law means Bush can continue a secret CIA program for interrogating terrorism suspects whom he believes have vital information that could thwart a plot against America.<br /><br />It establishes military tribunals that would allow some use of evidence obtained by coercion, but would give defendants access to classified evidence being used to convict them.Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1161010061587656462006-10-16T09:45:00.000-05:002006-10-16T09:47:41.943-05:00Seems to be quite fashionable to violate the Constitution these days.<B>In a jail cell at an immigration detention center in Arizona sits a man who is not charged with a crime, not suspected of a crime, not considered a danger to society.</B><br /><br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15264274/" target="new" rel="nofollow">But he has been in custody for five years.</A><br /><br />His name is Ali Partovi. And according to the Department of Homeland Security, he is the last to be held of about 1,200 Arab and Muslim men swept up by authorities in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks<br /><br />There has been no full accounting of all of these individuals. Nor has a promised federal policy to protect against unrestricted sweeps been produced.<br /><br />Human rights groups tried to track the detainees; members of Congress denounced the arrests. They all believed that all of those who had been arrested had been deported, released or processed through the criminal justice system.<br /><br />Just this summer, it was reported that an Algerian man, Benemar "Ben" Benatta, was the last detainee, and that his transfer to Canada had closed the book on the post-9/11 sweeps.<br /><br />But now The Associated Press has learned that at least one person — Partovi — is still being held. The Department of Homeland Security insists he really is the last one in custody.Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1160717147433703382006-10-13T00:19:00.000-05:002006-10-13T00:26:05.376-05:00What part of $2.41 TRILLION in DEBT is something to be proud of?<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-deficit12oct12,0,5575449.story?coll=la-home-nation" target="new" rel="nofollow">Conrad added that the president also failed to note that he was tapping Social Security revenue to help cover the deficit through off-budget borrowing.</A> Accounting for that, Conrad said, would have added $550 billion to the deficit last fiscal year, money that will have to be repaid as 78 million baby boomers become eligible for Social Security. <br /><br />Other Democrats said Bush had overstated the strength of the economy and gave too much credit to tax cuts. <br /><br />"Only a president with such a historically bad economic record would be this excited about a $248-billion deficit," said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, ranking Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee. "The large budget deficits run up by President Bush have produced record-low national saving, record-high trade deficits and record-high foreign borrowing." <br /><br />Though Bush took credit for "restraining spending," federal expenditures rose 7.4% compared with 2005, to a record $2.65 trillion. The biggest spending increases: education, up 28.1%; Medicare, up 12.5%; and interest on the public debt, up 15.2%. Tax revenue also reached an all-time high of $2.41 trillion.<br /><br />The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts the deficit for fiscal 2007 will swell to $286 billion and total $1.76 trillion over the next decade. <br /><br />The Congressional Budget Office also cast doubt on Bush's assertion that tax cuts would reduce the deficit. Its estimates show that extending the cuts, which are scheduled to expire in 2010, would add $2.2 trillion to the deficit through 2016. <br /><br />What part of $2.41 TRILLION in DEBT is GOOD NEWS?<br /><br />idiots.Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1160689494930668162006-10-12T16:41:00.000-05:002006-10-12T16:44:55.326-05:00This is good.<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VCo8cQd6Gdc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VCo8cQd6Gdc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1159936031288001572006-10-03T23:26:00.000-05:002006-10-03T23:27:11.303-05:00If they can't win now...An Iraq war that has cost us nearly half trillion dollars – and the good will of the world – might not have done it. Runaway federal spending that allowed the national debt to reach $8.5 trillion might not have done it. George Bush’s low approval ratings, the lack of comprehensive immigration reform, the historical pattern of an anti-incumbent “six-year itch” in presidencies, the cascade of stories about administration ineptitude and dissembling and congressional financial and lobbying corruption — none of these issues seemed destined to end the Republicans’ 12 year reign in Congress.<br /><br />Then came the Foley Scandal. <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15116302/" target="new" rel="nofollow">If the Democrats can’t take the Hill now, they deserve to go the way of the Whigs.