Another Republican sex scandal ignored by the media

On Tuesday Sept. 18 we reported that a Republican federal prosecutor –John David R. Atchinson--was criminally charged with “allegedly” paying for sex with a five year old girl.

Now the covers are pulled off another of these extremist Republican neo-cons. Donald Fleischman, the 37 year old Republican chairman of Brown County Wisconsin faces criminal charges for “allegedly” fondling a 16 year old runaway boy. Fleischman has been charged with two counts of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child, and a single charge of exposing himself to a child.

In November 2006 Police went to Fleischman’s home searching for two runaway boys. The officers found a glass pipe in the living room (which tested positive for marijuana residue) and a 16-year-old boy wearing only his underwear hiding in a closet. In Dec. 2006 the police found the boy at Fleischman’s home again.

The boy now 17 told authorities that the Republican chairman provided him with drugs (beer and marijuana). The boy told authorities that Fleischman fondled him and once he woke up and saw Fleischman masturbating next to his bed.

Amazingly, the very same American Corporate Media who headlined every detail for weeks (if not months) of Bill Clinton’s consensual sexual liason with another adult woman, has been IGNORING this story. It appears that it is not newsworthy if a Republican is caught and prosecuted for “allegedly” raping children.

If the Corporate Media gave the same coverage to the numerous child sex scandals of the Republicans we would no longer want these Republicans in powerful positions preying on our children.

It just goes to show that the notion that Republicans can make us safe and secure is a myth.

George Macaca Allen is working for Fred Thompson

The Republican Presidential candidates are in a league of their own. Fred Thompson has tapped George "Macaca" Allen to be the national co-chair of his campaign. (Source)

Not to be outdone Rudy G. has chosen his own man in Philly--Joey Vento. Vento and Allen appear to havea few things in common. Both men are fans of the Confederate flag and Vento is currently having his own Macaca moment....it is alleged that Vento told a reporter that Mexicans carry disease and should not play or drink in the same water as Mexicans. (Source 1, Source 2)

Maybe Rudy and Fred will be asked to give a Rebel Yell at the next Republican debate?

If you are a social activist you are a terrorist....

It seems the use of laws to strip away civil liberties is not just an American phenomenon anymore.

In El Salvador, the government claims that terrorists include the citizens protesting the privatization of water. (This should sound familiar because if you are an environmental or animal rights activist in the United States you are also defined as a terrorist.) Multinational Corporations are buying up water supplies worldwide claiming that they can manage the water shortage that is about to come better than the governments...of course they will sell their water to the elites as the highest price. The El Salvadoran people prefer to keep the water public and have laws protecting clean water from being contaminated by the very same multinational corporations who want to profit on scarcer supplies of clean water.

The war on terrorism is now being used world wide to silence people from speaking out against the takeover of resources (and our governments) by multinational corporations.

Unfortunately, we need water to survive....water should not become a property of the multinational corporations. When water is privatized under the Free Trade Agreement in South America it is illegal for anyone to even collect rain water. Go figure...

Here's a video of those deadly South American activists.

Who Made Nancy Pelosi The Decider?

Why did Nancy Pelosi and the "Washington" Democratic leadership think that the American people voted to have them become The Deciders? We thought we were voting to restore our democracy.

Please stop playing the political games. It is sickening. Start Impeachment proceedings and do everything in your power to prevent Bush and Cheney from launching another devastating attack on another nation.

Bill Moyers reports on religion, neoconservatism, and war with Iran

Have you contacted your Senator today? Buzz..Buzz...

The Republican Party needs to clean house in Texas

The Republican Party pretends to be so concerned about any American voting more than once...(so that they can try to minimize the number of Americans voters).

Watch and see what the Texas Republicans really think about one person one vote.

MIT Engineer Jeff King on 9/11

(source) Note the sharp 45 degree cut, with molten slag, on the massive steel column in the far background. Quite a glaring contradiction to the official theory that the Twin Towers simply collapsed spontaneously from fire and impact. This had to have been quite a talented cataclysm to make such a neat cut. Any steel worker or demolition expert will immediately recognize that such a cut in steel could only be made with some kind of torch or other method that can produce intense, sharply focused heat and energy, leaving the tell-tale slag. But this steel is way too thick for a torch. That leaves one other obvious suspect: a shaped cutter-charge.

***************************

There is a myth out there in the mainstream media that there is a consensus among engineers and architects that the official 9/11 Commission-NIST-FEMA reports, which state that fire and plane impact brought down the Twin Towers, closes the book on the subject.

Nothing could be farther from the truth! As I write, there are now at least 186 engineering and architectural professionals who officially reject the official theory. (Reference)

Jeff King, an engineer from MIT who is one of them, recently gave a powerful presentation at a forum on 9/11. Here is a You Tube video capturing a ten minute excerpt: see video

You can find this one and 151 others at 911triumph. And there are many other sites. Thousands of people have been pouring over all the available evidence in attempts to reconstruct what really happened.

Of course the government, which wisked away all the crime scene evidence in a matter of days, is also holding on to even more evidence, lots of it, and refusing to release it. Even so, enough is known now to demand a new, independent investigation. America will never be whole again until all the truth comes out.

On that fateful day, September 11, 2001 the country turned down the path of fear, a path that ultimately leads to the lowest pit of Hell if you continue down it long enough.

Reflections on Hurricane Season 2005, Part Three

Welcome to Orleans Ave, New Orleans, or what's left of it

















A house on Orleans Ave demolished by Katrina

Here is my third article generated by my recent tour of the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana to inspect 2005 hurricane damage and what has been done in the aftermath. This series was published at OpEdNews.com in the Spring, but I wanted to bring Mosquito Blog readers up to date, because, as I write, the government is moving to completely shut down and level the still functional housing projects in New Orleans. This move is not about helping the Katrina survivors. This is about cynical politics and greed.

In this report I have finally made it into New Orleans, specifically Orleans Ave, which becomes, when you turn right instead of left toward the French Quarter, a glaring eyesore, to the physical eyes as well as the soul.

****************************

Along the Gulf Coast, Post Katrina, Part 3: Orleans Avenue, New Orleans

On Friday, April 13, 2007, after surveying hurricane damage in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, I high-tailed it up to Interstate 10 and headed due west. An hour plus later I was passing the state line into Louisiana and soon bearing down on Slidell as I-10 gradually curved south. Even before Slidell I began to get glimpses of Katrina's wrath out of the corners of my eyes as I sped on - torn up trees, piles of debris or damaged buildings in the distance. By time I had passed Slidell and was hitting the Huey P. Long Bridge, all kinds of questions were percolating in my head – how many towns and cities were hard-hit, how many people displaced; how much had been repaired; what have been the overall costs? And on and on.

