page. So nothing new today. The next new page will be
Wednesday. Sorry.
6pm West Coast and 9pm in the East
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- *Permanent Headline* More die in Iraq
- Serbia edging closer to nationalism once again?
- Historical proof that Republicans are weak on terror
- Bush dishonors Iraq vets by not mentioning the
word "war" on third anniversary of the war
- Cheney claims that there is no crime big enough
that can get someone fired from the White House
- White House in deep over Libby trial
- Wealthy conservationists lobbying insurance
companies to purchase endangered rain forests
- Canadian senator rips US family a new one
- Atheism now fastest growing demographic in
America
- East African Rift Zone is going bonkers
Saturday off and finally got some intramural softball games in. We won both of them and I hit my first
homer in a game since high school. I rule. Oh, and go see "V for Vendetta," it's good.
throughout Iraq, US contitues its "largest assault in three years" on
insurgents
Excerpt:
Iraqi politicians still had not formed a government more than three months after landmark
elections for the country's first permanent post-invasion parliament, but they announced an
agreement on naming a Security Council to deal with key matters while negotiations proceed.
With the war starting its fourth year, the 133,000 American troops on the ground inside Iraq was
nearly a third more than took part in the campaign to oust Saddam Hussein that began in the
early hours of March 20, 2003.
At least 2,314 U.S. military personnel have died in the war, which is estimated to have cost $200
billion to $250 billion so far. President Bush says about 30,000 Iraqis have been killed, while
others put the toll far higher.
I would put the toll far higher considering that the city of Baghdad lone is averaging 1,000 murders a
month. That's just murders from lawlessness unrelated to sectarian violence and war. Since the bombing
of the Golden Dome last month Iraq has averaged over 1,000 deaths a week in just sectarian violence--not
even insurgent related--but civil war related.
Bush said 30,000 Iraqis had been killed about 6 months ago. Tens of thousands more have died since
then. Statistically speaking, the war has been raging for three years now (36 months), so if we go with just
murder rates alone that is 36,000 civilian dead. Add to this the 4 weeks of sectarian violence and that
brings us to an even 40,000. Plus Bush's estimate from six months ago that 30,000 had died as a result of
the US which brings us to a total of 70,000... How many had died as a result of insurgents in that time?
400-500 a week, maybe?
36 months x 4 weeks = 144 weeks. 144 weeks x 400 (conservative estimate) = 57,600 dead.
For a grand total of 126,000 Civilian deaths as a result of the US invasion. Even Saddam couldn't do that
in 4 years.
Excerpt:
One of Iraq's most pro-western figures and an ex-prime minister yesterday became the first of
its leaders to express what most of his compatriots fear: the country is in the grip of a "terrible"
civil war.
Iyad Allawi's acknowledgement of the violence sweeping the nation was not the sort of tribute
America or Britain were hoping for on the eve of today's third anniversary of their invasion.
John Reid, the Defence Secretary, who was visiting British troops in Basra yesterday, had
argued that those predicting that Iraq was heading towards civil war were siding with terrorists.
But Mr Allawi, chosen by coalition forces to lead Iraq when its sovereignty was restored in 2004
and the leader who supported their assaults on Najaf and Fallujah, was adamant.
"We are losing each day an average of 50 to 60 people throughout the country, if not more," he
said. "If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is. Iraq is in the middle of a crisis.
Maybe we have not reached the point of no return yet, but we are moving towards this point.
We are in a terrible civil conflict now."
See, those that are there know exactly what's going on. Our President and his cabinet will just continue to
lie to us in hopes that things will change. They will never admit a mistake or defeat or accept responsibility
for anything.
Excerpt:
How many contractors does it take to haul a pile of tree branches? If it's government work, at
least four: a contractor, his subcontractor, the subcontractor's subcontractor, and finally, the
local man with a truck and chainsaw.
If the job is patching a leaking roof, the answer may be five contractors, or even six. At the
bottom tier is a Spanish-speaking crew earning less than 10 cents for every square foot of blue
tarp installed. At the top, the prime contractor bills the government 15 times as much for the
same job.
