Drinking Liberally®

Finally, a not yahoo legislator asks our yahoo Governor to take action to cut our oil addiction. But we need to get over our coal addiction as well. Will we find more creative alternative fuels and thus improve our air, land and water in the process? Let's hope so.

Because developing alternatives to oil imports must be a priority, Kentucky House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins has asked Gov. Ernie Fletcher to re-establish the state Energy Cabinet.

In a speech to the Energy and Environment Committee of the Southern Legislative Conference yesterday in Louisville, Adkins said he made the request to Fletcher in a letter Friday.

"Because the national energy crisis continues to escalate, I am now convinced that as state leaders, we must intensify our efforts to find a solution," Adkins told fellow Southern legislators at the Louisville Marriott Downtown.

Turning Kentucky's Office of Energy Policy into a cabinet "will send a clear message and unmistakable message that here in Kentucky we are serious about providing a leadership role in the national pursuit of energy independence."

Gov. Julian Carroll created the Energy Cabinet during the oil crisis of the 1970s to coordinate state efforts to develop coal gasification and liquefaction projects. But those projects faded and the cabinet was abolished in 1989.

Energy programs now are handled by the Office of Energy Policy within the Commerce Cabinet.

Making the agency a cabinet will ensure that programs and proposals to convert coal and agricultural products into fuels get constant attention at the highest level of state government, said Adkins, a Democrat from Sandy Hook.

"The United States is on the brink of, if not already in, an unprecedented transportation liquid fuels crisis," Adkins said. "If we as legislators do not aggressively chart a course of action, our country will lose its foothold as the world's superpower."

Posted by vicki at 10:11 AM | Comments (2)

Woo Hoo! Rev. Boyd is highly courageous and deserves high praise and profound respect. Has the worm begun to turn on the *religious* right? Enjoy this Sunday surprise in full here.

Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes.

The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?

After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns. [. . . ]

Mr. Boyd says he is no liberal. He is opposed to abortion and thinks homosexuality is not God’s ideal. The response from his congregation at Woodland Hills Church here in suburban St. Paul — packed mostly with politically and theologically conservative, middle-class evangelicals — was passionate. [. . .]

“More and more people are saying this has gone too far — the dominance of the evangelical identity by the religious right,” Mr. McLaren said. “You cannot say the word ‘Jesus’ in 2006 without having an awful lot of baggage going along with it. You can’t say the word ‘Christian,’ and you certainly can’t say the word ‘evangelical’ without it now raising connotations and a certain cringe factor in people.

“Because people think, ‘Oh no, what is going to come next is homosexual bashing, or pro-war rhetoric, or complaining about ‘activist judges.’ ”

Please read the whole thing. It is so gratifying

Posted by vicki at 03:14 PM | Comments (2)

After reading this account, and Gibson's acknowledgement of his vile behavior and hate-filled statements to police, the *real* Mel Gibson has at last revealed himself. Read the full NYTimes account here And a portion of the official police account (it was videotaped) from the TMZ.com site here

— The film star and director Mel Gibson apologized Saturday for belligerent behavior and for saying what he called “despicable” things that he does “not believe to be true” when he was arrested here on a drunken-driving charge early Friday.

But Mr. Gibson, in a statement, stopped short of addressing claims that he made virulently anti-Semitic remarks to an arresting officer, as described on a Web site that posted several pages of the sheriff’s report.

The sheriff’s report, carried on TMZ.com, a Web site owned by Time Warner, said Mr. Gibson had demanded to know if the officer, James Mee, was a Jew. During an obscenity-laced tirade, according to the report, Mr. Gibson also said “the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”

Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, declined to comment on the report. But he said the department would eventually disclose details of the arrest. “Nothing will be sanitized,” Mr. Whitmore said in a statement.

People associated with the case privately acknowledged the report’s authenticity, but they agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The report of Mr. Gibson’s outburst further disturbed some people who were already wary of what they saw as anti-Semitic overtones in his 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ,” and who believe that he has failed to disassociate himself clearly enough from remarks by his father denying the Holocaust.

Posted by vicki at 02:43 PM | Comments (2)

Israel does not target civillians. Israel has a right to defend itself. Precision guided missel strikes are aimed against Hezbollah only.

QANA, Lebanon, July 30 — A series of Israeli airstrikes in this small mountain town were the deadliest single attack in the war here so far.

[At least 56 people were killed, most of them children, The Associated Press reported.]

Rescue workers and neighbors worked frantically Sunday morning to find survivors among the wreckage of a house, where two large extended families were hiding in a garage. Six small children, their mouths open and full of dirt, were brought out and laid on stretchers.

"I felt as if I was turning around, and the earth was going up, and I was going into the earth," said Mohamed Chaloub, a father of five who was thrown into a doorway and managed to escape. All five of his children, including a 2-year-old child, were killed. His wife, sister and aunt were also killed.

Neighbors said they ran to the house after the first strike, around 1 a.m., and that they heard screams and tried to reach people trapped inside, but the strikes persisted and they could not reach them. Rescue workers pulled bodies of 22 people out of the rubble Sunday morning, but neighbors said more bodies were inside.

The strike came as thousands protested in Beirut and a mob of young men started breaking windows and damaging buildings.

Posted by vicki at 10:20 AM | Comments (1)

You have to see this HIGHlarious video. Ms Holmes Norton and Colbert square off, and neither one blinks. Comedy Central (channel 59) is a breath of fresh air. Stephan Colbert is a well known comedian, sort of like Rushbo, minus the hate and cover of *legitimacy.* Go!

Posted by vicki at 01:06 PM | Comments (3)

Watching Beirut die

We went to Beirut to film a TV show about the city's newly vibrant culinary and cultural scene. Then the bombs started falling, and we could only stand on the barricades of our hotel balcony and watch it all disappear -- again.

As if we care, in this country, when the Jewel of the Middle East, and a Democracy at that, dies. It is mortifying what we have allowed the U.S. and Israel to do to Lebanon in our names. Stop this destruction! It's out of control and unworthy of a decent people.

Posted by vicki at 12:43 PM | Comments (1)

Here is the official DL meeting place for Forcastle Fest (see post below) for Sat. night art, music and activism throw down.

Top a' the morning Liberals!

Okay, just to confirm -- We will meet at 8:00 (except for June who is going earlier) at the gravel parking lot across from the old Tumbleweed on Mellwood Avenue on Saturday Night. I don't know how close this is to the Mellwood Arts Center. But, if it's not within walking distance, we'll just ride over together. My cell is (send email to louisville@drinkingliberally.org to get the number).
Alright???

See you soon.

Peace Out,
Maria

Posted by vicki at 11:37 AM

CNN Headline News show, host Glenn Beck identified the current conflicts in the Middle East and India as evidence that "it is the end of days" and later described the conflicts as "World War III and the impending apocalypse." Beck also stated that "whether you like it or not, this is a religious war." As Media Matters also noted, Beck and former CIA officer Robert Baer had a similar discussion on the July 13 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck, during which Baer said: "We can see this spreading into other countries. We are much closer to Armageddon."

Posted by vicki at 03:33 PM | Comments (3)

Woo Hoo! I heard a report about this on NPR this morning and almost wrecked my car. They interviewed an anti-abortion Republican who is pro stem cell research who will vote Democrat in the fall. She said the Republicans have "made a mess of things" and set this country on the wrong path. More links contained in the blog here

NPR has a new survey on the House out today that was conducted by Democrat Stan Greenberg and Republican Glenn Bolger. This poll is particularly interesting because of the district level detail it offers on the generic ballot question. The poll only focused on the fifty most competitive districts this year, forty of which are held by Republicans, and ten of which are held by Democrats. Here are some of the findings:
In the fifty most competitive House districts this year, Democrats lead the generic ballot 48-41. While this is a smaller lead for Democrats than many national polls reveal, it is important to remember that this is primarily a survey of Republican-held.

When candidates are named across the fifty districts, Democrats lead 49-43.

Within the ten Democratic held districts, Democrats hold a whopping 60-29 advantage. This may only be a sample size of around 200, but these numbers show the tremendous strength of Democratic incumbents around the nation. We hold a 31-point generic ballot advantage in our ten most endangered seats? Amazing.

Within the "top tier" Republican held seats (not sure how many districts this included), Democrats hold a sizable 52-42 advantage in the generic ballot. These are the sort of numbers that make a takeover very likely.

Within the "bottom tier" of the competitive Republican held seats, Democrats still hold a generic advantage of 47-44. This is particularly amazing. This shows Democratic competitiveness across a wide swatch of districts.

Bush is at 45% "strong disapprove" in these districts, and only 24% "strong approve." Remember--these are in districts that Republicans hold.

Voters also indicate a high level of enthusiasm to vote, and Demcorats hold a significant edge in that category. However, I'll believe that when I see it, considering low turnout during the primary season so far.