As I drove over Lake Pontchartrain and gradually began the downward descent on the southern end of the bridge, the image of the far shore rising out of the vast blue lake waters rammed home to me just how fragile and isolated New Orleans is, and how low. You gained the distinct impression as you reached shore again that you were almost dropping into the lake, and in a sense you are, because, of course, the Crescent City is actually below sea level. And when you realize how the city and parish are bordered on the north by the lake, and east and south by the Gulf of Mexico, that is vulnerable indeed.

At last the skyscrapers of downtown New Orleans began looming into view, introducing some verticality into the geography, as if that was somehow reassuring as the next hurricane season approaches. I was getting more excited now, because I hadn't been to New Orleans since 1979, when I was on leave from the military, and had truly missed the place, which I had found magical and romantic.

Finally, I slowed down and began signaling left to take the exit for Vieux Carré (Old Square), the original French term for the French Quarter. Down I went, until the off-ramp suddenly drops you right onto Orleans Avenue, which runs parallel to better known Canal Street, which takes you smack into the French Quarter. But I had flown in here before, not driven, so I was disoriented. Should I turn left or right? My instincts told me the French Quarter was to the left and what I was really interested in was to the right, because I hadn't come down here to party, but to investigate the aftermath of Katrina. So I turned right.

A fortuitous decision. I hadn't driven two blocks before I was muttering Jesus under my breath. And I hadn't driven but several more before I was parking the car and grabbing my camera. My worst fears were materializing, based upon reports I had read, that the Polyanna depictions of New Orleans on the mend were greatly exaggerated. Now reality was staring me in the face, an entire, devastated neighborhood pretty much left to its own devices, as well as actually sabotaged, I would learn over time, from full recovery by the powers that be.

















Another victim of Katrina

So I began walking around taking pictures. At the time, I didn't even know the controversial story about the Lafitte Housing Project, so it was fortunate that I happened to take a few incidental photos of the Project apartment houses, so I could include them in this photo-essay. I otherwise ignored the Lafitte complex, because it was in pretty darned good shape, although boarded up and peppered with NO TRESPASSING signs. In the back of mind I wondered why, if so many citizens had been displaced or relocated, hadn't these been reopened to ease the suffering and return some of the exiled?
















The Lafitte Housing Project, with minimal hurricane damage, but locked-up anyway

What Orleans Avenue immediately reminded me of was sections of Naples, Italy that I had visited way back in 1980 while in the Navy, for there were still parts of Naples that had never been rebuilt after enduring all the carnage of World War II, as American forces wrestled Italy from German control. So in Naples, you incidentally walked up on a bombed out building every now and then and stared.

Well, I was staring now at street after street that looked like they may each have received a few rounds from Howitzers too. That there was this much damage still visible after some 20 months was shocking and embarrassing, embarrassing for a nation that claims to be the greatest super-power in history. A few trucks, work crews and sledge hammers could remove many of the hideous eyesores marring the neighborhood in a few weeks. Is City Hall, the State of Louisiana and FEMA incapable of something so basic, simple, and inexpensive? Or is something else going on here?

To understand what I am talking about, please visit my photo album on Orleans Avenue by clicking here. You can view the photos singly or as a slide show. You don't have to sign in. Here are a few more of the album shots:

















The abandoned Carver Medical Clinic

















An abandoned grocery store
















A massive, abandoned laundry plant behind Orleans Avenue

Why hasn't the Carver Medical Clinic been reopened? Why haven't the local grocery stores been repaired? These are core necessities. To Hell with making the owners jump through insurance and legal hoops! Subsidize them and get the establishments reopened, and reopen the Lafitte Housing Project as well to repopulate the neighborhood, even if only temporarily reopened.

But there are agendas at work here. The poet Edward Sanders has a great online article about this in a piece explaining why and how he wrote his latest book of poetry, Poems for New Orleans (click here to read). To quote him:

What happened in New Orleans and the Gulf after Katrina is fairly widely known- the ineptitude of FEMA, the callousness of Bush, Karl Rove and the White House, the privatization of much of the recovery- which resulted in massive excess pain for the victims, and profits aplenty for the sharks that grabbed control of, or siphoned off cash from, the recovery.

The Bushies and their ilk fervently believe in turning over as much of our government as they can get away with to the so-called "private sector." Thus, the running of the war in Iraq was considerably "privatized," or halliburtonized, with U.S.-paid mercenaries and companies in key positions in the prosecution of the war. The neocons, in the same mode, tried to privatize as many government functions as possible in the post-Katrina recovery in New Orleans and the Gulf.

In New Orleans in particular, the halliburtonized recovery has been a post-disaster disaster. It's a complicated story, but its essence is that the "Privatizing" of post-Katrina reconstruction and assistance has led to enormous bottlenecks, anger, despair and frustration. (Reference)

So New Orleans' citizens have had to fight two battles, the first against the horrors of Katrina, the second against the "halliburtonization" of the recovery, to adopt Sanders' term. After the American Civil War they called this latter phenomenon "Carpetbagging", taking advantage of disaster to disenfranchise and rob the citizens of the South. This is going on today at the hands of greedy, hateful and unconscionable individuals and organizations, be they insurers, realtors, contractors, speculators, politicians or ideologues.

Sanders had this to say about irresponsible politicians in particular:

Historian Doug Brinkley called it "Lethal Ineptitude" the way Bush, Homeland Security honcho Chertoff, FEMA political hack Brown, Louisiana Governor Blanco, conservative republicrat New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, and others, dripped malice & do-not on New Orleans and the Gulf.

Mayor Ray Nagin, in particular, seems to be a disciple of the kind of privatization-batty neocons who helped ruin the Chilean pension system after the overthrow of Salvador Allende. He is the halliburtonizers best friend. Governor Blanco of Louisiana is not much better, especially in her caving into the forces of unregulated rip-offs by the insurance companies. (ibid)

Now one can begin to understand why Orleans Avenue still looks the way it does. Things would apparently be even worse if the citizens of New Orleans hadn't been fighting back. Too many of them have roots in New Orleans going back generations, too deep to let themselves get screwed over by silver-tongued politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen.

For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) wants to demolish all the major housing projects in New Orleans, claiming that in between hurricane damage, old age and crime infestation, they have got to go, to be replaced by "mixed-income" remodeling, an urban renewal strategy anchored in HUD's Hope VI grant program, which has had only a mixed record nationally where it has been implemented. That the Bush Administration and Republican apparatiks are eager to bring HUD's plan to fruition is obvious. Who can forget Rep. Richard Baker's callous statement in the aftermath of Katrina that, "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."

A veteran advocate of public housing in New Orleans, Endesha Jaukali, has this retort to HUD's plans:

Mixed income is a pie in the sky illusion...What you're going to do is mix poor people and middle income people right on out of here. (from "New Orleans Housing Fiasco" by Anya Kamenetz click here)

It has been my own experience in Norfolk, Virginia that when the poor and lower middle class are dispossessed and displaced from an area, what fills the void is condominiums and luxury apartments affordable only by the upper middle class, the rich or corporations, the latter two buyers often from outside the area. The displaced are further marginalized, some to the point of homelessness and despair.

