And the Riot be the Rhyme of the Unheard

2003-03-28T09:26:00.000-06:00

Morocco offers US assistance in Iraqi War

Moroccan government has offered assistance to U.S. troops fighting in Iraq by offering them 2,000 monkeys trained in detonating land mines

Coalition of the willing, indeed! No troops, just chimps! Saddam is quaking in fear!

There's no better image I can think of for this war than a bunch of monkeys setting off land mines. . .because, it does say "detonating" and not "disarming," doesn't it? Are the 2,000 monkeys trained to just run amok and set them off???

Shouldn't PETA be concerned about this??

2003-03-28T09:01:00.000-06:00

War May Affect 570,000 Iraqi Children

Will this be covered by the oil for food program? We're already spening a million a piece on each Tomahawk that pummels Baghdad daily -- what's $20 bucks a child to "counsel" them?

2003-03-11T10:59:00.000-06:00

U.S. Court Rejects Appeals by Afghan War Detainees

The U.S. Justice Department said the more than 600 people being held at Guantanamo Bay since their capture during the war in Afghanistan are "enemy combatants" who have no rights under the U.S. legal system. The department contended the detainees could be held without access to a lawyer or to their family.

Granted, some of the prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay are more than likely terrorists or terrorist sympathizers -- but detaining people for years, without charges, and with no access to a lawyer or their family seems to be a frightening situation for the American people to just be laying down and accepting. How long is it before you are declared an enemy combatant and held indefinitely without charges? If you check out the US Patriot Act, signed into law by congress in 2001, you can see that the ways of becoming an "enemy combatant" aren't all that difficult, and the sweeping new powers of the federal government are beginning to resemble something out of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" or George Orwell's "1984."

Watch out for the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (also known as Son of the Patriot Act or Patriot Act II,) which is trying to worm its way through Congress unchecked while the rest of the automotons are focusing on Iraq and the "War on Terra!" E-mail and internet usage surveillance, purchase tracking, national ID cards, face-recognition software at every street corner, sounds like paradise to me!

2003-01-28T23:56:00.000-06:00

Airline Passenger Sets Fire to Seat

A 64-year-old man was arrested Tuesday night after setting fire to his seat on board a United Airlines flight at Washington's Dulles International Airport. . . the man got into an altercation with a flight attendant as the plane was pushing back from the gate, Johnson said. The man then pulled out a cigarette lighter and started a small fire in his seat.

Keep in mind that the tobacco companies lobbied like crazy post 9/11 and got cigarette lighters taken off of the list of "prohibited items aboard airplanes."

To date, no one has tried to cause problems on an airline with a crochet hook, or a leaf blower (which are on the list of prohibited items) but there have been numerous incidents involving cigarette lighters.

Just so you know that a little bit of special interest money is far more motivating to our leaders than the safety of their constituents.

2003-01-08T11:03:00.000-06:00

The Truth About Bush's Tax Cuts:
By James Ridgeway, Village Voice
January 7, 2003 (edited by William Akers)

Here, in one nugget, is what you need to know about President Bush's plan to scrap taxes on dividends:
Almost half of the projected benefits from President Bush's plan to scrap taxes on dividends would go to the 1 percent of the population whose incomes top $1 million. The scheme has been promoted as beneficial to the elderly, but in fact, only 6 percent of the elderly with incomes under $50,000 get anything out of it. Further, taxpayers who earn $35,000 or less (MOST OF US) come away with $27 more a year.

Are right-wing Republicans playing class war? Don Nickles, the self-made businessman and senator from Oklahoma, had this to say on Sunday's Meet the Press, and he wasn't kidding: "Well, the wealthy are paying most of the taxes. You ought to have tax cuts for taxpayers."

At a time when we are supposedly trying to get rid of subsidies to farmers and other groups, Bush is offering a direct subsidy to Wall Street. The argument is that eliminating the tax would spur the market. Original predictions showed stocks would rise 20 percent. By Monday these projections had sunk to 6 to 8 percent.

As for the federal budget, which just two years ago was showing rosy surpluses, the picture now is one of growing deficits. "Even if no further tax cuts or spending increases are enacted, almost three-fifths of the improvement made from 1986 to 2001 will have been reversed in 2002 and 2003," says the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

ENJOY YOUR EXTRA $27!!