Posted by vicki at 11:13 AM | Comments (1)

Bu$h and Congress need to call for an immediate cease fire. This mess has spiraled out of control and is intolerable. The military commanders in charge of the bombing of the UN outpost need to be relieved of duty and court marshalled. Kofi Annan needs to get on the phone to Bu$h and tell him to "stop this shit."

U.N. Says It Protested to Israel for 6 Hours During Attack That Killed 4 Observers in Lebanon

By WARREN HOGE
Published: July 27, 2006

UNITED NATIONS, July 26 — The United Nations said Wednesday that its top officials in New York and its officers on the ground in Lebanon made numerous calls on Tuesday to the Israeli mission and the Israeli military to protest repeated firing on its outpost in Lebanon where four unarmed observers ended up being killed.

Jane Holl Lute, the assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations, said at an emergency meeting of the Security Council that over the six-hour period in which the United Nations’ warnings were being conveyed to the Israelis, the observation post at Khiam, in southern Lebanon, continued to come under fire.

The firings persisted even after rescuers reached the hilltop site, she said, and in all it was subjected to 21 strikes, 11 of them aerial bombardments and at least 6 artillery rounds.

She described the observation post as “well known and clearly marked” and added that no Hezbollah activity was reported in the area.

The four dead observers were from China, Finland, Canada and Austria.

Ms. Lute said the United Nations became so alarmed by the continuing attacks that she enlisted Mark Malloch Brown, the deputy secretary general, to join her in placing the calls.

In Lebanon, Khaled Mansour, the United Nations spokesman, said that he and Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini, the commander of the United Nations force there, known as Unifil, had contacted Israeli military commanders repeatedly during the same period.

Posted by vicki at 08:20 AM | Comments (1)

OMG! This is hilarious. Thanks to June for the much needed laugh.

Click here

Posted by vicki at 11:07 AM | Comments (4)

Jeepers H. Christmas. This kook has been given his own show on CNN. What the hell were they thinking?

And he's far from alone

* As Media Matters for America has noted, on the July 12 edition of his CNN Headline News show, host Glenn Beck identified the current conflicts in the Middle East and India as evidence that "it is the end of days" and later described the conflicts as "World War III and the impending apocalypse." Beck also stated that "whether you like it or not, this is a religious war." As Media Matters also noted, Beck and former CIA officer Robert Baer had a similar discussion on the July 13 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck, during which Baer said: "We can see this spreading into other countries. We are much closer to Armageddon." On the July 18 edition of the program, Beck referred to the recent heat wave as "the apocalypse" and after showing a photo of a cat born with two faces, Beck said it was "further evidence, oh, yes, that the end of days is approaching quickly." He then asked: "How far away from the plague of locusts are we?" As Media Matters further noted, on the July 24 edition of the program, while discussing Iran, Beck said: "I truly believe these mullahs are far worse than Hitler. ... I believe these guys are biblically evil." He concluded: "We have a series starting tomorrow on the coming of the messiah."

Posted by vicki at 10:44 AM | Comments (4)

What a waste of jet fuel. One thing the U.S. and Israel are good at is blowing UP sh*t. Putting it back together? Not so much.

Discord over Rice 'ceasefire plan'
From: Agence France-Presse

July 25, 2006

LEBANESE parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri today rejected a ceasefire proposal by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice aimed at ending Israel's war on Hezbollah, an aide to the Lebanese official said.
A meeting between Ms Rice and Mr Berri, who is acting as an intermediary for the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group, was marked by "differences," a source close to Mr Berri said after the surprise visit to Beirut by the top US diplomat.

"There was no agreement because Rice insisted on a mechanism on a global settlement before a ceasefire," the source said on condition of anonymity.

"Rice set, as conditions for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Hezbollah to the Litani river and the deployment of an international force in the area which would, she said, allow the return of displaced people."

The Litani river is about 20km from the border with Israel, marking an area that is largely under the control of Hezbollah.

Mr Berri, a veteran Shiite politician, had called for a ceasefire to be followed by a prisoner exchange and for Israel to allow the return of Lebanese who had fled the south "before discussing a complete plan to resolve the conflict".

But Ms. Rice had refused to discuss an exchange of prisoners, the source said.

Hezbollah has demanded the release of Arab prisoners held in Israeli jails in return for two soldiers it captured in a deadly border raid on July 12 that triggered Israel's massive offensive on Lebanon.

Posted by vicki at 03:06 PM | Comments (2)

Sirota explains the protectionist nature of the press and its hostility to anti-establishment writers. Here's a snip from his column in Common Dreams on the way his book is being reviewed in the MSM.

The Times review then goes into a barrage of cliched attacks calling me, among others, a "Marxist" and a "high school newspaper editor." Then, unable to hide a classic op-ed page elitism, Harshaw displays outrage that "a blogger tries to write at length" in book format. Beyond the fact that this is a dishonest tactic attempting to make readers forget that, for instance, I regularly write at length for various magazines, the sentiment is telling. Harshaw seems to say: How dare anyone other than someone with New York Times or other Establishment credentials get to write a book or have any sort of voice in our political debate?

The elitism that drips from that sentiment is backed up by the fact that the Times is forced to repeatedly admit that Hostile Takeover provids "creditable analysis" with wholly "accurate" facts and "admirably specific" policy prescriptions that are "on the side of angels." Put another way, what the Times is saying is that while it believes Hostile Takeover says is entirely accurate on the substance and completely supported by the facts, the paper's editors believe I have no right to say it, have it published in book format, or have it promoted in the political debate because I am not inside the Establishment's elite circle of accepted, polite voices who know never to actually challenge power.

That, my friends, is the fault line that is driving everything in today's politics: a battle between the people inside the Establishment whose careers rely on protecting the status quo and the vast majority of Americans who have been locked out of their own political and media debate. Of course, you don't hear that in our current political discourse - everything is always ramrodded into a debate between Democrats and Republicans, red and blue, liberals and conservatives.

Posted by vicki at 11:44 AM

Good grief. They don't even try to hide their despicable actions anymore. Do nothing Congress should go home. Their usefullness is non-existent.

I.R.S. to Cut Tax Auditors

By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON
Published: July 23, 2006

The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their children and others.
[. . .]
But six I.R.S. estate tax lawyers whose jobs are likely to be eliminated said in interviews that the cuts were just the latest moves behind the scenes at the I.R.S. to shield people with political connections and complex tax-avoidance devices from thorough audits.

Sharyn Phillips, a veteran I.R.S. estate tax lawyer in Manhattan, called the cuts a “back-door way for the Bush administration to achieve what it cannot get from Congress, which is repeal of the estate tax.”

Mr. Brown dismissed as preposterous any suggestion that the I.R.S. was soft on rich tax cheats. He said that the money saved by eliminating the estate tax lawyers would be used to hire revenue agents to audit income tax returns, especially those from people making over $1 million.

Mr. Brown said that civil service rules barred the estate tax lawyers from moving over to audit income taxes. An I.R.S. spokesman said that the agency had asked for permission to allow such transfers twice, but that the Office of Personnel Management had not responded.

Estate tax lawyers are the most productive tax law enforcement personnel at the I.R.S., according to Mr. Brown. For each hour they work, they find an average of $2,200 of taxes that people owe the government.

Mr. Brown said that careful analysis showed that the I.R.S. was auditing enough returns to catch cheats and that 10 percent of the estate audits brought in 80 percent of the additional taxes. He said that auditing a greater percentage of gift and estate tax returns would not be worthwhile because “the next case is not a lucrative case” and likely to be of relatively little value.

That is a change from six years ago, when the I.R.S. said that 85 percent of large taxable gifts it audited shortchanged the government. The I.R.S. said then that it would hire three more lawyers just to audit taxable gifts of $1 million or more.

Over the last five years, officials at both the I.R.S. and the Treasury have told Congress that cheating among the highest-income Americans is a major and growing problem.
The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days. Kevin Brown, an I.R.S. deputy commissioner, confirmed the cuts after The New York Times was given internal documents by people inside the I.R.S. who oppose them.

Posted by vicki at 11:06 AM | Comments (2)

Guns don't kill people.

One dead in I-65 'sniper' shootings near Seymour

By John Strauss and Rebecca Neal
john.strauss@indystar.com

One motorist was killed and another injured this morning by sniper fire on Interstate 65 near Seymour, prompting the Indiana State Police to close a 14-mile stretch of the highway for more than eight hours.

Traffic resumed at 9:40 a.m. while the investigation continued.

Two vehicles were struck by gunfire shortly after midnight this morning, according to the state police. Hours later, two more vehicles were shot near Muncie and the state police Redkey post - including a semi tractor-trailer rig on Interstate 69.
"This investigation is ongoing. At this time it is unknown whether the shootings in the Seymour and Redkey area are related," Sgt. Jerry D. Goodin said in a prepared statement.

I-65 was closed from mile marker 50, the Seymour exit, to mile 64 after the first gunfire shortly after midnight, Goodin said.