So Jaukali and others have launched a class action lawsuit against government agencies to stop the demolition of the projects:

The current class action suit alleges racial discrimination and violation of the 1937 Housing Act, which requires public hearings before demolition of any public housing. HANO (the Housing Authority of New Orleans) has used everything from steel shutters to barbed wire fences and armed guards to keep residents from reoccupying their former units. Resistance has taken many different forms. Since June, for example, the St. Bernard development has had a "Survivor's Village," a tent city of 20 or so residents on the neutral ground outside. Juakali says he modeled the Village on the 1968 Poor People's Campaign, which built a tent city on the Washington Mall. (ibid)

There has also been civil disobedience at the Lafitte. For example, on August 28 of last year, this transpired:

At 2pm today Gregory "DJ" Christy, a resident of the Lafitte housing development, joined by more than 70 supporters entered his apartment with the intention of reoccupying it for the first time since August 2005. 9 supporters of Christy were arrested in the attempt to reopen public housing. All 9 have been bailed out of the Orleans Parish Prison....

Christy's apartment was opened by a group of activists including C3/Hands Off Iberville, the United Front for Affordable Housing, and other community activists. Legal observers from the Common Ground Collective were onsite to monitor the police response. Using a ladder to scale to the second floor window, the activists climbed in, walked downstairs into Christy's unit, and opened the heavy steel door from the inside.

After the door was removed Christy entered his apartment along with several more supporters. Housing Authority police were on the scene when the door fell. City police arrived shortly after preventing others from entering or leaving the apartment. While these 7 were occupying the apartment more than 70 supporters rallied outside. (by Darwin BondGraham, click here)

But as you can see from my photos, unfortunately the Lafitte is still locked up. However, continuous protests have caused authorities to backtrack some, HUD temporarily reopening some housing units in the city to allow some of those scattered to the winds to return. Congress has also weighed in to slow down the demolition plans, and the legal showdown over the class-action lawsuit is scheduled to take place this November. But the hard-pressed citizens of Orleans Avenue, not to mention the rest of the city, especially the Lower Ninth Ward, can use all the support they can garner nationally and internationally in the meantime. Here is a list of organizations that Edward Sanders has come up with that you, the reader, can contact if you feel inspired to help in some way. See his full article for more info on each one:

1. Common Ground Collective
2. Neighborhoods Partnership Network
3. People's Hurricane Relief Fund
4. Rethink (Google them)
5. DNIA, dniaofneworleans@yahoogroups.com (to email)
6. St. John #5 Baptist Church, 635 Hamburg St New Orleans, LA 70122, (504) 288-3272
7. Greater New Orleans Foundation
8. ACORN
(from http://www.woodstockjournal.com/neworleans.html )
Please help the citizens of New Orleans recover their dignity, fundamental rights and heritage. And again, to see the photo album, you can also click here.

Loose Lips Sink Fascist Ships

From the English Sunday Mail, Sept 30, 2007:

British MPs were shocked when White House foreign policy adviser Debra Cagan told them: "I hate all Iranians." When confirming the comment one of the six MPs said: "She is very forceful and some of my colleagues were intimidated by her muscular style." (For full article, click here)

Red leather coat, Iron Cross-type jewelry, slicked-back hair and aquiline features, White House foreign policy advisor Debra Cagan looks like a cariature of a Gestapo agent from the 1940s, except she should have a black coat on to totally replicate the stereotype. Actually red and black were the Nazi colors. How interesting that she attires herself like this and has asides about hating all Iranians. This just reaffirms what I have been saying for several years, that the forces running our government have pretensions to be the Fourth Reich, and have substituted the hatred of Arabs and Moslems, indeed all the perceived inferior races, Blacks included, for the Nazi hatred of Jews, Gypsies and Slavs. This is the subtext going on beneath much of the official rhetoric.

The War on Terror is, in the psychological depths, a crusade against Islam and anchored in racial hatred of other races centered in the Middle East and Western Asia. You have only to research some of the ditties being sung in US Army and Marine Corps Boot Camps for this to be rammed home to your consciousness. It was a similar situation in Vietnam. Gooks then, Sandniggers now, both wars fueled by race hatred.

Ironically, Iran is Persian and of Aryan stock historically, the same Aryan ancestry that the Nazis idealized into blonde, blue-eyed Nordics.

Why the Christian Coalition, MoveOn.org, Naral, and the NRA agree....

The American people want net neutrality and our groups on the right, the left, and in the middle all want net neutrality also.

Yet the Democratic Congress has not bought this issue up to be voted on.

And now the Corporations are flexing their muscles and trouncing on the righs of citizen.

Verizon wireless would not allow NARAL to utilize text messaging on their mobile phones. According to Verizon, its messaging system was closed to groups with content or an agenda that "may be seen as controversial or unsavory to any of our users." (Source-L.A. Times)

Contact your Va Representative and Fa Rep.Boucher and ask him why his net neutrality amendment has not made it to the house floor. Also Contact Jim Webb who ran on net neutrality and ask him to support getting Olympia Snoew's net neutrality amendment to the floor.Contacting Olympia Snowe, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid would also be helpful.

Let them know about the Verizon AND the AT%T abouses. Demand Net Neutrality now.

Transcending Politics....Finally a Democrat stands up

Dennis Kucinich is putting his country before his party. He is going to force the House of Representatives todeal with the issue of impeachment. (Source 1, Source 2)

Call your Representative and ask them to remember their oath of office and demand that they support our constitution.

You can call the capital switchboard toll free at 1-800-426-8073

Surprise--Net Neutrality "violated" once again...

The new AT&T terms of service warns internet subscribers that if they criticize AT&T they can lose their internet service. Thank heavens I don't use AT&T. If I did, I would be changing my service asap.

Once again....did you ever doubt the need for net neutrality?

I wish we could "count on" the Democratic Congress to do something right....Silly me I thought net neutrality would have already been passed by this "democratic congress" and they have never even brought it to the floor for a vote.

Makes you wonder...do we even have a second opposition party functioning in America? I swear it's becoming difficult to tell the difference between a Democrat and a Republican these days....especially after that horrendous Lieberman/Kyl amendment was passed with an overwhelming majority in a so-called democratic congress.

Just call me disgusted with all the politicians who have been bought by the corporate elites.

Newt Gringrich's chilling "moral" leadership

What has happened to my country's sense of morality? Do any of these guys ever look into a mirror and see that they may be manifesting exactly what they say they are against?

It "appears" that the nuclear issue in Iran is just a diversion...of course it is...Iran is not even close to developing a bomb...but Iran's number one export is not broccoli...unfortunately for them and us. So let's watch the profits of oil and natural gas companies skyrocket and let the American taxpayers foot the bills....and let's have hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Iranians die so that some more corporations can increase their profits via war.....Dick Cheney's Halliburton and George Bush's Blackwater surely aren't going to complain.