2003-01-07T14:30:00.000-06:00
U.N. Sees 500,000 Iraqi Casualties at Start of War

The total includes some 100,000 expected to be injured as a direct result of combat and a further 400,000 wounded as an indirect result of the devastation, according to estimates prepared by the World Health Organization. The confidential U.N. assessment was drafted a month ago but an edited version was posted Tuesday.
Children under 5, pregnant women and mothers who are breast-feeding their infants "will be particularly vulnerable because of the likely absence of a functioning primary health care system in a post-conflict situation," it said.
"Furthermore, the outbreak of diseases in epidemic if not pandemic proportions is very likely," it said. "Diseases such as cholera and dysentery thrive in the environment ... When determining the requirement for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, these factors must be considered."

12 page UN Document Here

Bring on the war! Innocent civilians: HOMELESS! WOUNDED! DEAD! Bringing people democracy and peace by killing all of their neighbors and family members! WOO-HOO! Man, we're getting this war thing down to a science!

2002-12-31T12:59:00.000-06:00
+

HAPPY NEW YEAR. Here's to hoping for peace during a year which seems destined for war and depression.

educate yourself:
CURSOR
AlterNet
This Modern World
DisInformation

2002-12-20T14:08:00.000-06:00
USA TODAY: Saddam may ruin Iraq in face of invasion

Faced with almost certain defeat by a superior U.S. military, Saddam would contaminate water supplies, destroy power grids, ignite oil fields and burn food stocks to wreak havoc among his population. . .The officials cited what they called substantial and persuasive evidence from a variety of intelligence reports.

Unnamed officials projecting hypothetical scenarios about wars we aren't even in yet? Creating a pre-text propaganda story to scapegoat Saddam Hussein when American bombs lay the country of Iraq to ruin is shameful. Bush and his hawks have stooped to disgusting levels of propaganda and outright lies not seen since LBJ -- and wasn't he from Texas??

It will be interesting to see how much of the damage is actually going to be broadcast -- the mainstream media has a proclivity to shy away from footage of civilian casualties, making perpetual war on the world, waged by the USA, a nightly family viewing event.

2002-12-12T08:43:00.000-06:00
Al Qaeda, Iraq Linked to Chemical Weapons Deal -Post

The story remains the same -- plant the seed of fear in the hearts and minds of Americans. Since 9/11/01 -- Bush and his bitches have been trying, unsuccessfully, to link Al-Qaeda and Iraq. This latest "report" seems to hit at a very convenient time: when the administration is struggling and scraping, in the face of Iraqi complicity with UN inspectors, to set some precursor to war. Incidentally, the so-called transfer was done in the area of Iraq that isn't even controlled by Saddam Hussein! Everytime the Bush Menstruation has tried to link Al-Qaeda and Iraq -- their so-called link has always been in the far north, involving the Sunni Muslims -- not the Ba'ath party and Hussein.

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

2002-12-11T11:43:00.000-06:00
Yahoo! News - U.S. Warns Iraq It Has Nuclear Option
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States raised the temperature in its confrontation with Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, saying it could go nuclear if such weapons were used against its forces or its allies

So now W is threatening to use "The Bomb" -- is he running out of scare tactics or what? Why is it okay for the US to have weapons of mass destruction and threaten other countries with them -- but it's not okay for Iraq to possess the same weapons that were given to them by the US nearly 20 years ago?

More to come later -- I'm so angry right now, I can't even collect my thoughts.

2002-12-06T15:07:00.000-06:00

Check out Operation Oily Residue from Michael Moore and keep abreast of the Bush/Saddam grudge.

2002-12-06T14:03:00.000-06:00

STOP THE WAR

Move-On.org: Great site dedicated to grassroots action. Sign up for the newsletter.

2002-11-27T12:47:00.000-06:00
Bush Names Kissinger to Lead 9/11 Probe

President Bush named former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Wednesday to lead an independent investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks and said the probe "must uncover every detail and learn every lesson" of the terrorist strikes.

Okay, kids. . .it's time for a quick international trip through Henry Kissinger's past!

VIETNAM
Kissinger scuttled peace talks in 1968, paving the way for Richard Nixon's victory in the presidential race. Half the battle deaths in Vietnam took place between 1968 and 1972, not to mention the millions of civilians throughout Indochina who were killed.

CAMBODIA
Kissinger persuaded Nixon to widen the war with massive bombing of Cambodia and Laos. No one had suggested we go to war with either of these countries. By conservative estimates, the U.S. killed 600,000 civilians in Cambodia and another 350,000 in Laos.