Goodin said state police received their first 911 call at 12:23 a.m. about a shooting in the southbound lane of I-65 just north of Seymour.

"The vehicle had three occupants, and one was killed as a result of the shooting," Goodin said. "The vehicle, which was traveling south on Interstate 65, continued to travel south after being shot and exited into the south bound scale house near the 50 mile marker."

Posted by vicki at 10:59 AM | Comments (1)

Thanks to Phillys and June for the heads up. Anybody interested? Lots of art and music and ACTIVISM!

What:
THE FORECASTLE FESTIVAL is the largest gathering of musicians, artists, and activists in the American Midwest. Founded in Louisville, KY, the scenic, outdoor event is equally based upon a three-part format: Music.Art.Activism. Combining the hardest working Midwest bands, legions of emerging artists, and multitudes of progressive environmental organizations ~ Forecastle is the place where the people come together. Last year's fest brought in a record attendance at Louisville's historic Cherokee Park. Next year's fest ~ with its waterfront setting, expanded line-ups, extreme sports park, and finale performances from four national acts ~ is expected to surpass 2005 by five thousand attendees, converging in Louisville from the Midwest and beyond.

Where:
Mellwood Art Center 1860 Mellwood Ave Louisville, KY 40206

When:
This years festival will held Friday July 28 11 am - 11 pm and Saturday July 29 11 am - 11 pm

How:
For tickets and further information check Forecastle out on the web at http://www.forecastlefestival.com

Posted by vicki at 08:31 PM | Comments (3)

Thanks to Cynic in New Hampshire.

Posted by vicki at 07:13 PM | Comments (3)

Just thought I'd share (with the permission of the sender) some fan mail with you Liberals:

Hello:

I don't how I happened to have the extremely good fortune to have been added to your mailing list, but I do feel honored. I'd have to put it in the same category as becoming a Kentucky Colonel.

Although I am back in New Hampshire and have been since 1998, I lived in Louisville, KY from 1989 until 1992 while employed as a International Representative of the International Chemical Workers Union. I lived on Dukehart Dr. or Ave. or Circle, I can't remember now. It is off Goldsmith which is off Bardstown Rd. (I miss Mr. Gatti’s all you can eat buffets.)

Loved Louisville. Got transferred to the Cincinnati area. Cincinnati sucked! Too fascistic for my tastes. I lived across the river in Lawrenceburg, IN for tax purposes. Indiana, now there’s a state that could use a high colonic. When flying cross country I make it a point of emptying my bladder as we pass over Indiana.

Know that on Thursday night at 7:00 PM I will be drinking liberally, a toast to you all. I would be honored to be able to join via speaker phone to join all of you in a hymn to our Chimp in Chief It goes like this:

Him, Him, F**k Him!

In solidarity,

The Skeptical Cynic

(In NH the only state that went from Red state to Blue state in 2004)

Rock on, Brother! We'll work on a conference call at next week's DL. Cheers!

Vicki

Posted by vicki at 10:50 AM | Comments (1)

It's getting scary. It would be nice to have some leadership here

Turmoil In The Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 20 — United States marines landed in Beirut on Thursday for the first time in more than 20 years to help evacuate Americans from Lebanon, as Israeli officials suggested that Israeli ground troops might take a more active role in combating the Hezbollah militia. There were also more strong condemnations of Israel’s heavy use of force in Lebanon.

With the fighting continuing for a ninth day, fierce clashes erupted between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters inside Lebanon. Hundreds of Israeli troops were trying to destroy Hezbollah outposts and storage facilities, Israeli Army officials said.

TTwo Israeli soldiers and a Hezbollah fighter were killed late Wednesday as Israel discovered a warren of storage rooms, bunkers and tunnels. The death toll in Lebanon for the nine days passed 300; the vast majority were said to be civilians.

On Thursday evening, four Israeli soldiers were killed and five others wounded in further fighting in the same area north of Avivim. At least two Hezbollah fighters were believed to have been killed.

The Israeli defense minister, Amir Peretz, visiting northern towns hit by scores of Hezbollah rockets, hinted at a broader ground operation. “We have no intention of occupying Lebanon, but we also have no intention of retreating from any military measures needed,” he said. “Hezbollah must not think that we would recoil from using all kinds of military measures against it.”

Mr. Peretz continued, “You can mark one thing down: Hezbollah flags will not hang over the fences of Israel.”

At the United Nations, Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the Israeli operation as an “excessive use of force.”

Russia, which reduced parts of Chechnya to rubble in its fight against rebels there, also sharply criticized Israel, with the Foreign Ministry calling Israel’s actions in Lebanon “far beyond the boundaries of an antiterrorist operation” and urging a cease-fire.

Posted by vicki at 07:56 AM | Comments (2)

These and other pictures from Lebanon are posted on this site. Not for the faint of heart. Hezbollah should be dealt with, but there is nothing admirable about allowing children to send messages on bombs!

Dear Lebanese/Palestinian/Arab/Muslim/Christians - Kids,

Yours,
Israeli Kids

Hate, disgust, extreme…. I don’t know what word can describe these photos.

And they say that we are teaching our kids hate to Israelis!

Thank you, Israel kids, we received your gifts. See…

Posted by vicki at 12:29 PM | Comments (6)

This is a re-run, but I thought we could all use a break from all the terrible news.

A friend sent me this story and I checked with Snopes.com
and it was confirmed to be true. Click the link for more.

If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle on Thursday, Dec 14, 2005, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso and a line in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around, she was thanking them.. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same."

Posted by vicki at 11:13 AM | Comments (2)

Dear Leader was nominated for this week's Bu$hie in more than one category, but this one captured his vulgar, simple-mindedness like no other. See the video of his yapping to Prime Minister Blair with a full mouth on the entry below. And now for the open mike remarks heard 'round the world:

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this SHIT--- and it's over," Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll.

He told Blair he felt like telling U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who visited the gathered leaders, to get on the phone with Syrian President Bashar Assad to "make something happen."

God forbid that putz would ever make something happen.

Posted by vicki at 11:00 AM | Comments (2)

I found this on Jesus' General website here

Posted by vicki at 01:05 PM | Comments (2)

Yes, Kentucky, your Senators are extreme wingnuts. The very modest stem cell research bill passed by the Senate would allow frozen embryos (which otherwise would be destroyed) to be used for scientific research. Sounds reasonable, right? Not to Bunning and McConnell who voted against it. Both Indiana Senators voted for the bill. There is no excuse for these two.

Democrats said they think Bush is handing them a potent political issue for the fall elections, because stem cell research has become an important subject in several marquee congressional races. Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa) expressed amazement that Bush has chosen the stem cell bill for his first veto, given polling showing that Americans overwhelmingly support the research.

"I think this is going to have some real repercussions around the country," Harkin said.

Scientists view embryonic stem cells as promising in the treatment of paralysis and many diseases because the cells can re-create themselves and have the potential to turn into any tissue or organ. Colonies or "lines" derived from adult stem cells are much less versatile, scientists say.

The legislation in question, which the House has passed, would allow federal funding for research on stem cell lines derived from frozen embryos that are stored at fertility clinics and slated for destruction. The president's policy allows for federal funding of research only on stem cell lines that existed as of Aug. 9, 2001, the date he announced his policy. Bush said such a policy was reasonable because additional embryos would not have to be destroyed to create stem cells.

Posted by vicki at 07:47 AM

Our Democrat Mayor sides with the Republicans. I'm not even surprised.

As Mayor Jerry Abramson vetoed a controversial arena labor agreement Tuesday, Metro Council Democrats were beginning to seek a compromise. Abramson said he would send the Metro Council a revised labor agreement by the end of the week. Abramson’s veto is his first since he became metro mayor in 2003.
[. . . ]

Council member Rick Blackwell, D-12th, who led the effort to insert labor provisions into the resolution that prompted the veto, asked Abramson for a meeting Tuesday, saying he hopes an agreement can be reached that will suit both sides. He conceded that Democrats don’t have the votes to override Abramson’s veto.

“The only thing we couldn’t live with is to trust that the Arena Authority, which is hand-picked by a right-to-work governor, is going to take care of the unions,” Blackwell said. “I think it’s ridiculous to have that kind of blind trust.”

The developments come after council members last week passed a resolution that gives unions power to negotiate how the downtown arena is built.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher said that provision will keep the state from issuing $75 million to pay for the project — and he said he’s not going to negotiate that point.

“I’m not here to negotiate at all,” Fletcher said in an interview. “That’s not part of my job. We’ve presented our offer to the council to support this project. The council needs to determine if they want the arena to move forward or not. The ball is in their court.”

Posted by vicki at 05:48 PM | Comments (2)

Who Hoo! After Bu$h robbed voters of their choice for president twice, we may finally get a shot at honest elections in the U.S. What a sad tale this has been.Good luck and Godspeed, Mr. Kennedy. More here.