And we will be left footing the bills and then paying higher prices for corporate greed......

The Elephant In The Room:Kevin McPadden, 9/11-1st Responder

9/11

The books have not closed on 9/11, not by a long shot. There are actually more unanswered questions than ever before, and new contradictions pop up weekly. For instance, note this video, which throws a monkey wrench into all the official protestations that there was not, not, not any controlled demolition at WTC7, you know, the building that just went swisshh and collapsed on the afternoon of 9/11. That was not too long after Larry Silverstein issued his famous "pull it" statement.

"Pull it" means only one thing in demolition parlance: take the building down. Larry later said he meant, "pull the firefighters", although they were apparently largely out of the building anyway. What followed was one of the worst cases of identity-theft in history, a building collapse trying to look just like a controlled demolition without actually being one, or so we are told. But this video puts us right back to square one. BOOOOMM!

Norfolk Great Event Tonight

There's a great event in Norfolk tonight for Hampton Roads Residents who aren't drinking the neo-con kool aid.

Jeremy Scahill is currently a hot commodity. You may have seen him recently on CNN, CSpan, Keith Olberman, The Daily Show, or Democracy Now.

He will be at Azar's restaurent at 5:30 pm for a reception and then his presentation on Blackwater will begine at the Naro Theatre at 7:15 p.m.

Hope to see you there!!

Buzz...Buzz...

The Shameful Senators

Here are the shameful Senators who have given Darth Vader his wet dream come true. A double x for the Dems who joined the Repugs to pass this shameful Lieberman-Kyl amendment....an amendment the majority of Americans do not want.

We do NOT want the war to continue in Iraq. We definitely do NOT want another war started with Iran. Bush and Cheney now have a green light to attack the Iranian army....which the Senate has now labeled a terrorist organization. So the army of another sovereign nation is now a terrorist organization?? What will prevent the rest of the world from labeling the U.S. armed forces a terrorist organization??

Grouped By Vote Position--Hopefully, voters will oust every Senator who voted Yea to this amendment and is enabling Cheney and Bush to launch a war on Iran with the Senate's approval.....

YEAs ---76
Akaka (D-HI) Alexander (R-TN) Allard (R-CO) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Chambliss (R-GA) Clinton (D-NY) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Coleman (R-MN) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Craig (R-ID) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC)	Dole (R-NC) Domenici (R-NM) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Feinstein (D-CA) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johnson (D-SD) Kohl (D-WI) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lott (R-MS) Martinez (R-FL) McConnell (R-KY) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) These are the 19 Democrats, 1 Republican and 1 Independent who deserved to have a seat in the people's congress yesterday.	Murkowski (R-AK) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Roberts (R-KS) Rockefeller (D-WV) Salazar (D-CO) Schumer (D-NY) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Smith (R-OR) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (R-PA) Stabenow (D-MI) Stevens (R-AK) Sununu (R-NH) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (R-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI)

NAYs ---22
Biden (D-DE) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Byrd (D-WV) Cantwell (D-WA) Dodd (D-CT) Feingold (D-WI)	Hagel (R-NE) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Leahy (D-VT) Lincoln (D-AR)\ And then we have the real chickens......	Lugar (R-IN) McCaskill (D-MO) Sanders (I-VT) Tester (D-MT) Webb (D-VA) Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 2
McCain (R-AZ)	Obama (D-IL)

The Demon Persian of Tehran Does New York

Wow, what an orgy of emotion was unleashed in New York City Monday, most of it rather nasty and negative, when President Ahmadinejad of Iran arrived to begin his Big Apple itnerary, which included a speaking engagement at Columbia University yesterday (where its president rudely attacked his guest for several minutes as an introduction) and a speech at the United Nations today, Tuesday September 25. AIPAC and other pro-Israel organizations brought out their phalanxes of troops and ratcheted up the propaganda machinery to try to will him off the planet, which didn't work, and they probably would have torn him to pieces if there hadn't been lots of cops protecting the motor entourage to boot. For Ahmadinejad is, you see, the Demon Persian of Tehran, this image largely based on the infamous statement attributed to him that Israel should be "wiped off the map".

Unfortunately, it is hopelessly lost on those locked into total hatred of the man that this was never what he said. The original, above diabolical phrase was actually a terrible translation of what he had recited in Farsi (Persian language). He had originally quoted an old Ayatollah Khomeini statement that I am now going to let Arash Norouzi enlighen us about from his article dated January 18, 2007. Here is the original statement and Norouzi's commentary.

"Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad."

That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring a bell: rezhim-e. It is the word "Regime", pronounced just like the English word with an extra "eh" sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country or Israel the land mass, but the Israeli regime. This is a vastly significant distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map. Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead uses the specific phrase "rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods" (regime occupying Jerusalem).

So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want "wiped from the map"? The answer is: nothing. That's because the word "map" was never used. The Persian word for map, "nagsheh", is not contained anywhere in his original farsi quote, or, for that matter, anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase "wipe out" ever said. Yet we are led to believe that Iran's President threatened to "wipe Israel off the map", despite never having uttered the words "map", "wipe out" or even "Israel".


THE PROOF:

The full quote translated directly to English:

"The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time".

Word by word translation:

Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime) ishghalgar-e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from). (Reference: click here)

So, we have been brought to the edge of war with Iran based largely on, as with Iraq, Neocon-hyped bullshit like this. To the global, maniacal Neocon movement, this of course doesn't matter. Any excuse will do to attack Iran. The Cheney faction in the White House and the Israeli Right-wing, which basically controls Israel these days, both simply want a cowed and broken Iran smoldering in ruins, just as Rome continuously had it in for Carthage in ancient times. Rome ultimately destroyed the entire city of Carthage after decades and decades of war and salted all its farming fields so crops would not grow again.

However, it would be naive not to think that Iran is a rival of Israel, but a rival not because it is a pseudo-Nazi enclave of not-so-blond Aryans who fanatically hate Jews (they have their own Jewish population which is not being oppressed), but basically because it supports the cause of Moslem Palestinians trapped in the giant concentration camp called Palestine, as well as being in strong solidarity with the large Shiite Moslem faction in Lebanon, whose spokesgroup is Hezbollah.

Just as most Jews around the world tend to act in solidarity when Israel is attacked, is it surprising that most Moslems tend to act in solidarity when Palestine or Lebanon are attacked? Of course not! The trick then is to stop the polarization between these two largely religiously-defined bodies, to get everyone to learn to live as harmonious neighbors, so that the Middle East is precisely not divided into armed camps. That means dialogue, dialogue, dialogue, trade, trade, trade, exchanges of students, culture, literature, and on and on.

Moreover, it is impossible for one side to vanquish the other militarily and live happily ever after atop a large pile of skulls and bones, because violence just sets mighty new problems in motion. You know, bad Karma, and all that.