For the thousands of contractors in the Katrina recovery business, this is the way the system
works -- a system that federal officials say is the same after every major disaster but that local
government officials, watchdog groups and the contractors themselves say is one reason that
costs for the hurricane cleanup continue to swell.
Can't say that I didn't see this coming. Even when things are at their worst you'll find us at our worst too.
nationalism, young people roll their eyes, join rest of Europe and move
on
Excerpt:
A farewell rally for Milosevic in front of the parliament building here Saturday, attended by
around 80,000 predominantly older people, put wind in the sails of the nationalists who already
enjoy the support of almost half the electorate, according to recent polls.
Two hours later, pro-democracy forces could muster only a few hundred younger
demonstrators at a nearby square to celebrate what they hoped was the end of an era, but
feared might signal its rebirth.
I am leaning towards going back to Europe to coach and play at least one more year of professional
baseball. Specifically I want to go to the Adriatic and the Balkans. Probably Croatia or Montenegro.
Which one will be decided by how Serbia deals with this situation.
The youth have better things to do that to fawn over Authoritarian regimes of Tito and Milosovic. The draw
of the EU is too great. The old people there only know of hardship and war and it is almost as if they are
comforted by it; still brain washed by the soviet propaganda of their own youth.
rolls in grave, 4.2 earthquake measured
Excerpt:
A judge has stopped sales of the late Notorious B.I.G’s album Ready to Die after a jury decided
the title track sampled another song without permission.
The jury at the court in Nashville, Tenn. on Friday awarded $4.2 million US in damages to the two
music companies that own the rights to the recording of the 1992 song Singing in the Morning
by the Ohio Players.
“We’ve just been battling this for such a long time,” said Armen Boladian, owner of both
companies. “We knew we were right.”
The judge’s ruling also affects internet downloads and radio play of the album and title song by
Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace.
Boladian brought charges against Bad Boy Entertainment head and producer Sean (Diddy)
Combs, who produced the album.
“We think [the verdict] is without merit,” said Jay Bowen, a lawyer representing Combs and his
companies.
Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls, shot to fame in the early 1990s after being taken on by
Combs. The New York rapper’s two albums – the breakthrough Ready to Die and the
posthumous Life After Death – sold nearly eight million copies in the United States.
So, how is what Biggie did any different than what every rapper from Grandmaster Flash to that dumbass
50 Cent have done? Rap and hip hop is centered around samples of other people's music. Is this ruling
going to set the precedent that all rap music will be illegal to create, sell and own?
Article #1: President wants Senate to hurry with new anti-terrorism laws
President Clinton urged Congress Tuesday to act swiftly in developing anti-terrorism legislation
before its August recess.
"We need to keep this country together right now. We need to focus on this terrorism issue,"
Clinton said during a White House news conference.
But while the president pushed for quick legislation, Republican lawmakers hardened their
stance against some of the proposed anti-terrorism measures.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, doubted that the Senate would rush to action
before they recess this weekend. The Senate needs to study all the options, he said, and trying
to get it done in the next three days would be tough.
One key GOP senator was more critical, calling a proposed study of chemical markers in
explosives "a phony issue."
Taggants value disputed
Clinton said he knew there was Republican opposition to his proposal on explosive taggants,
but it should not be allowed to block the provisions on which both parties agree.
"What I urge them to do is to be explicit about their disagreement, but don't let it overcome the
areas of agreement," he said.
The president emphasized coming to terms on specific areas of disagreement would help move
the legislation along. The president stressed it's important to get the legislation out before the
weekend's recess, especially following the bombing of Centennial Olympic Park and the crash
of TWA Flight 800.
"The most important thing right now is that they get the best, strongest bill they can out -- that
they give us as much help as they can," he said.
Hatch blasts 'phony' issues
Republican leaders earlier met with White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta for about an hour
in response to the president's call for "the very best ideas" for fighting terrorism.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, emerged from the
meeting and said, "These are very controversial provisions that the White House wants. Some
they're not going to get."