Blowing the Whistle on Diebold

By John Ireland

In the wake of HAVA, voters increasingly face electronic voting machines at the polls.

On July 13, the Pensacola, Fla.-based law firm of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed a “qui tam” lawsuit in U.S. District Court, [known as "Lincoln's Laww" or the Whistleblower Law] alleging that Diebold and other electronic voting machine (EVM) companies fraudulently represented to state election boards and the federal government that their products were “unhackable.”

Kennedy claims to have witnesses “centrally located, deep within the corporations,” who will confirm that company officials withheld their knowledge of problems with accuracy, reliability and security of EVMs in order to procure government contracts. Since going into service, many of these machines have been linked to allegations of election fraud.
[. . .]
Mike Papantonio, partner in the law firm and co-host with Kennedy on “Ring of Fire,” a weekly radio show on the Air America Network, explains the value of the qui tam approach. “The problem with injunctive relief, or [a writ of] mandamus, or prohibition-type writs, is it all comes down to politics. … How do you bring injunctive relief with [Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth] Blackwell? How do you get [Florida Governor] Jeb Bush to do anything? They won’t. You have to move outside of that political realm.”

In 2004, Blackwell was in charge of implementing state and federal election laws, while, at the same time, co-chairing the state’s 2004 Bush/Cheney Campaign. Under his watch, election officials neglected to process registration cards from Democratic voter drives, purged tens of thousands of voter registrations and distributed EVMs unevenly, leaving some voters waiting up to 12 hours. According to Kennedy, “at least 357,000 voters, the overwhelming majority of them Democratic, were prevented from casting ballots or did not have their votes counted.” Ohio was decided by 118,601 votes.

Posted by vicki at 01:57 PM | Comments (2)

Bu$h practically assaults German Chancellor Merkel with an unwanted "massage." His loutish behavior among world continues unabated.

You really cannot make this (excuse my Bu$hism) sh*t UP! This cad belongs in the nervous hospital.

Posted by vicki at 08:39 AM | Comments (3)

Watch the video here of our embarrassing president popping off like an uncouth child while he stuffs bread in his mouth and speaks to Blair with a full mouth. Disgusting. His arrogance knows no bounds. He seems to think everone but W needs to get off their butts and do something to stablize the Mid East.

Private luncheon conversations among world leaders, picked up by a microphone, provided a rare window into both banter and substance — including
President Bush cursing Hezbollah's attacks against
Israel.

Bush expressed his frustration with the United Nations and his disgust with the militant Islamic group and its backers in Syria as he talked to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the closing lunch at the Group of Eight summit.

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--- and it's over," Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll.

He told Blair he felt like telling U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who visited the gathered leaders, to get on the phone with Syrian President Bashar Assad to "make something happen." He suggested Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice might visit the region soon.
[...]
Bush expresses amazement that it will take some leaders as many as eight hours to fly home — about the same time it will take Air Force One with Bush aboard to return to Washington.

"You eight hours? Me, too. Russia's a big country and you're a big country," Bush said, at one point telling a waiter he wanted Diet Coke. "Takes him eight hours to fly home. Russia's big and so is China. Yeah Blair, what're you doing? Are you leaving."

Posted by vicki at 11:53 AM | Comments (5)

It's hard to know where this will all end, but the Democraticly elected government and people of Lebanon are the most tragic losers in this affair. After years of civil war they were just getting back on their feet only to see their infrastructure destroyed. Oy! Read if you dare

In Beirut, Vijay Nambiar, U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's special political adviser, met the Lebanese prime minister. "Enough innocent lives have been lost and property infrastructure has been damaged," Nambiar said.

Syria warned on Sunday that any aggression against it "will be met with a firm and direct response whose timing and methods are unlimited." Hundreds of cars drove through Damascus on Sunday night with drivers and passengers waving Syrian and Hezbollah flags and honking horns.

Iran threatened "unimaginable damage" to Israel if Syria were attacked, and its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Hezbollah was winning its fight against Israel and would not disarm. Iran's foreign minister headed to Damascus late Sunday for talks.

The damage in southern Beirut — a teeming Shiite district where Hezbollah's main headquarters are located — was colossal after Israel unleashed its worst bombardment yet, before the Haifa strike. A series of 18 explosions rocked the city before sunrise.

The Jiyeh power plant, on Beirut's southern outskirts, was in flames after it was hit, cutting electricity to many areas in the capital and south Lebanon. Firefighters pleaded for help from residents after saying they didn't have enough water to put out the blaze.

Large swaths of Beirut were covered with dust, and the city of 1.5 million people was emptying as residents fled to the relative safety of the mountains and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Some residents of Beirut's southern Shiite neighborhood, Dahiyah, ventured out of shelters to collect belongings from their shattered city blocks, where buildings were collapsed on their sides, missing top floors or reduced to pancaked concrete. Many emerged from their destroyed apartments with bulging shopping bags or suitcases as young Hezbollah gunmen urged them to leave quickly.

"We want to sleep on our own pillows in the shelter," Mariam Shihabiyah, a 39-year-old mother of five said as she emerged from her home with an armful of pillows and clothes. "Can you believe what happened to Dahiyah?"

Posted by vicki at 08:48 AM | Comments (3)

Religion Taking A Left Turn?
Conservative Christians Watch Out: There's A Big Churchgoing Group Seeking Political Power

(CBS) At a church in Washington, hundreds of committed Christians met recently and tried to map out a strategy to get their values into the political debate.

But these are not the conservative Christian values which have been so influential lately. This is the religious left.

"Jesus called us to love our neighbor, love our enemy, care for the poor, care for the outcast, and that's really the moral core of where we think the nation ought to go," Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches told CBS News correspondent Russ Mitchell.

The National Council of Churches represents about 50 million Christians in America — the majority of them mainline Protestants.

"Jesus never said one word about homosexuality, never said one word about civil marriage or abortion," Edgar said.

He calls this movement the "center-left" — and it's seeking the same political muscle as the conservative Christians, a group with a strong power base in the huge Evangelical churches of the South.

But the left has its own Evangelical leaders, such as the Rev. Tony Campolo.

"We are furious that the religious right has made Jesus into a Republican. That's idolatry," Campolo said. "To recreate Jesus in your own image rather than allowing yourself to be created in Jesus' image is what's wrong with politics."
[...]
Three decades ago liberal religious leaders had a powerful influence on politics.

In the 1960s and 70s they led demonstrations against civil rights abuses and the war in Vietnam. But when those battles were over, the movement seemed to lose energy, while the Christian right had become well organized and committed to having its voice and concerns heard.

After years of sitting on the sidelines, it will take more than meetings and talking points to make the liberals into a political power again.

"The Christian right has a ground game," said Mark Silk of Trinity College's religious studies department. "Thus far the Christian left mainly has an air game: they want to throw positions, they want to talk to the media, but do they have the networks in place on the ground to get people out to vote?"

So, it remains to be seen whether there's any action behind the words. But there's no doubt they're on a mission.

"I've watched a generation die. And I watched them shift from idealism to a 'me' generation that was only orientated to consumerism and it hurt, and I wondered whether we ever would come back." Campolo said. "But the pendulum is swinging."

Posted by vicki at 06:30 PM

As many of you Liberals know, author David Sirota gave a little talk at his book signing at Borders Books on Thursday. I've just read a few chapters, but it is a must read and it rates high on our DL *Reading Liberally* summer reading list. It's not just another bitch and moan book. It offers real solutions to our current "pay to play" system of corrupt government. As much as you think you know about the Abramoff wheeling and dealing, this book leave you even more outraged. And ready to do something about it. Below is from Mr. Sirota's newsletter at

www.davidsirota.com

Mike DeWine's "Absurd" and "Crazy" World

By David Sirota

Even after writing Hostile Takeover, I am still amazed when corrupt politicians look the public right in the eye with a smile, and tell us we simply do not understand the black-and-white facts right before us. Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine (R) provides us a good example in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer of what I am talking about. In a story about how DeWine has sold off his Senate votes to the highest bidders, DeWine says the public is insane for wondering whether the hundreds of thousands of dollars he's received from corporate interests with business before the government. "We receive thousands and thousands of contribution," DeWine brags. "And to think that those contributions influence how I vote is just absurd. It's just crazy."

DeWine's statement shows just how stupid he thinks voters are. He wants us to believe WE'RE crazy for thinking that when, say, DeWine pockets more than $300,000 from the oil/gas industry, that might have a little something to do with his vote for the 2005 energy bill that gave away tens of billions of dollars in new tax breaks to the oil/gas industry. I guess we're also crazy for wondering whether when DeWine took another $300,000 from the drug industry, that had anything to do with him voting for the drug-industry-written Medicare bill that gives away tens of billions of dollars to - guess who? - the drug industry. We must also be crazy for wondering whether that drug industry cash had anything to do with his vote this week to prohibit Americans from purchasing lower-priced, FDA-approved medicines from Canada. Oh and that $1 million that DeWine got from major corporate outsourcers? Yes, according to Mikey, we're crazy for wondering whether that cash has anything to do with him "support[ing] every Bush administration trade agreement" despite the fact that Ohio's job base has been decimated by these corporate-written trade pacts.