</A>Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1159794633075569342006-10-02T08:08:00.000-05:002006-10-02T08:10:33.093-05:00Legislating Violations of the Constitution<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092901055.html?sub=AR" target="new" rel="nofollow">From the Washington Post:</A><br /> <br /><B>With little public attention or even notice, the House of Representatives has passed a bill that undermines enforcement of the First Amendment's separation of church and state. The Public Expression of Religion Act - H.R. 2679 - provides that attorneys who successfully challenge government actions as violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment shall not be entitled to recover attorneys fees. The bill has only one purpose: to prevent suits challenging unconstitutional government actions advancing religion.</B><br /><br />A federal statute, 42 United States Code section 1988, provides that attorneys are entitled to recover compensation for their fees if they successfully represent a plaintiff asserting a violation of his or her constitutional or civil rights. For example, a lawyer who successfully sues on behalf of a victim of racial discrimination or police abuse is entitled to recover attorney's fees from the defendant who acted wrongfully. Any plaintiff who successfully sues to remedy a violation of the Constitution or a federal civil rights statute is entitled to have his or her attorney's fees paid.<br /><br />Congress adopted this statute for a simple reason: to encourage attorneys to bring cases on behalf of those whose rights have been violated. Congress was concerned that such individuals often cannot afford an attorney and vindicating constitutional rights rarely generates enough in damages to pay a lawyer on a contingency fee basis.<br /><br /><B>Without this statute, there is no way to compensate attorneys who successfully sue for injunctions to stop unconstitutional government behavior.</B> Congress rightly recognized that attorneys who bring such actions are serving society's interests by stopping the government from violating the Constitution. Indeed, the potential for such suits deters government wrong-doing and increases the likelihood that the Constitution will be followed.<br />---<br />This is disgusting!Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1159750936732865722006-10-01T19:54:00.000-05:002006-10-01T20:02:16.773-05:00Bush presidency: State of Denial<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/28/60minutes/main2047607.shtml" target="new" rel="nofollow">Bob Woodward, of Watergate fame, has just completed his third book on the Bush presidency, “State of Denial.” </A><br /><br />I've posted some excerpts from a Bob Woodward interview below:<br /><br />"It is the oldest story in the coverage of government: the failure to tell the truth," Woodward charges. <br />---<br />"Getting to the point now where there are eight, 900 attacks a week," he says. "That’s more than 100 a day—that is four an hour. Attacking our forces." <br /><br />Woodward says the government had kept this trend secret for years before finally declassifying the graph just three weeks ago. And Woodward accuses President Bush and the Pentagon of making false claims of progress in Iraq – claims, contradicted by facts that are being kept secret. <br />---<br />Woodward reports that a top general says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has so emasculated the joint chiefs that the chairman of the chiefs has become “the parrot on Rumsfeld’s shoulder.” <br />---<br />"John Murtha is in many ways the soul and the conscience of the military," Woodward replies. "And he came out and said, 'We need to get out of Iraq as soon as it’s practical' and that sent a 10,000 volt jolt through the White House."<br />---<br />In his book, published by CBS sister company, Simon & Schuster, Woodward reports that the first President Bush confided to one of his closest friends how upset he is that his son invaded Iraq. <br /><br />"The former President Bush is said to be in agony, anguished, tormented by the war in Iraq and its aftermath," Wallace says. <br />---<br />"Late last year he had key Republicans up to the White House to talk about the war. And said, 'I will not withdraw even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me.' Barney is his dog," Woodward says.Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1159116678017220562006-09-24T11:45:00.000-05:002006-09-24T12:02:30.370-05:00Why aren't Dems working this? - or - 5 Steps to Change in America!<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14974832/site/newsweek/" target="new" rel="nofollow">This is a great article on the next generation of Karl Roves.</A><br /><br />My question is: why are there Dems, or anyone that's concerned about the state of the U.S., making quick little video ads/reminders about Bush's record? You don't even have to make that stuff up (like Rove's cronies do), Bush does all the stupid stuff for real!!!<br /><br /><B>5 Simple Steps to Help Get Bush's Cronies Voted Out of Office!!!</B><BR><br /><i>It's so simple to do, all you need is some basic video editing software... </i><br /><BR><br />1. Pick an issue, show how important it is with an emotional angle/music.