Enough said now from my point of view. At this point I want to let you share the perspective of one of the most astute and well-sourced writers on the planet about what just transpired in New York with President Ahmadinejad. I am referring to Pepe Escobar, the ROVING EYE reporter for the widely read Asia Times, who just wrote a new piece entitled:

The Roving Eye:

'Hitler' does New York

By Pepe Escobar

Here are some excerpts from Escobar's article. I am inserting more than I would normally, but this is an exceptional situation, what with war against Iran a few stupid mistakes away. Note that Escobar is pointing out the larger, positive impact the Iranian President is making globally from this trip, no matter how many tomatoes may have hit him here in New York. I quote:

[The new "Hitler", at least for a while, has lodged in a prosaic midtown Manhattan hotel. Contrary to a plethora of demonizing myths, this Persian werewolf did not evade his abode to eat kids for breakfast in Central Park. Instead, he turned on a carefully calibrated public relations charm offensive. Whatever his polemical views, for a now-seasoned head of state like Ahmadinejad to turn astonishing US disinformation on Iran, the Middle East and US foreign policy for his own advantage ended up as a string of slam-dunks.

Articulate, evasive, manipulative, the Iranian president - even lost in translation -was especially skillful in turning US corporate media's hysteria upside down consistently to paint those in the administration of President George W Bush as incorrigible warmongers. Both at the National Press Club, via video-conference, and live at Columbia University, Ahmadinejad even had the luxury of joking about fabled Western "freedom of information" - as so many are still "trying to prevent people from talking".

He scored major points among the target audience that really matters: worldwide Muslim public opinion. Contrasting with a plethora of corrupt Arab leaders, Ahmadinejad has been carefully positioning himself as a Muslim folk hero capable of standing up to Western arrogance and defending the rights of the weak (the Palestinians). The way he deflected US ire on the enemy's own turf will only add to his standing.....

He was also clever in preempting ear-splitting rumors of a next war: "Talk about war is basically a propaganda tool." One of his key points may not have made an impact in the US, but resonated widely around the world, and not only in the Muslim street: "We oppose the way the US government tries to rule the world"; there are "more humane methods of establishing peace". He assured that no Iranian weapons are flowing into Iraq, adding that "regional countries in the Middle East don't need outside interference".

On uranium enrichment, he repeatedly stressed that it is Iran's right, as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to conduct a "legal" and "peaceful" nuclear program. "Why should a nation depend on another?" But if the US would engage in peace talks, so would Iran: "International law is equal to everyone." As for the US and France, they "are not the world" - a reference to both the Bush administration's and the French saber-rattling. "France is a very cultured society, it would not support war." Humanitarian imperialist French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was summarily brushed aside: he needs to attain "higher maturity".

On Israel, Ahmadinejad said, "We do not recognize a regime based on discrimination, occupation and expansionism," and he said that country "last week attacked Syria and last year attacked Lebanon"; pretty much what most of the Middle East agrees with. He may have granted that the Holocaust did take place, but the world needs "more research on it". The Holocaust is not his main point: it always serves as an intro to one of his key themes - why should the Palestinians pay the price for something that happened in Europe? He said he wanted a "clear" answer. No one deigned to provide it.....

US corporate media's treatment of the new "Hitler" seemed to have been scripted by the same ghostwriter lodged in the same (White) House. On 60 Minutes, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) was firing on all cylinders for a casus belli - from "There's no doubt Iran is providing the IEDs" (improvised explosive devices, in Iraq) to "Why don't you just stop denying that you're building a nuclear bomb?" Ahmadinejad was bemused, to say the least. CNN for its part could not resist proclaiming, "His state even sponsors terrorism ... in some cases even against US troops in Iraq."

Ahmadinejad succinctly unveiled to the Associated Press the reasons for so much warmongering - in a way that even a kid would understand: "I believe that some of the talk in this regard arises first of all from anger. Secondly, it serves the electoral purposes domestically in this country. Third, it serves as a cover for policy failures over Iraq."

An even more appalling measure of Western arrogance - also speaking volumes about "us" when confronted with the incomprehensible "other" - is the diatribe with which the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, chose to "greet" his guest, a head of state. Bollinger, supposedly an academic, spoke about confronting "the mind of evil". His crass behavior got him 15 minutes of fame. Were President Bush to be greeted in the same manner in any university in the developing world - and motives would abound also to qualify him as a "cruel, petty dictator" - the Pentagon would have instantly switched to let's-bomb-them-with-democracy mode.

Ahmadinejad, to his credit, played it cool. Stressing, in a quirky fashion, his "academic" credentials, he unleashed a poetic rant on "science as a divine gift" just to plunge once again into the Palestinian tragedy. He stressed how Iran "is friendly with the Jewish people" - which is a fact (at least 30,000 Jews live undisturbed in Iran). Then back to the key point: Why are the Palestinians paying the price for something they had nothing to do with? Iran has a "humanitarian proposal" to solve the problem - a referendum where Palestinians would choose their own political destiny.

In the absence of informed debate, Ahmadinejad stressed his points the way he wanted to. Iran does not need a nuclear bomb. Iran does not want to manufacture a nuclear bomb. But telling other countries what they can and cannot do is another matter entirely. He is more than aware that the nuclear dossier is "a political issue" - a question of "two or three powers who think they can monopolize science and knowledge". It's up to a sovereign Iran to decide whether it needs nuclear fuel. "Why should we need fuel from you? You don't even give us spare parts for aircraft."

He also stressed that Iran is a victim of terrorism - a reference to the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, a micro-terrorist group by any other name, formerly protected by Saddam, now supported by the Bush administration; but he was also referring to destabilizing black ops by US special forces in the strategically crucial provinces of Khuzestan and Balochistan.

Ahmadinejad was not questioned in detail on internal repression, intimidation of independent journalists, what his Interior Ministry is up to, from a crackdown on women not wearing the veil properly to more sinister, unsubstantiated "collaboration with America" charges. When executions were mentioned, he quipped, "Don't you have capital punishment in the US?" - and defended them on the ground that these were drug smugglers.

Nobody questioned him on his disastrous economic policies, on the competence of his ministers, on an embryonic pact between Iran and Saudi Arabia to prevent another war in the Middle East, on the upcoming, pivotal summit of the Caspian littoral states in Tehran where Ahmadinejad, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Vladimir Putin will discuss what happens next - from technical aspects of Iran's nuclear program to Bush's warmongering impetus. Anyway, Ahmadinejad made it clear: Iran is "ready to negotiate with all countries". The same could not be said about the Bush White House........]

To read Escobar's entire article, please click here.

Why Did John Kerry Not Speak Up and Defend Free Speech?

I was shocked that John Kerry did not ask them to allow this fellow to stay in the room if he was willing to "listen" while Kerry answered his questions.

But for Kerry not to speak up when six police officers held him down and tasered him....now that is reprehensible.

I expect anyone that I vote for to allow free speech and protest police brutality.