In short, DeWine actually expects voters to believe that these industries are showering him in cash because they are just nice and that their generosity to Mikey is just motivated by the goodness in their heart. I mean, is this guy for real? Does he really think we're that stupid? Does he really think we don't know that Big Money interests give to politicians with the specific hope that those contributions will be returned in the form of legislative favors? Ohio, after all, was the place where the Toldeo Blade published its major expose detailing how such massive campaign contributions are nothing more than an investment strategy. Does DeWine really think he can lie like this and get away with it?

Clearly, the person who is "just absurd" and "just crazy" is Mike DeWine for thinking that he can insult the public's intelligence like this and expect us to swallow his steaming piles of B.S. DeWine is either an idiot, or so totally consumed by the Beltway's pay-to-pay culture that he can't even see that the "For Sale" sign that hangs on his back truly nauseates voters. The more he makes these kinds of offensive statements, the more he reinforces the image of himself as someone who voters need to retire.
--------------------
David Sirota is the author of the book Hostile Takeover, released in May of 2006. To order the book, go to Amazon , Barnes & Noble or Powell's Bookstore.

Posted by vicki at 09:59 AM | Comments (3)

Woo Hoo! Another Letter to the Editor from a fabulous DLer was published in the CJ today. Read Mark's letter below. Well done, Mark!. Two snaps and a high five.

Heroism 'rendered futile'

I agree with the writer of a July 12 letter that her son, a lieutenant of the Kentucky National Guard serving in Iraq, is a hero.

Unfortunately, history teaches us that the truly heroic efforts of brave men can be rendered tragically futile by the inept policies and self-serving agendas of the political administrations who put them in harm's way.

So it is in Iraq. Fatal political errors have been made from the outset. The administration took our men to war on the basis of wishful thinking combined with self-deception, for purposes having nothing to do with 9/11.

This is not the first war of its kind in history. They follow a predictable progression to an inevitable outcome. Military professionals know this. Politicians often ignore it with tragic results.

It is proper for the newspapers to report on government activities such as the monitoring of international telephone and computer communications and of international financial transactions. These actions have real consequences that have yet to be seriously discussed.

The lives of innocent men, women and children have almost certainly been put at risk around the world at the hands of "cooperating" dictatorial governments, including the lives of American expatriate civilians.

None of this is as simple as the Bush administration is painting it.

MARK HUMPHREY

Louisville 40220

Posted by vicki at 12:45 PM | Comments (1)

Bu$h and the neo-cons claimed that by invading Iraq (and other "axis of evil" countries) it would create a domino effect of Democracy. As usual, he got it exactly wrong. Think this won't provoke a fresh round of al Qaeda attacks?

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israeli warplanes punished the Lebanese capital on Friday, blasting the airport for a second day, shattering bridges, igniting fuel storage tanks and cutting the main highway to
Syria. Hezbollah guerrillas fought back with a fresh barrage of rockets.

Police said three people were killed and dozens wounded in the airstrikes, raising the death toll to 60 on the third day of Israel's offensive against the Iranian-backed militants.

Israel said it was determined to beat Hezbollah back and deny the militant fighters positions they have held along the border since 2000. Hezbollah began the current conflict Wednesday with a cross-border raid that captured two of Israel's soldiers.

On Thursday Israel imposed a full naval blockade on Lebanon, bombed a main artery and put the airport out of commission, effectively sealing off the country. The assault came after scores of Hezbollah guerrilla rockets that rained down on Israel and reached as far as Haifa, its third-largest city, for the first time.

The sudden burst of violence sent shock waves through a region already traumatized by
Iraq and the ongoing battles in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. It shattered the relative calm in Lebanon that followed Israel's pullout from its occupied zone in south Lebanon in 2000 and the withdrawal of Syrian forces last year.

Fears mounted among Arab and European governments that violence in Lebanon could spiral out of control.

Posted by vicki at 09:18 AM | Comments (1)

This is the Army today. This High School drop out, possible cat killer, three time convict with a deeply troubled child hood was allowed into the Army and sent to one of the most violent areas of Iraq. You just cannot make this stuff UP.

Posted by vicki at 08:50 AM | Comments (3)

Thanks to all the alert DL newies who passed this tidbit along. DLer Jon Shaw struck first with an AP wire story, followed by June with the Salon.com entry and Jon C. was next before the mail came flooding in. You guys are amazing. This is from the Salon.com article, which was the most concise. BTW, there is no way I'm putting up a picture of a former CIA COVERT agent. I don't like Gitmo and I don't trust our *justice* system.

Plame, Wilson file suit against Rove, Libby and Cheney

When Karl Rove's lawyer announced that his client was off the hook in the Valerie Plame case, the attorney for Plame and her husband, Joseph Wilson, hinted that Rove's legal troubles weren't over yet. In the U.S. District Court in Washington today, Plame, Wilson and their lawyer made good on that threat by filing a civil lawsuit against Rove, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney and other unnamed White House officials for their role in disclosing Plame's identity as a CIA agent.

In their complaint, Wilson and Plame allege "a conspiracy among current and former high-level officials in the White House" to "discredit, punish and seek revenge against" Wilson for raising questions about the president's path to war in a 2003 New York Times Op-Ed column. Among other things, the suit alleges that White House officials violated the couple's First and Fifth Amendment rights; invaded their privacy; hurt their careers; and caused them to fear for their safety and the safety of their children.

Wilson and Plame say the White House conspiracy was driven by "discriminatory animus towards those who had publicly criticized the administration's stated justifications for going to war with Iraq," and they say that administration officials furthered the conspiracy -- and delayed detection of it -- by "giving false or misleading testimony to federal law enforcement personnel and/or the federal grand jury." Libby already faces similar charges in the criminal case now pending against him; although it seems that Rove won't be charged criminally, he too gave misleading information to federal investigators and the federal grand jury when he failed to disclose that he had leaked Plame's identity to former Time reporter Matthew Cooper.

The suit seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages. Although cases are assigned to judges randomly, it's likely that the civil suit will be deemed a "related case" to the Libby prosecution and moved into the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, who could decide to postpone any proceedings in it pending the outcome of Libby's criminal trial. If and when the civil case is allowed to proceed, it will raise the specter of -- and give way to legal wrangling over -- that which the Bush administration hoped to avoid: public sworn testimony by Rove, Libby, Cheney and maybe the president himself about their roles in outing a CIA agent for political gain.

Posted by vicki at 06:00 PM | Comments (2)

A friend sent me this story and I checked with Snopes.com
and it was confirmed to be true. Click the link for more.

If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle on Thursday, Dec 14, 2005, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso and a line in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around, she was thanking them.. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same."

Posted by vicki at 05:18 PM | Comments (4)

The entire Dept. of Homeland Security, whose spokesman said of the designation of Indiana as the top terror target in the U.S., "“We don’t find it embarrassing,” said the department’s deputy press secretary, Jarrod Agen. “The list is a valuable tool.” Yep. those Hoosier petting zoos and popcorn businesses are in incredible danger from terrorists. Thank GOD we have grownups in charge.

Posted by vicki at 03:13 PM | Comments (1)

I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. What a terrible thing. Read the rest here

Rep. Northup's son Joshua, 30, dies at his home

By Kay Stewart
kstewart@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

U.S. Rep. Anne Northup's 30-year-old son, remembered yesterday as a beloved presence in a family of six children, suffered from a severe, undiagnosed heart problem that led to his death, a family spokesman said.

Friends and family of Joshua Northup grew worried about him yesterday after he didn't show up for work at Humana two days in a row.

His father, Robert "Woody" Northup, went to check on him at his apartment on South Galt Avenue in the Crescent Hill neighborhood.

EMS was called, and Joshua Northup was pronounced dead at his home just before noon by Gayle Norris, a deputy coroner.

She said the official cause of death was awaiting toxicology reports, but the death appeared to be the result of natural causes.

Posted by vicki at 10:54 AM

We knew Bu$h would never allow the Supreme Court to force him to obey the law or Geneva Conventions. Now he's asking Congress to make law to allow him to do what he pleases. Congress will roll over as usual. More here

Administration Prods Congress to Curb the Rights of Detainees

— A day after saying that terror suspects had a right to protections under the Geneva Conventions, the Bush administration said Wednesday that it wanted Congress to pass legislation that would limit the rights granted to detainees.

Testifying at the House hearing on rights of detainees were, from left, Steven G. Bradbury of the Justice Department; Daniel J. Dell’Orto, a Pentagon official; and former Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson.

The earlier statement had been widely interpreted as a retreat, but testimony to Congress by administration lawyers on Wednesday made clear that the picture was more complicated.