<BR><br />2. Show how Bush cut it, or didn't do anything about it, or appointed a political hack to run the agency responsible for it. <BR><br />3. Post videos on YouTube, email to friends.<br />4. Customize for local/state canidates against Bush's neocons. <BR><br />5. Wait for traffic, buzz and voter outrage. Then CHANGE!<br /><BR><BR><br />It's not rocket science, like I said, Bush does all the damaging stuff for you! Just remind/show his true record, and if America isn't so wrapped up in "Dancing with the Stars" to pay attention and get outraged, we may just get this great country back on track!!!<br /><br />Go, DO IT NOW!!!Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1159114471885060692006-09-24T11:11:00.000-05:002006-09-24T11:14:45.173-05:00Iraq war hurting terror fight, spy agencies say<h3>Jihadists using conflict as rallying cry, National Intelligence Estimate finds</H3><br /><br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14975242/" target="new" rel="nofollow">The war in Iraq has become the primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists, motivating a new generation of potential terrorists around the world</A> whose numbers are increasing faster than the United States and its allies are eliminating the threat, U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded.<br /><br /><B>A 30-page National Intelligence Estimate completed in April cites the "centrality" of the U.S. invasion of Iraq,</B> and the insurgency that has followed, as the <B>leading inspiration for new Islamic extremist networks and cells that are united by little more than an anti-Western agenda. Rather than contributing to eventual victory in the global counterterrorism struggle, it concludes that the situation in Iraq has <I>worsened</I> the U.S. position,</B> according to officials familiar with the classified document.<br /><br />"It's a very candid assessment," one intelligence official said yesterday of the estimate, the first formal examination of global terrorist trends written by the National Intelligence Council since the March 2003 invasion. "It's stating the obvious."<br />--<br />GREAT job Bush, "golly, we didn't think of that..."Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1159044075620629042006-09-23T15:37:00.000-05:002006-09-23T15:41:15.650-05:00Donate $8 the the US National Slavery MuseumThe United States National Slavery Museum (USNSM) is asking Americans to contribute $8.00 or more to the construction of the only museum in our nation devoted exclusively to telling the story of American slavery<br /> <br /><B>Why $8?</B><br /><B>$8</B> 8 is the shape both of shackles (the symbol of slavery) and, if turned on its side, of infinite freedom. <br /><B>$8</B> is an amount that allows every American to be a part of this incredible project. <br /><B>$8</B> buys recognition for millions of enslaved African Americans who helped build America. <br /><B>$8</B> is rewarded with an advance ticket to the Museum’s exclusive opening preview (valued at $25).<br /><B>$8</B> will help remove shackles that have divided our nation and replace them with a new symbol for a united America.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usnationalslaverymuseum.org/eightdollars.asp" target="new" rel="nofollow"><B>Donate here!</B></A><br /><br />L'shana Tova!<br />CharlieCharlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1158942970870617252006-09-22T11:34:00.000-05:002006-09-22T11:36:10.890-05:00U.N.: Torture in Iraq Worse Now Than Under Saddam<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214936,00.html" target="new" rel="nofollow">Torture in Iraq may be worse now than it was under the regime of Saddam Hussein</a>, the United Nations' chief anti-torture expert said Thursday, describing a situation where militias, terrorist groups, government forces and others disregard rules on the humane treatment of prisoners.<br /><br />"What most people tell you is that the situation as far as torture is concerned now in Iraq is totally out of hand," said Manfred Nowak, the global body's special investigator on torture. "The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has been in the times of Saddam Hussein."<br />--<br />Nice, thanks for all that work and money spent bush.<br />CharlieCharlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1158671433002618602006-09-19T07:58:00.000-05:002006-09-19T08:13:02.750-05:00Signs of the times...Canadian intelligence officials passed false warnings and bad information to American agents about a Muslim Canadian citizen, after which <B>U.S. authorities secretly whisked him to Syria, where he was tortured, a judicial report found Monday. <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14897315/" target="new" rel="nofollow">Here.</B></A><br />--------<br /><br />In the few short years since the first shackled Afghan shuffled off to Guantanamo, the U.S. military has created a global network of overseas prisons, its islands of high security keeping 14,000 detainees beyond the reach of established law.<br /><br />Disclosures of torture and long-term arbitrary detentions have won rebuke from leading voices including the U.N. secretary-general and the U.S. Supreme Court. But the bitterest words come from inside the system, the size of several major U.S. penitentiaries.