Hatch called Clinton's proposed study of taggants -- chemical markers in explosives that could
help track terrorists -- "a phony issue."
"If they want to, they can study the thing" already, Hatch asserted. He also said he had some
problems with the president's proposals to expand wiretapping.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, said it is a mistake if Congress leaves
town without addressing anti-terrorism legislation. Daschle is expected to hold a special
meeting on the matter Wednesday with Congressional leaders.
Interesting, I had forgotten about this. Republicans can charge the Democratic party as being week on
terror but history doesn't lie, but they do.
Article #2: Congress reached compromise on anti-terrorism bill
By Friday, the first anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, Congress is expected to pass an
anti- terrorism bill which addresses some, though not all, of the concerns the bombing raised
over Americans' safety.
Congressional leaders, flanked by survivors and relatives of victims of the Oklahoma City
bombing, unveiled compromise legislation Monday to increase federal powers to fight
terrorism and limit appeals by death-row inmates.
"I have a hole in my skull and a plastic left eye. The other one not is not all that good ... and
other parts that don't work so well, but folks, I'm alive," said Martin Cash, a survivor of the
Oklahoma City bombing.
"I have a hole in my skull and a plastic left eye. The other one not is not all that good ... and
other parts that don't work so well, but folks, I'm alive,"
-- Martin Cash, survivor
As the trial nears for the accused, those who lost relatives in the bombing say the proposed
law should put the concerns of victims above those of terrorists.
"We have forgotten that anyone who murdered has relinquished rights for compassion," said
Diane Leonard, the widow of a Secret Service agent killed in the bombing.
Only one element of the anti-terrorism bill has a potential effect on the Oklahoma City case. It
would limit the number and duration of appeals a convicted death row inmate could file.
President Clinton has expressed concern over the death penalty provision, but Senate
Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah said he had spoken with the president about the
provision, and feels confident his objection is not strong enough to elicit a veto.
Hatch said the compromise bill would prevent international terrorist organizations from raising
money in the United States and provide for the swift deportation of international terrorists.
The demand for an anti-terrorism bill precedes Oklahoma City and was shaped by the attacks on
Pan Am flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland and the bombing of the World Trade
Center.
The bill, which would cost $1 billion over four years, also calls for "tagging" plastic explosives
to better trace them. The bill calls for a study on tagging methods for other explosives such as
fertilizer and black powder. Critics say the study provision is a concession to groups opposed
to restrictions on explosive materials.
The Republicans also dropped the additional wire-tap authority the Clinton administration
wanted. U.S. Attorney general Janet Reno had asked for "multi-point" tapping of suspected
terrorists, who may be using advanced technology to outpace authorities.
Rep. Charles Schumer, D-New York, said technology is giving criminals an advantage.
"What the terrorists do is they take one cellular phone, use the number for a few days, throw it
out and use a different phone with a different number," he said. "All we are saying is tap the
person, not the phone number."
Still, Schumer said the bill is "better than nothing" and should get some Democratic votes.
President Clinton asked Congress to give him the anti- terrorism bill by the first anniversary of
the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19. And he'll get it. While it might not be all the president
wants, administration officials indicate it's a bill he can sign.
Yup, just compromising our safety because back then the terrorist threat was the solidly Republican
groups of the militant religious right. The Republicans don't care about our safety, they just want to use
our fear to solidify their power.
mentioning the word "war"
Nothing to see here."
Excerpt:
President Bush marked the anniversary of the Iraq war Sunday by touting the efforts to build
democracy there and avoiding any mention of the daily violence that rages three years after he
ordered an invasion.
The president didn't utter the word "war."
"We are implementing a strategy that will lead to victory in Iraq," the president assured a public
that is increasingly skeptical that he has a plan to end the fighting after the deaths of more than
2,300 U.S. troops.
Bush did not mention the insurgent attacks, the car bombs or the mounting Iraqi deaths in a
two-minute statement to reporters outside the White House after returning from a weekend at
Camp David. Avoiding the word "war," he called the day "the third anniversary of the beginning
of the liberation of Iraq."
