David Swanson:

I'm live-blogging an Obama rally here in Charlottesville VA. I just wrote 10' tall in chalk on the Charlottesville "Freedom of Expression Wall" the following: "Hey, Barack, If you'll filibuster the spying, why won't you filibuster the war funding?"

Cool site.

Real ID: Coming soon to NY.

I was for it two years ago. Now I just think it's a bad idea.

It scares the bejeebers out of her: "I am so afraid for the future, especially in the Southern states, both East Coast and West Coast, to a complete [Latino] takeover. There must be something we can do."

Update: Why do people feel this way? Do you feel this way? If so, drop me an email explaining why.

I'm not supporting any candidate right now. And I don't know who to vote for. I'm gravitating, however, toward Dennis Kucinich. Although I don't agree with him on everything, Kucinich's position on the Iraq war, his "Strength through Peace" message, his calling for media and campaign finance reform, and his promise to withdraw the United States from NAFTA appeals to me. Unlike many of the other candidates, he speaks truth to power and stands up for ordinary Americans. On the other candidates: Mike Gravel and Chris Dodd are okay -- but I need to read more about them. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama are out of my list as possible candidates. I don't trust them. The others? Not even on my mind.

Just downed a Red Bull and a cup of Bustelo . . . got me looking through my peep hole every five minutes.

10/27 Anti-war demonstrations: Progressive Democrats of America has a roundup, including a link to eye witness reports.

Dick Cheney is a liar. The Democrats need to come out and call him just that . . . and demand a retraction.

Update: In fact, he should be impeached for being a lying warmonger.

Meanwhile, over there: “A suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up Monday in a crowd of police recruits northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 27 people — most of them struck by iron balls packed with the explosives, police and hospital officials said.”

Meet Joyce Kaufman, a Jewish Puerto Rican, or, as she describes herself, "a little bit of Jew and a lot of Rican."

Hold your nose.

Update: Here's her site. Is that a Border Patrol uniform she's wearing?

Right-wingers and many DLC or "third way" Dems are pro-corporate, not pro-business, which obviously means that they're not looking out for ordinary Americans.

The New York Post reported yesterday that gang membership in NYC is on the rise and that gang-related incidents have increased. According to police stats cited in the Mayor’s 2006-2007 Management Report, which the Post invokes, it’s true. But it’s really nothing to get all crazy about because:

Crime is down: Major felony crime decreased for the 16th consecutive fiscal year, dropping by 5% from 130,093 in fiscal 2006 to 123,136 in fiscal 2007. Based on preliminary FBI crime statistics for calendar 2006, New York City remains the safest large city, with the lowest rate of crime among the ten largest U.S. cities.

Homicides decreased: Reports of murder and non-negligent manslaughter decreased by 1%, from 564 in fiscal 2006 to 557 in fiscal 2007. For the fifth consecutive fiscal year, there were fewer than 600 murders in New York City.

Major felony crime decreased in transit and public housing: Major felony crime in the transit system fell by 6%, from 2,709 in fiscal 2006 to 2,554 in fiscal 2007. Major felony crime in public housing developments decreased by 4%, from 5,005 in fiscal 2006 to 4,808 in fiscal 2007....

School safety continued to improve: City schools experienced a reduction in major felony crime of 2%, from 1,187 in fiscal 2006 to 1,164 in fiscal 2007. Impact Schools experienced a 22% reduction in major felony crime during the same period.

There you have it: although gang-related incidents are up, crime within NYC public schools and the subway system decreased, and NYC “remains the safest large city, with the lowest rate of crime among the ten largest U.S. cities.” Things are getting better, not worse.

But what really caught my attention from the Post piece was this:

As New York's gang population swells to more than 15,000, membership is increasingly Hispanic - spurred by a wave of street toughs from Mexico - and younger.

The problem is the Post cites no evidence supporting the assertion that the “membership is increasingly Hispanic - spurred by a wave of street toughs from Mexico - and younger.” I checked the report and perused the Gangs of America site . . . nothing there.