The administration has now abandoned its four-year-old claim that members of Al Qaeda are not protected under the Geneva Conventions, acknowledging that a Supreme Court ruling two weeks ago established as a matter of law that they are. Still, administration lawyers urged Congress to pass legislation that would narrowly define the rights granted to detainees under a provision of the Geneva Conventions known as Common Article Three, which guarantees legal rights “recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.”

The maneuvering now under way was prompted by that Supreme Court decision, which struck down the tribunals the administration had established for terror suspects at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The court left it to Congress to decide what kind of trials to set up for detainees and what protections they should be granted in interrogations and handling before trial.

Administration lawyers have argued that the “most desirable” solution would be for Congress to pass a law approving the tribunals that the court said the president could not establish on his own, proceedings that would grant minimum rights to detainees.

Posted by vicki at 07:41 AM | Comments (1)

Nothing, but nothing is too political in Republican hands. Not security, health, safety, or fairness. I got the pic from huffingtonpost.com and the article from the New York Times can be read in full here This is a monsterous injustice, not to mention they are throwing our tax money down a rat hole and showering Mitch Daniels (former Bu$h admin official) with boatloads of cash.

The Department of Homeland Security released a report Tuesday on its own National Asset Database, a resource the New York Times called "flawed." "Now we know why the Homeland Security grant formula came out as wacky as it was," said New York Senator Charles Schumer, referencing the truncated anti-terrorist funds that New York and Washington, D.C. received this year. Among other scarcely believable designations, the database ranks Indiana as the state with the greatest number of terrorist targets.

"Maybe because popcorn explodes?" said the owner of the Amish Popcorn Company in Berne, Indiana by way of explanation as to why his business might have been included in the list of potential terrorist targets. Other unlikely targets in the database were the Mule Day Parade, Old MacDonald's Petting Farm, Nix's Check Cashing, and an unspecified "Beach at End of a Street." The Department of Homeland Security was unapologetic about the seemingly absurd classifications. While some low-level officials admitted the information was out of date, the department's deputy press secretary maintained, "We don't find it embarrassing...The list is a valuable tool."

Posted by vicki at 11:51 AM | Comments (4)

I found this on Rawstory.com

"Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has informed my attorneys that, after two and one-half years, his investigation of the CIA leak case concerning matters directly relating to me has been concluded," says Novak, according to the Drudge Report.

"That frees me to reveal my role in the federal inquiry that, at the request of Fitzgerald, I have kept secret," Novak continues.

The "primary source" for his July 10, 2003 article "Mission To Niger" won't "come forward to identify himself," but Novak does reveal that in his testimony he spoke of President George W. Bush's Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

"I answered questions using the names of Rove, Harlow and my primary source," says Novak.

According to the Drudge Report, Novak will be making two appearances on the FOX News Channel tomorrow evening to talk about his role in the probe, on "Special Report with Brit Hume" and "Hannity & Colmes."

DEVELOPING

Posted by vicki at 06:28 PM | Comments (2)

OK, Liberalls, are you ready to Read Liberally? I plan to attend and hope to see you there. Mike Bailey passed this along.

Friends:

As you may know, my friend David Sirota is the keynote speaker for the Not-so
Fancy Farm event being held in Lexington by Change for Kentucky on Wednesday
night. If you do not know him, David is the New York Times-best-selling
author of Hostile Takover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government
- and How We Take It Back. I encourage you to check our his blog/website at
www.davidsirota.com.

Because not everyone can make it to Lexington on Wednesday night, David has
just scheduled a book signing in Louisville, this Thursday at 12:30 pm at
Borders Books & Music, at 4600 Shelbyville Rd. (Phone: 502-893-0133).

I encourage you to get the word out. This is an important book, and can be
very helpful to our victories this fall.

Thanks for your help!

Jonathan

Posted by vicki at 03:41 PM | Comments (1)

Do yourself a favor and read the Entire piece here.

By ROBYN E. BLUMNER, Times Perspective Columnist
Published July 9, 2006

For any form of tyranny to succeed, there have to be people who roll up their sleeves and get the job done. Repression doesn't just happen. It has to be organized, arranged, justified and marketed to a willing populace. In other words, it takes a team.

Most tyrannies aren't the epic variety involving a Stalin or a Hussein. They are more subtly subversive, sapping freedom from a fragile system that precariously depends on the integrity of those in charge. It doesn't take much more than a corrupt sheriff, a mayor who helps a developer grab private property with eminent domain or a president who claims that terror suspects have no rights to negate our foundation of liberty and fairness.
[...]
n a thoroughgoing piece in the July 3 New Yorker, reporter Jane Mayer lifts the veil off the secretive Addington and describes a man obsessed with setting forth a "New Paradigm" in which the commander in chief may "disregard virtually all previously known legal boundaries."

The plan predates 9/11, according to Bruce Fein, a Republican activist who worked in the Reagan Justice Department and has known Cheney and Addington for decades. "The idea of reducing Congress to a cipher was already in play," Fein told Mayer. "It was Cheney and Addington's political agenda."

Insiders told Mayer that administration lawyers who raised questions about the plenary powers being seized by the president were dismissed by Addington as giving away the store.

This doctrine also fit the thinking of John Yoo, who quickly rose in the OLC to be the go-to legal analyst on war powers questions. His popularity had to do with his answers, which were always tilted toward expanding presidential power.

Yoo was a primary author of the notorious memo giving legal cover to torture, and he opined that the administration may deny the Taliban and prisoners captured in the "war" on terror the protections of the Geneva Conventions. On these points, Yoo's reasoning was as dangerous as it was strained.

But the U.S. Supreme Court has just made mincemeat of Yoo's manifesto on executive branch unilateralism, and he has been on the sputtering defensive since.
In Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld, five members of the court said the president didn't have the authority to put Guantanamo detainees through show trials of his own making. The court retrieved Common Article 3 of the Conventions from the dustbin into which Yoo had thrown it, and said its fair trial protections for prisoners do apply to the detainees at Guantanamo.

The watershed ruling was a moment of sense and salvation for our nation, and a respite from the disastrous course on which we've been set by All the Vice President's Men.

Posted by vicki at 09:54 AM | Comments (2)

This is rich! Blowhard Senator Hoekstra, W-ingnut, MI, is all for toturing detainees, jailing journalists and ilegal wiretapping of U.S. citizens, but he's outraged that Bu$h left his committee uninformed about yet another super secret program from a whistle blower. The Republicans in Congress let Bu$h run roughshod over the Congress and the Constitution for years. Why the outrage this time?

By ERIC LICHTBLAU and SCOTT SHANE
Published: July 10, 2006

WASHINGTON, July 9 — The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday that the Bush administration briefed the panel on a "significant" intelligence program only after a government whistle-blower alerted him to its existence and he pressed President Bush for details.

The chairman, Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan, wrote in a May 18 letter to Mr. Bush, first disclosed publicly on Saturday by The New York Times, that the administration's failure to notify his committee of this program and others could be a "violation of law."

Mr. Hoekstra expanded on his concerns in a television appearance on Sunday, saying that when the administration withholds information from Congress, "I take it very, very seriously."

Mr. Hoekstra and other officials would not discuss the nature of the undisclosed intelligence programs. But officials have said he was not referring to the National Security Agency's wiretapping operation or to the Treasury Department's bank monitoring program, both of which he was informed about. Mr. Hoekstra made clear on Sunday that he was particularly troubled by the failure to notify the Intelligence Committee of one particular major program.

"We can't be briefed on every little thing that they are doing," Mr. Hoekstra said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday." "But in this case, there was at least one major — what I consider significant — activity that we had not been briefed on that we have now been briefed on. And I want to set the standard there, that it is not optional for this president or any president or people in the executive community not to keep the intelligence committees fully informed of what they are doing."
[...]

Regarding the leaks of classified information, Mr. Hoekstra said at a hearing on May 26 that he thought that there should be strong protections for intelligence agency whistle-blowers who bring their concerns to Congress, reducing the risk of leaks to the news media.

"We need to make sure the whistle-blower process is an open door," Mr. Hoekstra said at the hearing. Otherwise, he said, when intelligence officers see something they believe to be illegal or unwise, "they just go, 'Well, I'll just go to the press.' "

Congress is considering stronger protections for whistle-blowers, and a bill approved by the House Government Reform Committee in April would make it easier for intelligence agency employees to report concerns without fear of retaliation from superiors. But last month the Senate passed a separate whistle-blower bill that excludes employees of the intelligence agencies from its protections.

Posted by vicki at 04:59 PM | Comments (2)

Sounds fair to me. Read on.

Stumbo can't run Fletcher case
Judge lets office handle prosecution

By Elisabeth J. Beardsley
ebeardsley@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A state judge yesterday barred Attorney General Greg Stumbo from personally prosecuting Gov. Ernie Fletcher in the state hiring investigation but ruled that Stumbo's office could pursue the case.