Gee, that doesn't sound like Orwellian doublespeak to me or anything. What a tool. There is a reason
why he is at a 37% approval rate nationally. Heck, he is even has a 37% approval rating in the most
Republican state in the union, Indiana! Speaking of Indiana...
Democrats still don't have any balls
Excerpt:
This month, the Indianapolis Star released poll findings that Bush's approval rating among
Indiana voters stood at 37 percent -- a drop of 18 points over the past year. The numbers
echoed national polls, but were particularly shocking in a state that has not voted for a
Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, and where Democratic presidential contenders
often do not bother to campaign.
''A 37 percent approval rating in Indiana for a Republican president is unheard of," said Brian
Howey, who runs a newsletter for Indiana state political insiders. ''Those are Bill Clinton or John
Kerry numbers in Indiana. So there is something seriously awry going on right now."
In scattered rural diners and small-town restaurants adorned with 9/11-vintage American flag
posters, support for the troops remains high. But many in Indiana also say the war has not
turned out the way they thought it would three years ago, and they question whether Bush has
what it takes to lead the troops into a happy ending.
Bush can't even win the hearts and minds at home. How is he ever going to do it were they didn't even
start out liking him?
is greater job security there than at the Post Office; there is literally
nothing you can do that can get you fired from there
Excerpt:
Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday dismissed suggestions that the Bush White House,
hampered by a weak response to Hurricane Katrina and stumbles on policy questions, needs a
shake-up.
"I don't think we can pay any attention to that kind of thing," Cheney said on CBS "Face the
Nation." "The president has got a job to do. ... He ignores the background noise that's out there
in the polls that are taken on a daily basis."
Did you mean "oblivious to," rather than "he ignores..."?
Bush's job approval in March was at 37 percent, which tied for his lowest rating in the AP-Ipsos
poll. Senior Republicans and others have said the Bush team may need an infusion of fresh
blood and ideas.
It's at 33% according to Zogby and 34% according to Gallop. What does it take to lose your job at teh
White House? When that Allen guy was arrested for stealing $5000+ from businesses around DC they
didn't even fire him.
Libby's trial
Excerpt:
Lawyers for Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide are signaling they may delve
deeply at his criminal trial into infighting among the White House, the CIA and the State
Department over pre- Iraq war intelligence failures.
In a prelude to a possible defense, the lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby also are suggesting
that the State Department — not Libby — may be to blame for leaking the identity of covert CIA
officer Valerie Plame to the media.
Court papers filed late Friday raise the possibility a trial could become politically embarrassing
for the Bush administration by focusing on the debate about whether the White House
manipulated intelligence to justify the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Let's get to that speedy trial already. This crap should have happened two years ago. Right to a speedy
trial my ass.
forests to preserve them, say it would beneficial fro insurance
companies to purchase the Amazon for around $50 billion
Excerpt:
Eliasch, who is valued at £355m in The Sunday Times Rich List, is believed to have paid about
£8m for his jungle park in Brazil. He plans to visit again next month.
“The Amazon is the lung of the world,” he said last week. “It provides 20% of the world’s oxygen
and 30% of the fresh water.” He is now lobbying insurance companies to follow his lead with
billions of dollars of their own money.
“In theory you can perhaps buy the Amazon for $50 billion [£28.5 billion],” he said. “It would be a
very quick payback because a hurricane like Katrina will cost them a similar amount in payouts.
“You can plot a direct correlation between cutting down trees which absorb carbon dioxide and
the global warming and extreme conditions which lead to hurricanes like Katrina.”
It makes sense to me. The insurance companies aren't going to go for it though because they are headed
by retard-Republicans with MBAs (like Bush). Bush's MBA told him that it was better to ave $71 million and
not maintain the levees around New Orleans and that decision has cost us $500 billion in destruction and
rebuilding costs.