<br /><br />"It was hard to believe I'd get out," Baghdad shopkeeper Amjad Qassim al-Aliyawi told The Associated Press after his release — without charge — last month. "I lived with the Americans for one year and eight months as if I was living in hell."<br /><br /><B>Captured on battlefields, pulled from beds at midnight, grabbed off streets as suspected insurgents, tens of thousands now have passed through U.S. detention, the vast majority in Iraq. <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060917/ap_on_re_mi_ea/in_american_hands" target="new" rel="nofollow"> Here.</a></B><br />--------<br /><br />The Pentagon defended on Monday its months-long detention of an Associated Press photographer in Iraq, asserting that it has authority to imprison him indefinitely without charges because it believes he had improper ties to insurgents.<br /><br />But journalism organizations said that covering all sides in the Iraq war sometimes requires contacts with insurgents. They called on the Pentagon to either bring charges against photographer Bilal Hussein so he can defend himself, or release him.<br /><br />--------<br /><br />Many of those chosen by O'Beirne's office to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq's government from April 2003 to June 2004, lacked vital skills and experience. A 24-year-old who had never worked in finance -- but had applied for a White House job -- was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange. <B>The daughter of a prominent neoconservative commentator and a recent graduate from an evangelical university for home-schooled children were tapped to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget, even though they didn't have a background in accounting.</B><br /><br />One former CPA employee who had an office near O'Beirne's wrote an e-mail to a friend describing the recruitment process: "I watched résumés of immensely talented individuals who had sought out CPA to help the country thrown in the trash because their adherence to 'the President's vision for Iraq' (a frequently heard phrase at CPA) was 'uncertain.' I saw senior civil servants from agencies like Treasury, Energy . . . and Commerce denied advisory positions in Baghdad that were instead handed to prominent RNC (Republican National Committee) contributors." <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600193_2.html" target="new" rel="nofollow">Here.<br /></A><br />--------<br />Who could possibly think these things are good ideas for AMERICA?Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1158073823772582342006-09-12T10:07:00.000-05:002006-09-12T10:12:44.303-05:00Okay, let me get this straight...<span style="font-style:italic;">Here is Bush's proposal:</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5054/682/1600/AP_TRIBUNAL_PROPOSAL.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5054/682/400/AP_TRIBUNAL_PROPOSAL.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">And here are some selected Articles from the U.S. Bill of Rights that Bush has SWORN to uphold:</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Amendment VI</span><br />In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; <span style="font-weight:bold;">to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Amendment VIII</span><br />Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, <span style="font-weight:bold;">nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.</span><br />--<br /><br />Hmm... golly, what an interesting comparison eh?Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1157117975741875132006-09-01T08:35:00.000-05:002006-09-01T08:39:35.766-05:00Too bad we don't need anything like that here in the U.S. ... wait... um...<B>These homes are built for climate change</B><br /><a href="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4852739/" target="new" rel="nofollow"><I>Floods? No problem, they just float above the current</I></A><br /><br />The 700-square-foot structures are on the “wrong” side of a dike in a beautiful flood plain of one of the country’s main waterways, the Maas River, overlooking lush marshland and a harbor.<br />-<br />For more than 1,000 years the Dutch have been holding back the sea, and even reclaiming it. Landfills and windmill-driven pumps have created vast fields, called polders, for new cities, pastures and cropland. If it weren’t for its system of dikes and canals, as much as half of the Netherlands could be submerged.<br /><br />---<br />Hmm... now how could we use these brilliant ideas from a country that has been dealing with this for ... well, 1,000 years!?? If we didn't piss off Europe so much, maybe we could get some consultants and designers to help with the New Orleans area.<br /><br />Everybody thank your president and republican politician leadership folks....Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9396607.post-1157062054485668662006-08-31T17:06:00.000-05:002006-08-31T17:07:34.506-05:00Rebuttal on Rumsfeld's bullshit speech<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nmjhlNkfuDE"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nmjhlNkfuDE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Charlie and Marcelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14761667345197372633noreply@blogger.com0