In a four-page ruling, Special Franklin District Judge David Melcher prohibited Stumbo from having anything to do with the case despite finding that he wouldn't have a conflict of interest unless he decides to run for governor.

Melcher wrote, "In exercising caution, the best way to avoid all conduct which might in any way lead members of the general public to conclude that an official position is being used to further a professional or private interest is to have the attorney general not participate in the prosecution."

The order states that Stumbo "shall play no role in the prosecution" of Fletcher but does not spell out specifically what Stumbo cannot do.

Stumbo's office, which said the ruling won't be appealed, declined to comment on what it believes the restriction means. "The order speaks for itself," said spokeswoman Vicki Glass.

But Stumbo said in a statement that he has given "total authority" to his staff to handle the Fletcher case "in the manner they feel appropriate."

"I have not actively participated in the prosecution of this case nor do I have any intention of doing so," he said.

Posted by vicki at 08:12 AM | Comments (1)

Wrong about WMD, wrong about his soulmate, Vladimir Putin, wrong about global warming, wrong about the economy and wrong about everything you can come up with. Bu$h is now making the hilarious claim that our so called "missile defense system" could have intercepted N. Korea's test missiles. What a pathetic joke. Even when rigging the tests, our great "Star Wars" defense can't score a win. Billions of tax dollars down the rathole of the military industrial complex, this technology is an abject failure. But that won't stop Bu$h from defending it. Check out this Times article for the latest embarrassment.

Bush Says U.S. May Have Been Able to Intercept North Korean Missile

Mr. Bush said the launching of a prototype long-range missile that tumbled into the Sea of Japan showed why missile defenses were needed, but he acknowledged that the abilities of the unproven missile defense system based in Alaska and California were "modest," and he said it was "hard for me to give you a probability of success."

"I think we had a reasonable chance of shooting it down; at least that's what the military commander has told me," he said at a news conference in Chicago.

Although defensive sensors and missiles, while not fully tested, are theoretically available for use in an emergency, Pentagon officials have said there was little reason to think they would have been used this week, as the North Korean test missile was not thought to carry a live warhead.

In an hourlong news conference here that was part of a new White House strategy to bolster Mr. Bush's sagging popularity around the country, the president sounded mildly frustrated that diplomacy to disarm North Korea and halt Iran's nuclear program was so "slow and cumbersome." But he sidestepped questions about conditions under which he might be tempted to use military force, saying he was determined to find diplomatic solutions.

And, in a sharp contrast to the kind of less cautious statements he made about Iraq before the invasion in 2003, which were based on sometimes contradictory intelligence reports, he cast doubt on North Korea's claim that it possesses what it calls a "nuclear deterrent."

Mr. Bush challenged a reporter who, in posing a question, asserted that the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had increased the size of his nuclear arsenal during Mr. Bush's presidency. "I don't think we know that," the president shot back. But, in what may have been a sign of his wariness about intelligence assessments of opaque nations, he pointedly declined to say what assessment he believed was correct.

"Maybe you know but you're not telling," one reporter said. Mr. Bush said, "That's an option," and then, to laughter, added, "Or maybe I don't know and don't want to tell you I don't know."

A new national intelligence estimate of North Korea's capabilities was completed earlier this year, but the administration has declined to publish a declassified version of it.
[...]
After deciding to field a first batch of interceptors without fully testing them, in what commanders have called a "thin line" of defense against a small-scale attack, the Pentagon interrupted its testing for more than a year after a series of failures. The testing of missiles and radars has now resumed, with an important set of test shots expected to begin as early as this summer. If they succeed, officials have told Congress, there will be better ground for confidence that the system would be able to intercept a missile launched from North Korea or from Iran.

Posted by vicki at 07:37 AM | Comments (1)

Mark Mitford needs to come to Drinking Liberally with us. The entire coulmn is here:

George W. Bush Is Dead To Me
Nation cringes as the worst president ever continues long, painful slog to the end

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Friday, July 7, 2006

It is like some sort of virus. It is like some sort of weird and painful rash on your face that makes you embarrassed to walk out the door and so you sit there day after day, waiting for it to go away, slathering on ointment and Bactine and scotch. And yet still it lingers.

Some days the pain is so searing and hot you want to cut off your own head with a nail file. Other days it is numb and pain-free and seemingly OK, to the point where you think it might finally be all gone and you allow yourself a hint of a whisper of a positive feeling, right up until you look in the mirror, and scream.

George W. Bush is just like that.

Everyone I know has had enough. Everyone I know is just about done. There is this threshold of happy deadened disgust, this point where the body simply resigns itself to the pain, a point where the disease, the poison has seeped so deeply into the bones that you just have to laugh and shrug it all off and go for a drink. Or 10.

I was having cocktails recently with a group of people, among whom were two lifetime Republicans, each in his 60s, corporate businessmen, one admittedly slightly more moderate than the other (to the point where, after once hearing a senator read off a long list of Bush's hideous environmental atrocities, actually let his conscience lead his choice and ended up voting for Kerry) but nevertheless both devoted members of the party.

Bush came up, as a topic, as a cancer, as a fetid miasma in the air. They were both shaking their heads. They were sighing heavily. They were both, in a word, disgusted. The more staunchly conservative of the two even went so far as to say he was so embarrassed and humiliated by this president, by this administration, so appalled at all the war atrocities and the wiretapping and the misuse of law, the fiscal irresponsibility and the abuse of the lower classes and the outright arrogance, that if the Dems could somehow produce a decent moderate candidate with a brain, he'd have zero problem switching allegiances and voting for him. Or her.

It may not sound like much. It may not seem like a major shift. But it is, in its way, sort of massive. For thoughtful Repubs with a conscience (they actually exist, I have seen them), there is little left to defend. There is little this administration has done among all categories of ostensible GOP values that they can look to with any sort of pride. Medicare? Shrinking the budget? Smaller government? Less intervention in our lives? Reduced spending? Increased respect in the international community? Responsible international citizen? Ha. Name your topic, BushCo has failed. Spectacularly. Intentionally.

Posted by vicki at 08:39 AM

Melanie Morgan! As Tim Grieve from Salon.com wrote:

Melanie Morgan, a fixture on "Hardball" and Fox News, says it's high time for the government to bring treason charges against the New York Times for reporting on the financial-monitoring plan. "My advice to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at this point in time is chop-chop, hurry up, let's get these prosecutors fired up and get the subpoenas served, get the indictments going, and get these guys behind jail," Morgan says.

And if someone -- say, New York Times editor Bill Keller -- is tried and convicted? Morgan says she'd have "no problem with him being sent to the gas chamber." As for other editors "responsible for leaking national security classified information"? Morgan says she'd like to see them "locked in a steel cage with the family members of slain troop members who would happily deliver the ultimate punishment of death."

Now THAT'S shrill!

Posted by vicki at 01:31 PM | Comments (4)

DL Saint, Ann passed this along. It's a good one. Thanks, Ann!

Subject: Bush and Sainthood

President George W. Bush was scheduled to visit the Episcopal Church
outside Washington as part of his campaign to restore his poll standings.

Bush's campaign manager made a visit to the Bishop, and said to him "We've
been getting a lot of bad publicity because of the president's position on
stem cell research, the Iraq war, Katrina, and the like. We'd gladly make
a contribution to the church of $100,000 if during your sermon you'd say
the President is a saint."

The Bishop thought it over for a few moments and finally said, "The Church
is in desperate need of funds and I will agree to do it."

Bush showed up for the sermon and the Bishop began:
"I'd like to speak to you all this morning about our President. George
Bush is a liar, a cheat, and a low-intelligence weasel. He took the
tragedy of September 11 and used it to frighten and manipulate the
American people. He lied about weapons of mass destruction and invaded
Iraq for oil and money, causing the deaths of tens of thousands and making
the United States the most hated country on earth. He appointed cronies to
positions of power and influence, leading to widespread death and destruction
during Hurricane Katrina. He awarded contracts and tax cuts to his rich friends
so that we now have more
poverty in this country, and a greater gap between rich and poor, than
we've had since the Depression. He instituted illegal wiretaps when
getting a warrant from a secret court would have been a mere
administrative detail, had his henchmen lie to Congress about it, then
claimed he is above the law.

He has headed the most corrupt, bribe-inducing political party since
Teapot Dome. The national surplus has turned into a staggering national
debt of 7.6 Trillion, gas prices are up 85%, and vital research into
global warming and stem cells is stopped cold because he's afraid to lose
votes from some religious kooks.

He is the worst example of a true Christian I've ever known. But compared
to Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, George Bush is a saint."

Posted by vicki at 01:13 PM | Comments (1)

The CIA has closed down the unit established in the Clinton administration to track down Osama bin Laden called Alec Station. Bu$h threw in the towel long ago on capturing or killing bin Laden. This is a truly shocking turn of events that the mainstream press has barely noticed. Read the entire Times article here This is a snip of the article:

The decision to close the unit was first reported Monday by National Public Radio.