Iraqi PM stands up to Blackwater

The Iraqi PM is standing up to Blackwater, Condi Rice, and the Bush Administration. Blackwater has stopped providing security for the state department for now. Blackwater is run by an ardent Bush supporter so our Secretary of State, Condi Rice, dropped everything to pressure Iraq to allow Blackwater to continue it's operations in Iraq. We mustn't allow a loyal Bush Republican to lose any profits simply because some Iraqi citizens were killed. (source1 source 2)

The Iraqi PM is correct--there are other security forces the U.S. government can hire if the Bush Administration insists on private security. The Bush Administraton obviously does not believe our military is qualified to continue it's time honored role of guarding our diplomatic corps.

Truth is Blackwater has abused it's privileges time and again....In the Sunday incident it was reported that 8-11 civilians were dead. The number of death is now at 20 civilians in this latest incident involving Blackwater. The Iraqi government states that this is the seventh incident involving Blackwater.

The Iraqi people want Blackwater to leave their country. Blackwater should leave Iraq.

Come to think of it....Blackwater should leave America too. They were used in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. In California activists are already starting to fight Blackwater's presence and their new airfield in that state. I surely don't want Blackwater patrolling my streets in the event of a disaster such as a hurricane.

Congressman Waxman has promised investigations on Blackwater. I hope these investigations will begin asap. Blackwater needs to be held accountable.

If you want to really know what Blackwater is and the serious implications to our democracy are presented by this mercenary army you should plan to attend the Naro Cinema's Green Film Festival on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7:15 p.m. Investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill, (author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army) will lead a discussion on Blackwater. For more information go to narocinema.com

Republican Federal Prosecutor Arrested in Child Sex Sting.

Republican John David R. Atchison, a 53 year old assistant U.S. attorney from Florida was arrested in Detroit for soliciting for sex with a five-year-old girl. Atchison has been charged with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity.

An undercover detective, acting as the child's mother, allegedly made arrangements for the sexual encounter between Atchison and her 5-year-old daughter. When the undercover detective worried about physical injury to her daughter Atchison allegedly stated, "I am always gentle and loving; not to worry, no damage ever, no rough stuff ever. I only like it soft and nice....Just gotta go slow and very easy. I've done it plenty."

Atchison is a registered Republican, lives in Gulf Breeze, FLA. and is president of a youth athletics organization. (News Source)

Green Screen Film Festival Starts Today

5th annual

green screen film festival

Tuesday, Sept 18 thru Thursday, Oct 4

NARO Expanded Cinema

Area Premieres with presenters, authors and discussion following the films
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Tues, Sept 18 (with discussion) and Fri - Sun, Sept 21-23
THE 11TH HOUR The "eleventh hour" is the last moment when change is possible. Exploring how we've arrived at this moment in time-how we live, how we impact the earth's ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course-this documentary features experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev; renowned scientist Stephen Hawking; former head of the CIA R. James Woolsey; sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau; and over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who discuss the most important issues that face our planet and people. Narrated and co-written by Leonardo DiCaprio. Directed and co-written by sisters Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners. (95mins) http://www.11thhouraction.com

Speakers on Tuesday, 9/18 include Chip Trepte, climate scientist at NASA; Tom Ellis, TCC faculty; Karen Burns, Virginia Marine Science Center; Bruce Friedrich, PETA.

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Thurs, Sept 20 at 7:15pm
An Evening with author Bruce Franklin
The author of "The Most Important Fish in the Sea" speaks with film clips and a visual presentation.
Bruce Franklin is an English professor at Rutgers University and an author of 18 books. He's a former SAC navigator, tugboat mate, and avid fisherman. His newest book is the story of a little fish, the menhaden, that is vital to the health of the Chesapeake Bay but is being decimated by Omega Protein for chicken feed and industrial oils. http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~hbf/

Reception for the author at Azar's (20th & Colley Ave) at 5:30pm.

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Friday, Sept 21 from 6:00 until 8:00pm
U.N. International Day of Peace Celebration held worldwide and locally at Ghent Unitarian Church at 739 Yarmouth St.
http://www.hamptonroadsnetworkfornonviolence.org/

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Tues, Sept 25 (with discussion) and Fri -Thurs, Sept 28 - Oct 4
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON Between 1968 and 1972, the world watched in awe each time an American spacecraft voyaged to the moon. Now, for the first time, archival material from the original NASA film footage, much of it never-before-seen, is combined with interviews with surviving astronauts, who emerge as eloquent, witty, emotional and very human. The exclusive NASA film footage includes astonishing space shots re-mastered from the original film rolls to reveal the Apollo program with a visual clarity and impact it has never had before. Winner of the World Cinema Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by David Sington. (100 mins) http://www.intheshadowofthemoon.com/

Tues, Sept 25: Discussion following film led by Mark Shuart, Ph.D. the Director for Strategic Communications and Education at NASA Langley Research Center.

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Wed, Sept 26 at 7:15pm
An Evening with author Jeremy Scahill
The author of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" speaks with film clips from Iraq for Sale and Shadow Company. Jeremy Scahill is a Polk Award-winning investigative journalist who has reported extensively from Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, and Nigeria. He is a frequent contributor to The Nation magazine and a correspondent for the national radio and television show Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman (weekdays at 10:00am on WNSB-FM, 91.1). http://www.blackwaterbook.com/

Reception for the author at Azar's (20th & Colley Ave) at 5:30pm.

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Thurs, Sept 27 at 7:15pm (with discussion)
MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPE Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of "manufactured landscapes"-quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams-Edward Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization's materials and debris. Director Jennifer Baichwal follows Burtynsky through China, as he shoots the evidence and effects of that country's massive industrial revolution. With breathtaking sequences, such as the opening tracking shot through an almost endless Chinese factory, the filmmakers also extend the narratives of Burtynsky's photographs, allowing us to meditate on our impact on the planet and witness both the epicenters of industrial endeavor and the dumping grounds of its waste. (90 mins) http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/

Introduction by Brooks Johnson, Curator of Photography and 21st Century Art at Chrysler Museum.
Discussion following the film led by Bill Gibson, Ph.D. who teaches environmental policy analysis and politics of the Asian Pacific Rim at Va Wesleyan College.
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Thurs, Sept 27 at 9:00pm at The Boot Restaurant - free admission
THE FUTURE OF FOOD The truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. Directed by Deborah Koons Garcia, the film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today. (100 mins)
The Boot is located at 123 W 21st St - visit http://www.insidetheboot.com
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Friday, Sept 28 from 5:00 to 8:00pm
Green Screen Festival reception with live music and Virginia wine and beer at Downtown Farmer's Market next to MacArthur Mall.