BANGLADESH
Using weapons supplied by the U.S., General Yahya Khan overthrew the democratically elected government and murdered at least half a million civilians in 1971. In the White House, the National Security Council wanted to condemn these actions. Kissinger refused. Amid the killing, Kissinger thanked Khan for his "delicacy and tact."

CHILE
Kissinger helped to plan the 1973 U.S.-backed overthrow of the democratically elected Salvador Allende and the assassination of General Rene Schneider. Right-wing general Augusto Pinochet then took over. Moderates fled for their lives.

CYPRUS
Kissinger medled in Eastern Europe as well. In 1974, he knowingly allowed and actually encouraged a Turkish invasion to Cyprus. The resulting invasion caused the division of the island and the disappearance of 1,619 people. Kissiner claims to have had no foreknowledge, but there is substantial evidence to the contrary.

I guess it was a smart move for our CEO-In-Chief to appoint a guy with the blood of millions on his hands to lead an independent investigation into the deaths of a couple of thousand.

Bush said the commission "will be important for future administrations until the world is secure from the evildoers that hate what we stand for,"

Well, when you're a country that "stands for" gluttony, hatred, and violence -- who DOESN'T hate you??

Full Story Here

2002-11-26T09:59:00.000-06:00
Keep Big Brother's Hands Off the Internet - By John Ashcroft

The Clinton administration would like the Federal government to have the capability to read any international or domestic computer communications. The FBI wants access to decode, digest, and discuss financial transactions, personal e-mail, and proprietary information sent abroad -- all in the name of national security.

BIZARRE. This article was written in 1997 by current Attorney General John Ashcroft, who is currently notorious for trumping civil liberties and increasing the US government's ability to spy on its people. I know he wrote it 5 years ago, but it seems strange to read words from Ashcroft like the ones above and then to see a news story like this one from November 19, 2002:

"Another part of the Homeland Security bill gives U.S. authorities new power to trace e-mails and other Internet traffic during cyber-attacks without first obtaining even perfunctory court approval. The legislation requires any government officials who obtain such information to report details to Ashcroft within 90 days.

Attorney General John Ashcroft hailed Monday's ruling and said he was immediately implementing new regulations and working to expedite the surveillance process.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??

Story Here

2002-09-27T11:44:00.000-05:00
High-Altitude Rambos

Whilst there have been more than three airline security mishaps, (including the de-armament of a plastic GI Joe figure, and the incident where a woman was forced to drink her own breast milk) this is one of the more frightening ones.

This example provides a clear image as to why arming pilots could very well be a mistake. Besides sending the message that Americans are quick to solve ANY problem with a gun (which we are, to most other nations' disgust,) it also exposes what has become an alarming trend since last September: the unjust racial profiling of those that happen to be of Middle Eastern descent. Everyone is guilty of it, but our own government and police force should have the restraint and intelligence to discern between "terrorist" and "brown person." However, it seems that intelligence and restraint are two things that this Administration seems to be on short supply of.

Enjoy the article, write a letter to the Transportation Security Administration if you feel strongly about the topic. I've included their address at the bottom of this post. STAY INFORMED!

Story Here

Write a letter to the Transportation Security Administration:

Transportation Security Administration
400 Seventh Street SW
Washington, DC 20590

Phone: (866) 289-9673

To reference the incident, the names of the officers involved are Shawn B. McCullers and Samuel Mumma

2002-09-27T11:41:00.000-05:00
It's mid-September during alleged wartime. Do you know where your government is?

Great article about the vast complacency that has overtaken a now weak-willed American people. This is one to print out and give to your parents. Enjoy!

Full Story Here

2002-08-27T14:28:00.000-05:00
Bin Laden Reportedly Back at Helm of al Qaeda
he will time any new attack to coincide with a U.S. attack on Iraq. He would want to capitalize on this to appeal to the Arab street so he will probably delay any attacks until the United States moves on Iraq," said Atwan.

Yet another reason for us to attack Iraq, I guess, in Bush's eyes. More dead Americans and Arabs on the horizon -- what a pleasant thought! You would think that with all the "remembrances" and"moments of silence" for September 11th coming up, that we would stop our bombing campaigns everywhere. . .but according to Rush Limbaugh, Sept. 11th is "the perfect time" to attack Iraq. Sheesh, I need to move out of the country. . . .

2002-08-23T16:31:00.000-05:00
Passenger flicks lighter on SFO-bound plane -- plane diverted / San Jose State student could face 20-year prison term for trying to warm batteries for portable CD player

It's out of control, again. For those that think terrorists would try something on an airplane again, please do me a favor and slap yourself.