Michael Scheuer, a former senior C.I.A. official who was the first head of the unit, said the move reflected a view within the agency that Mr. bin Laden was no longer the threat he once was.

Mr. Scheuer said that view was mistaken.

"This will clearly denigrate our operations against Al Qaeda," he said. "These days at the agency, bin Laden and Al Qaeda appear to be treated merely as first among equals." [my bold]

In recent years, the war in Iraq has stretched the resources of the intelligence agencies and the Pentagon, generating new priorities for American officials. For instance, much of the military's counterterrorism units, like the Army's Delta Force, had been redirected from the hunt for Mr. bin Laden to the search for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed last month in Iraq.

An intelligence official who was granted anonymity to discuss classified information said the closing of the bin Laden unit reflected a greater grasp of the organization. "Our understanding of Al Qaeda has greatly evolved from where it was in the late 1990's," the official said, but added, "There are still people who wake up every day with the job of trying to find bin Laden."

Established in 1996, when Mr. bin Laden's calls for global jihad were a source of increasing concern for officials in Washington, Alec Station operated in a similar fashion to that of other agency stations around the globe.

The two dozen staff members who worked at the station, which was named after Mr. Scheuer's son and was housed in leased offices near agency headquarters in northern Virginia, issued regular cables to the agency about Mr. bin Laden's growing abilities and his desire to strike American targets throughout the world.

In his book "Ghost Wars," which chronicles the agency's efforts to hunt Mr. bin Laden in the years before the Sept. 11 attacks, Steve Coll wrote that some inside the agency likened Alec Station to a cult that became obsessed with Al Qaeda.

"The bin Laden unit's analysts were so intense about their work that they made some of their C.I.A. colleagues uncomfortable," Mr. Coll wrote. Members of Alec Station "called themselves 'the Manson Family' because they had acquired a reputation for crazed alarmism about the rising Al Qaeda threat."

Intelligence officials said Alec Station was disbanded after Robert Grenier, who until February was in charge of the Counterterrorist Center, decided the agency needed to reorganize to better address constant changes in terrorist organizations.

Posted by vicki at 11:01 AM | Comments (1)

Local Marine To Return Service Medal To Bush In Protest
3/25 Marine Calls War On Terrorism Medal 'Eye Candy' From Bush Check it out. .

POSTED: 12:41 pm EDT July 3, 2006
UPDATED: 1:08 pm EDT July 3, 2006

AKRON, Ohio -- A local Marine who (sic) service in Iraq earned several medals for serving his country, but he's giving back one of the medals to the White House as a form of protest.

Sgt. Matthew Bee is a decorated Akron Marine who spent seven months in Hadeetha, serving with the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines Weapons Company based in Brook Park.

Bee received six medals of commendation, but one of them he will give back to President George W. Bush, calling the medal political, NewsChannel5 reported.

The medal is the War on Terrorism service medal, and Bee calls it "eye candy" from Bush. [end snip]

Hahahahahaha Clearly, Bu$hCo and Rummy think we are stupid beyond measure.

Posted by vicki at 12:02 PM | Comments (4)

George Bu$h's favortie Democrat, Joe Leiberman is prepared to cut and run on the Democratic Party to save his ass from possible defeat in the upcoming primary in August against Ned Lamont. Lamont, unlike Joementum, is an actual Liberal. I really don't see how this move gains Leiberman anything but contempt from any political party. Read on.

Senator's Plan B Creates Quandary for Democrats

By PATRICK HEALY and JENNIFER MEDINA
Published: July 4, 2006

Six years ago Joseph I. Lieberman came within a hairbreadth of the vice presidency after the Democratic Party chose him as a moderate face whose support for family values and a stronger military might attract Reagan Democrats and independents.

Yet when Mr. Lieberman sought the party's presidential nomination in 2004, rank-and-file Democrats relegated him to the B list, behind Howard Dean and John Kerry, in large part because of his strong support for military action in Iraq.

Now Mr. Lieberman faces the prospect of rejection by the Democrats who know him best, the party faithful in Connecticut. Once more the problem is Iraq. But this time it is not only Mr. Lieberman who is being challenged; it is the national party leadership, as it faces a grassroots push to toughen its stand against the Iraq war and distance itself from a senator who supports the war.

Leaders of the national Democratic Party, like Mr. Dean, the chairman, and Charles S. Schumer, who is leading the effort to regain control of the Senate, may have to choose between Mr. Lieberman and an antiwar Democrat in the fall, when they had hoped to make Iraq squarely the president's problem.

Mr. Lieberman is making contingency plans to run as an independent in November if he loses the Aug. 8 Democratic primary to the antiwar candidate, Ned Lamont. A Lieberman loss in the Democratic primary would put national Democrats in a bind. Many of them are longtime colleagues and friends of Mr. Lieberman's, and he has said he will vote with the Democrats if he is re-elected as an independent. Democrats are trying to hold onto all of their seats and pick up six Republican seats to regain control of the Senate.

Senator Schumer, a strong supporter of Mr. Lieberman's, has been careful in recent days to limit his endorsement of his colleague to the primary race. "We are supporting Joe Lieberman in the primary, and we're not going to speculate about things afterwards because that undermines your candidate," Mr. Schumer said on Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We're supporting Joe. He's going to win."

Posted by vicki at 11:52 AM | Comments (1)

I don't know how these soldiers keep their sanity when they are required to serve more than two years and multiple deployments in Iraq. The U.S. is rolling the dice with their lives. This is aweful.

Soldier, mother fight Army's 'stop loss' rule

By Kay Stewart
kstewart@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Gerry Kingstone was counting the days until July 28, when her only son was to come home after three years in the Army, including 12 months in Iraq.

She was thinking about a belated 22nd birthday celebration and looking forward to having him out of harm's way.

But Spc. Joseph Matthew Kingstone received word last month that the Army plans to add up to 17 months to his contracted three-year service term, including another year in Iraq.

"I'm supposed to leave and get on with my life," Kingstone said in a phone interview last week from Germany, where his unit, the 502nd Engineering Company, is based.

Instead, under a longstanding Army policy known as "stop loss," the military-trained diesel mechanic must complete the redeployment with his unit.

The policy states that enlisted soldiers can't leave on their service-expiration dates if they fall within 90 days of a deployment order. Soldiers must complete the deployment and then can be required to stay with the Army an additional 90 days, said Army spokesman Sheldon Smith.

The policy has been criticized as a "back door" draft to bolster troop levels, causing unforeseen hardships for military families, but the Army maintains that the policy is needed in a time of war to ensure experienced troops.

About 12,000 active-duty troops, reservists and National Guardsmen are serving beyond their enlistment dates now, and a total of 80,000 have done so since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Smith said in a statement.

Posted by vicki at 11:54 AM | Comments (1)

This NYT column offers an interesting look at *Military Justice* under Briton's King George lll.

From 1775 to 1783, some 200,000 colonials took up arms against the crown. While the statistics are rough, it has been estimated that more than 6,800 died in battle. An additional 10,000 perished from wounds or disease. At least 18,200 became prisoners of war, most of whom were confined in New York City — along with perhaps as many as 1,500 civilian prisoners.
[...]
Allen's account of the horrors he saw in the New York prisons still makes for difficult reading. But then you learn what happened when enemy recruiters offered to release anyone who agreed to join His Majesty's army. "The integrity of these suffering prisoners is hardly credible," Allen wrote. "Many hundreds, I am confident, submitted to death, rather than to enlist in the British service."

The prisoners of New York left their mark somewhere else, too — in international law. Almost to the bitter end, the British took the position that captured American insurgents weren't soldiers but "rebels" and that defining them as prisoners of war amounted to de facto recognition of American independence. Americans responded that by not according prisoner-of-war status to the captives, the British had opened the door to, perhaps even encouraged, prison abuses.

An additional complication was that rules and standards governing the treatment of prisoners of war had yet to be spelled out definitively in international law. This began to change in 1785, just two years after the British evacuated Manhattan, when the United States and Prussia concluded a treaty that included the first guidelines for the humane treatment of prisoners of war. They mustn't be denied adequate rations and basic "comforts," it declared, nor "be confined in dungeons, prison ships, nor prisons, nor be put into irons, nor bound, nor otherwise restrained in the use of their limbs."

This groundbreaking agreement — a direct result of the recent American experience — was a historic first step toward the multinational conventions that now protect prisoners of war.

Of course, even if such guidelines had been in effect during the Revolutionary War, there's no guarantee that they would have been followed. Britain was the world's superpower in those days, as the United States is now, and if King George didn't want to treat "rebel" prisoners humanely, only principle and conscience stood in his way.

Posted by vicki at 10:56 AM | Comments (3)

Read a review of the movie here and watch the trailer for the movie here. Field trip anyone?

Posted by vicki at 06:37 PM | Comments (2)