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Wed, Oct 3 at 7:15
EVERYTHING'S COOL! A Toxic Comedy This new film from the director of Blue Vinyl is about the efforts by a few visionaries to make America finally "get" global warming in the wake of the most dangerous chasm ever to emerge between scientific understanding and political action. While industry funded nay-sayers sing what just might be their swan song of pseudo- scientific deception, a group of self-appointed global warming messengers are on a high stakes quest to find the iconic image, the magic language, the points of leverage that will finally create the political will to move the United States from its reliance on fossil fuels to the new clean energy economy - AND FAST. Hold on... this is bigger than changing your light bulbs. (95 mins)
http://www.everythingscool.org
Discussion to follow film with speakers to be announced.

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Tues, October 9 at 7:15pm
An Evening with author Ramzy Baroud
The veteran Palestinian/American journalist, producer at Al Jazeera International News, and author of the new book "The Second Palestinian Intifada," will speak, with film clips from Peace, Propoganda, and the Promised Land.
Reception for the author at Azar's (20th & Colley Ave) at 5:30pm.
http://www.ramzybaroud.net/

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Regular film admission for each event - discount ticket books are accepted.
For more info visit www.narocinema.com or call 625-6275

The Gathering of the Eagles....

This group should probably change the name to The Gathering of the Turkeys. Despite a nationwide plea to come to Washington to counterdemonstrate against Americans who want us to withdraw from Iraq....it looks like approximately 50 folks showed up. Reminds me of the group of us we gathered up to "greet" Ashcroft when he came to Norfolk a few years back....and we were local and put our group together at the last minute.

This group has never held their own independent march because they "know" that the MAJORITY of the American people want OUT of Iraq....They simply try to whip on the extreme right wing neocon base with lies that the Vietnam Memorial is going to be attacked in order to get some of them in a frenzy. The folks that want the U.S. out of Iraq is not an extremist movement it's middle America that wants out of Iraq. You can attend one major demonstration in D.C. against the Iraq Occupation and you'll see families marching together....

It's too bad that the America people are being ignored....but as more and more folks join together (and this includes many moderate Republicans) our voices will get louder. The people won't tolerate the government continuing to ignore us.if it was we would already be out of Iraq.

Blackwater Banned From Iraq

The Iraq Interior Ministry banned Blackwater from operating in Iraq after actions from Blackwater on Sunday resulted in the deaths of 8 civilians. 14 civilians were wounded. Iraq has also stated it plans to prosecute those involved. (story here)

Blackwater has recently brought airfields throughout the United States and has purchased planes that will be outfitted for and armed for military use. In California, Americans are already protesting a Blackwater airfield there. (source1, source 2)

Note: Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, is coming to Norfolk for the Naro Cinema's Green Screen Film Festival (Wed. Sept 26, 7:15 pm). He will be using film and photographs to illustrate his Blackwater discussion. Questions from the audience will also take place. If you are curious about Blackwater and why many Americans are alarmed by this company you should plan on attending.

Police Harrassment in Norfolk VA

If you are white and still believe that racism is a "thing of the past" I invite you to watch this video. This is something that occurs time and again throughout America in black communities. I have never witnessed such an event in a white neighborhood. People should not have to tolerate such behavior from public servants who are supposed to be our "peace keepers."

Police actions such as these tarnish what the police should stand for. We always hear how citizens should "respect" police officers. When police officers act like bullies it creates fear and anger....not respect.

It should be noted that it was a hot day....for citizens to be stuffed into a car with the windows up and no air conditioning is abusive if not torture. It is even more infuriating when the citizens are "law abiding" and stopped for no reason (except the color of their skin and the neighborhood they live in.) Police are often asked to arrest people who leave their pets in a hot car with the windows rolled up.



I hear that the last Norfolk City Council was "very interesting." Members of the black community were there to complain about the police harassment. Members of the white community also showed up wearing guns on their hips. It seems that the Norfolk police harassed a white man in Norfolk who was wearing a gun on his hip. (Virginia law now allows a handgun to be carried as long as it is not concealed.) The white man with a gun brought others to "support" him at the meeting. It is said that Norfolk City Council was never "adjourned" but that the city council members simply got up and left...leaving angry citizens both black and white. The citizens remained and had a citizens discussion about the Norfolk Police Force and their "bosses" the Norfolk City Council.

Maybe in the next council race some "real citizens" who actually live in the city of Norfolk will step forward to run for the City Council. It would be refreshing to see the citizens of Norfolk instead of developers and big business corporations represented for a change.

H/T to Alma Kessling and Alton Robinson, two Norfolk citizens who care about their city and its people.

Heckuva Job Bushie!

Things have not gotten much better over at FEMA. Remember "Brownie," the Bush political appointee with lots of prior experience with Arabian Horses and no disaster preparedness training. According to Bush, Brownie did a Heckuva Job being in charge of FEMA's work in NOLA after Hurricane Katrina hit.

Bushie, the eternal optimist, has appointed another loyal, inexperienced Republican--Brock Bierman--to be the Director of the Community Preparedness Division and the "Small State and Rural Advocate" in FEMA. Brock has no prior experience with disaster planning, disaster work, or police work. He has had prior experience with sheep however. (source)

Another Republican is speaking out.....

Alan Greenspan, a staunch Republican and recently retired U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman, states in his memoirs that the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion--OIL--is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” Greenspan says. (Source)

He also criticizes Bush for not paying attention to financial discipline. Bush ignored Greenspan's advice to veto "out-of-control" bills that sent the U.S. deeper into debt. "Little value was placed on rigorous economic policy debate or the weighing of long-term consequences," he writes of the Bush administration. Greenspan is a Republican who believes his party deserves to lose control of Congress because the Congressional Republicans "swapped principle for power" and "ended up with neither. (Source)

I respect Greenspan for finally speaking out. I wonder why these Republican critics usually wait until they retire to do it? It sure would have been helpful if they had spoken out before we invaded Iraq.....buzz, buzz.

89% Want Bush Impeached

According to the latest MSNBC internet poll 89% of Americans want BUSH IMPEACHED. Can you imagine the number that wants "Darth Vader" Cheney impeached?

WOW...now why is Congress NOT doing its job?

Impeachment does not even have to involve a lot of time or investigation. Cheney and Bush can both be impeached for simply ignoring a congressional subpoena....and they are guilty of that hands down.

Tell your Congress to start the Impeachment proceedings. IF the Republicans and some Lieberman Dems want to go on record as defying the will of the people well let them do it.

Buzz....Buzz....Buzz....

Any Doubt left that Lieberman is Cheney's Flunky?

These right wing neocon extremists are crazy!!! Maybe we can find a desert island and let the neo cons and the extremists play the Armageddon game by themselves and not expect us to pay for it or suffer from it?

Citizens have no voice in our Congress

A citizen is taken out of the room for simply asking that Petraeus get sworn in.....the Senators sure don't like any citizen having a voice during "their" hearings.....maybe they should have a microphone so that citizens have an "opportunity" to speak either before or after the hearing.....if the Senators wanted to leave the room to do other business they could but the Senate should allow hearing time and make sure that cameras stay on for a specified amount of time.....maybe then we wouldn't have to fight to be seen or heard.....