I'm sure that the next attack will have NOTHING to do with airplanes. In fact, Al-Qaeda themselves have said that the next one will come from somewhere that we don't expect.

This is somewhat reminiscent of a plane that was grounded a few weeks ago because a kid was buring the torn threads off of his shoes. People freaked and the kid got in trouble. We look like fools to everyone else. . .perhaps if we were this reactionary BEFORE 9/11 it would make sense. But this all seems to be "TOO MUCH, TOO LATE"

Full Story Here

2002-08-22T10:28:00.000-05:00
Iraq: The Doubters Grow

Click the title above to read this great editorial that lays out the 9 questions that should be asked and answered before ANY military action against Iraq. Definitely a good read, and thanks to the Nation for printing it! Enjoy!

2002-08-21T10:59:00.000-05:00
Bush to Propose Easing Logging Rule

Bush is catering to his interests again, at the environment's expense. In June, Bush was quoted as saying:

"Listen, we got a lot of work to do to make sure the Forest Service has got wise forest policy, to make sure — to maintain the forests so that they're healthy and viable and not become kindling boxes,"

So, his solution for preventing forest fires is to cut down a bunch of trees so there is less to catch on fire when some moron leaves a campfire burning or some crackpot despondent forest ranger takes out their failed relationship on the forest they were sworn to protect. The problem here is people, not nature. . .and with all the flooding and landslides and droughts, it seems to me that nature is sending us a message. . .it has, of course, fallen on deaf ears.
Full Story Here

2002-08-20T13:14:00.000-05:00
Security at U.S. Nuclear Labs Called Unacceptable

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is not doing enough to secure U.S. nuclear weapons facilities from terrorists, who could quickly use materials stored there to make atomic bombs

What a nice thing to know, that the 30 billion dollars that Bush got to fight this "War on Terror" can't even be used to tighten security at our nuclear facilities -- and then we release news stories announcing our incompetence! According to the article:

Congress included $138 million for nuclear security in a recent emergency spending bill, but President Bush said he would not spend that money, or another $5 billion in other congressional priorities, due to budget constraints.

Considering Bush's fundraising expertise, recently reported by USA Today that Bush had raised more than $100 million since taking office in January 2001, more than any other president after 19 months in office . . .the bastard could have raised the funds for the nuclear security himself!!!! Just goes to show you his priorities!
Full Story Here

2002-08-20T08:49:00.000-05:00
The Misguided Priorities of George Bush, Jr.

Seven different lobbyists for ExxonMobil got Bush to turn his back on a World Summit concerning environmental issues. Every other leader of G8 countries are going -- Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Russia -- but not us. The lobbyist's letter to Bush states:

"the least important global environmental issue is potential global warming, and we hope that your negotiators can keep it off the table and out of the spotlight

Unfortunately, "potential" global warming just happens to be the MOST important issue to our sustained existence on this planet -- but of course ExxonMobil wants it swept under the rug, they're one of the biggest companies that is contributing to global warming. Write Bush at president@whitehouse.gov and let him know what a coward he is for putting the lobbyist's interests ahead of yours and mine once again.
Full Story Here

2002-08-20T08:11:00.000-05:00
Check out the new Michael Moore Homeland Security crises:
Michael Moore.com : Home

2002-08-19T22:30:00.000-05:00
This Modern World
Check out the newest strip of This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow, my inspiration for this blog.
This Modern World (newest strip from Salon.com)

You can check out Tom's blog here.

2002-08-19T22:17:00.000-05:00
A Timely Piece of Anti-Iraq Propaganda

It seems that when dissent on attacking Iraq is it an all-time high, the Bush menstruation -- I mean, administration, happens to throw out a convenient piece of propaganda in support of military action against the country.

The funny thing about this story is, the chemical weapons testing facility in question is located in a part of Northern Iraq that isn't even controlled by Saddam Hussein. . . .it's controlled by the Kurds who, coincidentally, support US action against Iraq. However, Bush decided not to approve military action because the facility is 'too small and crude to be worth risking American lives and the outcry among allies that might follow. .'

The formula here: plant the seed. Make claims of terrorism, chemical weapons, tie it to Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden -- and the mindless masses support your shoddy Wag-The-Dog war on Iraq all the way to your defeat at re-election time. . .just like Poppa. You would think that Jr. could at least learn from his daddy's mistakes. . . .