Insurance companies would rather pay out a few hundred billion dollars a year in hurricane damage than
pay $50 billion once to help keep hurricanes at bay.
basically bankrupting them, and yet do not see that Muslim extremists are now doing the exact same thing
to us? Debt ceiling is now at $9 trillion. Lame.
luxury-galore awaited terror suspects
Excerpt:
Palestinian guards confirmed yesterday that Ahmed Saadat, a leading militant captured by
Israeli troops in the raid, kept birds and flowers in his quarters. Western officials said that
Saadat in effect used other prisoners as “domestic staff”.
An official told The Times that Fuad Shobaki, the alleged moneyman behind a 2002 weapons
shipment intercepted by Israel, smoked up to five Cuban cigars a day and was known as “The
Brigadier” to inmates and staff. He was also seized.
“Saadat and Shobaki were very much in charge,” one prison source said. “These guys were
running the prison. They did what they wanted, when they wanted.”
Details of how prisoners allegedly broke the rules emerged yesterday as Palestinians protested
on the streets, accusing Britain and the US of colluding with Israel in the raid on Tuesday.
Palestinians are furious that Israeli troops took away six wanted men in total. Saadat, the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader, is suspected of ordering the assassination
of an Israeli Cabinet minister.
Even the baddest at OZ wish that they had it this good.
Canadian senator
Excerpt:
Coming to the defense of Canada's seal hunt, a Liberal senator has lashed out at the United
States' foreign policy, the Iraq war, the death penalty and the country's gun culture in an email
to an American family considering cancelling a vacation because they are opposed to the
"horrific" annual cull.
"What I find 'horrific' about your country is the daily killing of innocent people in Iraq, the
execution of mainly black prisoners in U.S., the massive sale of guns to U.S. citizens every day,
the destabilization of the whole world by the aggressive foreign policy of U.S. government,
etc.," Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette wrote in an email response to the McLellan family of
Minnesota.
Just like Michael Moore said about his documentary "Roger and Me" about how everyone was horrified
over the lady skinning the bunnies in the film but never made a mention of the man who had lost his job
and was shot by the Flint, MI police.
Even when Americans are well-intentioned they are stupid. We live a glass house, stop throwing stones,
you idiots!
Excerpt:
Cape St. George, a guided-missile cruiser, and Gonzalez, a guided-missile destroyer, were
conducting maritime security operations in the area as part of Combined Task Force 150, a
maritime coalition task force currently led by Royal Netherlands Navy Commodore Hank Ort,
when they spotted a suspect vessel towing two smaller skiffs heading west toward the coast.
As Gonzalez’s boarding teams prepared to conduct a routine boarding of the suspect vessel,
the two Norfolk, Va.-based Navy ships noticed the group of suspected pirates were brandishing
what appeared to be rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers.
The suspected pirates then opened fire on the Navy ships. Cape St. George and Gonzalez
returned fire with small arms in self-defense.
One suspected pirate was killed and a fire ignited aboard the main suspect vessel. Boarding
teams from Cape St. George and Gonzalez took twelve other suspects into custody, including
the five injured. The Navy boarding teams also confiscated an RPG launcher and automatic
weapons. No U.S. Sailors were injured in the engagement.
That would be like me picking a fight with an iceberg of polar bears. You don't bounce back from that.
than 10% identify themselves as non-religious
Excerpt:
The overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens profess some religious faith, although far fewer
attend worship services on a regular basis. The public square has become increasingly
dominated by religious (specifically, Christian) rhetoric, from the "values voters" of the 2004
presidential election to hot-button cultural issues that carry a religious edge -- abortion, gay
rights, stem-cell research, intelligent design, the right to die.
And yet at the same time a compelling undercurrent is at work. A study done by the Graduate
Center of the City University of New York found that the percentage of the population that
describes itself as "nonreligious" more than doubled from 1990 to 2001, from 14.3 million to 29.4
million people. The only other group to show growth was Muslims.
"Right now, the fastest-growing religious identity in America is the nonreligious," says Dan
Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a Madison, Wis.-based
group that champions church-state separation and works to educate the public on nontheism.