When a citizen is willing to be arrested in an attempt to be heard something important is being left out of the dialogue. Better yet....some of these citizens should have an opportunity to have their questions asked asked the hearing...

NewsFlash--Did Congress or the General Betray Us?

Ray McGovern was thrown out of the Joint House Committee (Armed Forces and Foreign Affairs) hearings yesterday for speaking out the statement, "Swear him in." McGovern was surprised that the Democratic Chairman Ike Skelton had not had General Petraeus sworn in prior to his testimony. Truthout has McGovern's story here.

It is shocking to "discover" that the testimony of General Petraeus was able to testify before two House Committees and two Senate Committees and he was not sworn in for "any" of his testimony.

The Democratic party made a big deal over the issue of the Republican Congress allowing Bush's representatives to testify before Congress without taking the oath. We were assured by the Democratic leaders that this would not occur while they were in charge. True to their word the Democrats insisted on Attorney General Gonzalez taking the oath before he testified.

Senator Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (which was NOT involved in the Petraeus hearings) held hearings and insisted that Attorney General Gonzalez testify under oath. According to Leahy, "Testimony should be on the record and under oath. That's the formula for true accountability." (Source)

So why did the house committee chairs--Rep. Ike Skelton(House Armed Services) and Rep. Tom Lantos (House Foreign Affairs)-- and the Senate committee chairs--Sen. Joe Biden (Foreign Relations) and Sen. Carl Levin (Armed Forces)--allow General Petraeus to give testimony without being sworn in?

We were promised that the Democratic party would run Congress appropriately. It was the Democrats who criticized the Republicans for allowing testimony while NOT under oath.

Why did the Democrats insist on Attorney General Gonzalez taking the oath before his testimony and NOT General Petraeus?

Maybe the General needs to come back and present his testimony under oath. It might be a good idea to bring his boss--Centcom Chief Admiral Fallon--to the hearings also.

No End In Sight

If you missed the wonderful evening at the Naro Tuesday night the film--No End In Sight--is definitely worth seeing. It's the finest film about the Iraq War and will give everyone a good idea of how we have come to this quagmire. It's definitely well researched. If you work for a living, (and if you have a family) this film will give you the kind of information that the most ardent news junkie has....and in a short few hours instead of weeks/months of research. An additional plus is that the film is well edited, uses great footage, so it's not a boring documentary of just talking heads. You can find the show times here.

Tuesday's nite viewing was special since David Swanson (afterdowningstreet.org) was there to talk and facilitate the discussion after the film. It was definitely a fine discussion. I am becoming more impressed with American citizens. It seems that the majority of us have woken from a deep slumber and nothing the corporate media is "propagandizing" these days is sticking. Folks are definitely starting to put 2 and 2 together.

I was surprised to find that the audience speakers were definitely not going to support Hillary Clinton should she become the Presidential nominee. Hillary is viewed as too far to the right and a "corporate girl." I believe the "corporate girl" moniker is accurate. Folks "love" Dennis Kucinich but unless everyone who "loves" him sends him $100. we don't believe he stands much of a chance given the media blackout on his campaign. (And when the media does decide to cover something it is usally biased in an anti-Kucinich manner).

Folks loved the idea proposed by David Swanson that Edwards and Obama joining together now to form a ticket because this would head off the establishment/corporate Democrats hope of having her be the nominee...the corporate torch bearer so to speak.

Bush's INJustice Dept. REFUSES to Prosecute Corporate Executives

If you are rich in Bush's America you don't even have to go to court when you break the law and "fund" terrorists groups. Here's the source

BTW, in case you have forgotten, it was Italian Fascist Mussolini who believed that the merger of government and corporations equaled fascism.

If only Congress would do their duty and defend the constitution we could restore the rule of law in America. Congress needs to Impeach these criminals starting with Bush and Cheney.

Another Republican miscreant....

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican Governor of California) has effectively muzzled the people of California. Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have allowed the citizens of California to vote on as "advisory measure" to ask President Bush to set a timetable for withdrawing the troops.

His excuse? That the measure would further "divide" the people of California. Fact is, none of the Washington insiders want the people to have a voice....because the majority of the people are speaking loud and clear...the message to all "Washington insiders" is to withdraw from Iraq asap.

Failure to head our message is going to surprise and disappoint a lot of folks.

Local Happening--Tuesday Nite

The first film of its kind to chronicle the reasons behind Iraq's descent into guerilla warfare, warlord rule, criminality, and anarchy, writer/director Charles Ferguson's jaw-dropping documentary is an insider's tale of wholesale incompetence, recklessness and venality. Ferguson examines how the principal errors of U.S. policy largely created the insurgency and chaos that engulf Iraq today. And it asks the question: How did a group of men with little or no military experience, knowledge of the Arab world, or personal experience in Iraq come to make such flagrantly debilitating decisions? (102 mins) Guest speaker on Tues, 9/11: David Swanson, the Washington Director of Democrats.com and of ImpeachPAC.org. He is co-founder of the AfterDowningStreet.org coalition, a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, and past Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 Presidential campaign. His website is www.davidswanson.org. Pre-film reception at Azar's (at 20th & Colley Ave) at 5:30pm.

Film will be shown at 7:15 p.m. at the Naro Cinema.
1507 Colley Ave
Norfolk VA, 23517
757-625-6276

The Mood in the Streets

All elected officials better be wary....the mood on the streets is getting angrier....

It used to be whenever I had a "progressive" sign up in my yard it would be gone within a few days. My two current signs --"Support the Troops End the War"--have been up for over two months....No one is bothering them.

This morning as I sipped my coffee a man in a white truck stopped by. He wanted to know where he could get a sign like mine. I had a spare sign I was happy to give him. We talked for about 10 mins. He said he thought Bush and Cheney needed to be taken to court and tried for treason.

Whenever I go out in my Impeach Bush/Cheney t-shirts no one glares at me. In fact, perfect strangers give me a thumbs up, a verbal love that shirt, etc etc.....

But the Democrats better not crow....the anger is turning on them too. None of us is happy that the Democrats remain spineless. We are sick of both parties...they both seem to have sold out to the corporate interests. The people would be ecstatic if we had a second party in this country to choose from....a party that represented "us" not the corporate elite.

If the Democrats don't get it together, if they don't stop funding Bush/Cheney's Iraqi occupation and insist on withdrawal....If they don't do what is necessary to STOP Bush/Cheney from invading Iran....If they don't get it together and pass Net Neutrality.....and this is just for starters....they are all going to be in for a big surprise come voting time.

Too many of us have had it. We are no longer going to vote for the "lesser evil." It gets us no where. We are ready for a change in our government. If the Democrats won't do it....well then maybe we will start putting up our own J. Blows to get elected....

If the Dems don't wake up they are going to find that they have shot themselves in the foot!!!

We Need A Presidential Candidate...

Who is not afraid to run an ad like this!!