Full Story Here: Yahoo! News - Iraq Lab Said Linked to al-Qaida

2002-08-19T16:12:00.000-05:00
Why Aren't We Doing This Yet?

Managers of 133 airports that handle three-fourths of the nation's air travelers asked the Senate on Monday to extend the year-end deadline for screening all luggage for bombs.

If we're not doing this now, and we are advertising that we are not doing this now, what is to stop anyone from attempting to bring a bomb on a plane? Do you feel secure? If so. . . .why?
Full Story Here

2002-08-19T15:03:00.000-05:00
This country's gone to the dogs!

Ari Fleischer, White House Press Secretary, also had something to say about the use of dogs by Al-Qaeda to test chemical agents:

Fleischer told reporters the tapes were a, "vivid illustration of what terrorism means."
"This is a good reminder to the people of the world that these are the type of people that we are facing in the war against terrorism," he added.

I suppose killing 3,000 people simultaneously in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania wasn't a vivid enough illustration for Mr. Fleischer. The slaughter of innocent dogs, however, IS. But come on, how good can a dog's life in Afghanistan be???

2002-08-19T14:29:00.000-05:00
Terrorism Training on a Cable News Network Near You! Part II

the following was sent in by Jeremy, dedicated Slit Your Guts reader, in response to the previous post: "Dogs of the zionist nations beware, they have your number. Your imperialist stick-fetching and crotch-licking days have come to an end!!!"

2002-08-19T14:27:00.000-05:00
Terrorism Training on a Cable News Network Near You!

About 250 videotapes were found by CNN in Afghanistan 10 days ago, 60 of which have been brought back to the United States, parts of which will be aired on CNN all this week. The CIA was shocked to hear that the tapes had been found, and when asked why they hadn't found them themselves but CNN had, a CIA spokesman said "There are more of them (CNN operatives) in Afghanistan than there are of us, and they are paid better." Maybe CNN should be running the "War on Terror" then. . . . .

Here is some of what is on the tapes, some of it is unsettling, so read with caution:

The archive includes instruction tapes on bomb-making and on how to shoot surface-to-air weapons, as well as the first meeting of Osama bin Laden and other Qaeda leaders with foreign journalists in May 1998, and other tapes often violent contributed by affiliated groups in Bosnia, Chechnya, Somalia, Sudan and elsewhere.

On one of the tapes, a white Labrador-like dog, wearing a green ribbon, is sleeping in a small room. A man wearing typical Afghan clothing, and without protective gear, drops something on the concrete floor and leaves quickly.

As a white liquid oozes across the floor and a vapor fills the lower part of the room, the dog sits up, alert, apparently sensing danger. In the next frames, the dog begins licking its mouth, salivates and sneezes.

The dog then tries standing; its head shakes violently, and its breathing quickens. Its hind legs appear to collapse. Seconds later, the dog falls and struggles to stand. Unable to control its front legs, it whimpers and moans. Then the dog appears to vomit. Its moan becomes a piercing wail.

The dog then seems to have trouble breathing. Its tail is all that moves. Finally, one of the dog's hind legs shoots up in the air, as its head goes down. It then lies motionless.

Tune into CNN this week to see this horrifying stuff!!! What a great country it is that we live in! Where free speech seems to be less and less protected, but the Terror-Training Videos of Osama Bin Laden are allowed to air for all of his American followers to see!!! Yippee! Pretty soon, we'll all be doing the sad dance of death of this dog. . .too scary.
Full Story Here

2002-08-19T14:20:00.000-05:00
Please read and study this, print it out and take it home if you have to. . .I am afraid that too many of you are supporting this "McCarthian" blacklisting of American citizens, remember that this COULD happen to you. . .and if Ashcroft has his way, IT WILL!

An American touted by Attorney General John Ashcroft as a significant terrorism figure with plans to detonate a radioactive bomb is probably a "small fish" with no ties to al-Qaida cell members in the United States, law enforcement officials said.
The FBI's investigation has produced no evidence that the man, Jose Padilla, 31, had begun preparations for an attack and little reason to believe that he had any support from al-Qaida to direct such a plot, one of the officials said on condition of anonymity.

We did this to the Japanese in WWII, if you were Japanese and living in America, we locked you up in a camp just in case you wanted to kill us. Now Ahscroft wants the same rights to lock up American citizens in camps that he deems "enemy combatants." I guess that we are "doomed to repeat history" certainly is true.
Full Story Here