A study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 16 percent of Americans (about
35 million) consider themselves "unaffiliated" -- a category that includes "unaffiliated
believers," "secularists" and atheists/agnostics.
When people see what happens so often in the name of God it kind of repulses them from wanting to be a
part of it.
I had to attend church and Youth Group every Sunday and Wednesday until I was 16. After that I had my
own choice of what I wanted to do. I chose sleeping in and football over getting up early and arguing
about the inconsistencies found in the Bible. I get enough of that at home.
I did attend a lot of Youth Group-related events. I saw a lot of really shitty Christian "rock" bands and
rolled my eyes in many a prayer circles. Every time I heard the same thing from the born-agains. They
always spoke of how there was this hole in their life that they needed filled and tried filling it with drugs, or
sex, or money only to find that God filled that hole in their life perfectly and have been good Christians
ever since.
Well, I don't have a hole in my life. I don't drink (never have), I don't smoke, use drugs, or get much action
(although I could certainly use more of that) all without the help of a belief in God. I don't have a hole in
my life. Instead, I have the complete opposite.
When I was a regular attendee of church I felt like my life was constrained, bordered and bounded. I had
to fit inside this exact mold according to church doctrine and that I was limited in my thoughts and actions.
I have been a non-believe since I was in 7th grade and I immediately felt free. I feel so free in my thoughts
and education now than I could ever imagine because I can question authority. I can search for my own
answers without being limited to the inconsistencies of the Bible for life's answers.
The Bible is incomplete, there are over 600 books that were left out of it that were written by the exact
same people who wrote the other books everyone quotes and lives by. Stories of Jesus' childhood that
would make you sick to follow him... I recommend reading the "Lost Books of the Bible" yourself.
Especially pay attention to the Gospels of Thomas.
The Bible was also written before there was even the concept of "zero". So, how right can they be about
the origins of the Universe, life and humanity?
100 in a week. Quit your bitching, Kauai.
Excerpt:
Geologist Dereje Ayalew and his colleagues from Addis Ababa University were amazed -- and
frightened. They had only just stepped out of their helicopter onto the desert plains of central
Ethiopia when the ground began to shake under their feet. The pilot shouted for the scientists
to get back to the helicopter. And then it happened: the Earth split open. Crevices began racing
toward the researchers like a zipper opening up. After a few seconds, the ground stopped
moving, and after they had recovered from their shock, Ayalew and his colleagues realized they
had just witnessed history. For the first time ever, human beings were able to witness the first
stages in the birth of an ocean.
How awesome is that? Geology is cool. Study it.
election, Stalinism for at least seven more years I guess
Excerpt:
Election authorities in Belarus said Monday that incumbent Alexander Lukashenko had won
more than 80% of the vote with all ballots counted in the country's president election to take a
landslide that had been widely predicted by both his supporters and opposition
representatives.
"Alexander Lukashenko has been elected for a third term," Lidiya Ermoshina told a news
conference, telling the assembled press that he had garnered 82.6% of the vote.
The former collective farm boss, who has been in power since 1994 and has been largely
criticized in the West for autocratic ways, was streets ahead of second-placed opposition
candidate Alexander Milinkevich, who received 6% of the vote and had forecast that his main
rival would sweep to an easy triumph before any ballots had even been cast. Chairman of
Liberal Democrats Sergei Gaidukevich and leader of the Social Democratic Party Gramada
Alexander Kozulin gained 3.5% and 2.3%, of the vote respectively.
You won't see the US do anything about this because Belarus doesn't have any oil. We might offer some
strong words but that is about it.
Only Japan and Cuba remain and I think that neither one of them should be there.
Japan loses 3 games, two of them to Korea and yet they still get to the championship game? Cuba is less
dubious but I feel that they didn't win enough to move on either.
I think they should mix the games around more so that the same teams don't face each other 3 times in
this. Winners and runners-up of pools should be switched around so that they don't face each other again
in later rounds unless it is the championship game. Just my opinion.
Also, I am bummed because I had picked the Dominican Republic and Korea to go all the way. Whoa is
me.
for all the marbles tonight.