Now, since I’m in a mood to swat some dirty friggin’ flies, let me say the obvious: what the right-wing Post is doing here is feeding the anti-immigrant/Hispanic hysteria we’re witnessing today throughout the country. The bigoted folks at the Post get multiple orgasmic feelings and get all happy-happy when they publish hit pieces on Hispanics -- and, of course, other racial minorities -- because it attracts new bigoted readers, which obviously means more moolah; and because they think Hispanics are dirty little, gang-banging lowlifes.

They bought it because it was like... a really kewl Halloween decoration: "At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes. But there it was. A mannequin of a black man, hanging from the neck."

This bill passed the House on Tuesday. Here's more.

In France today, a group of human rights organizations charged former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture.

Send him to the Hague.

ImpeachMints: On Halloween, stuff ‘em in the candy bags of trick-or-treaters.

They rob Hispanic immigrants and call it "amigo shopping."

Adriano Espaillat: "I've never seen such hostility toward immigrants in my 40 years in this country."

Yesterday, Vice President Dick "Vader" Cheney shared his feelings with cabinet members about the horrible and destructive wildfires in California.

Heh: “Did the old Menudo sound like girls???”

From the Daily News:

Last July, The Providence Journal asked the former mayor [Rudy Ghouliani] this fateful question: If the Devil said you can be President if you become a Red Sox fan, would you do it?

"I'm a Yankee fan… I always believe it's a sign of my being straight with people, about not wanting to fool them, that I was one of the first mayors to be willing to say I was a Yankee fan."
...

"Probably that's a deal I could not make."

Tuesday:

No wonder the religious right is reluctant to support him -- he made a pact with the Devil!

Hispanic Link: "Hispanics in Congress favor Hillary Rodham Clinton."

My few readers know where I stand.

The GOP: “We might as well just call them what they are, America's new third party...the Neo Conservative Party.”

Shorter Hispanic Pundit: The poor and middle class are doing well. So they should stop bitchin' about inequality and the rich.

We're doing well? Seriously, what world does he live in?

US arms industry and Wall Street showing strong support for Hillary Clinton.

Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran?

Sounds like more of the same to me.

Just installed Google search engine. Look around. Although I've only been blogging for like a month and a week, there are lots of goodies around here.

A radio show for all you infidels.

Picture for the Day.

Update: Video.

Michelle Malkin: “Hillary campaign contributors in New York's Chinatown, Flushing, the Bronx, and Brooklyn … were limited-income, limited-English-proficient and smellier than stinky tofu.”

Barbara Lee on DiFi and the Southwick confirmation.

It will be interesting to see what position right-wingers will take when President Hillbillary Clinton starts looking for "monsters to destroy."

Rudy Ghouliani "would root for my niece's softball team if he thought it could win him the election."

Rudy "They Hate You" Giuliani's strategy to win the New Hampshire primary: I'm a Red Sox fan!

10/27 anti-war march here in NYC.

Press Release: "Today, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) expressed her strong objections to H.R. 900, the “Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007,” which was passed by the House Natural Resources Committee. Puerto Rico needed today a bill that reflected cooperation and compromise between stakeholders, but today’s bill failed to meet that simple goal."

Back in February, Velázquez introduced the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act of 2007.

Today, Congressman Jose E. Serrano -- my Representative -- issued a press release on the outcome of H.R. 900 (Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007) markup:

Congressman José E. Serrano’s bill on Puerto Rico’s status, H.R. 900, was marked up by the House Committee on Natural Resources today—and reported out favorably. Serrano was “pleased” with the result and is “looking forward to seeing H.R. 900 on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.”

“I congratulate the members of the Committee on Natural Resources for taking this vital first step in resolving Puerto Rico’s status once and for all,” Serrano said. “My bill would have the government ask the people of Puerto Rico a simple question: Do you support the present status or would you like to change the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States? Only with the answer to this question in hand can we begin meaningful negotiations about the future of the relationship between the U.S. and the island.

“There have been many criticisms of my bill from people who oppose change. I worked closely with Mr. Rahall and Mr. Fortuño to craft a compromise bill addressing the concerns of the other side. Unfortunately, their stance seemed to be that there was no concession big enough—short of substituting their bill—that would make my bill worthy of their support. I am saddened by this position, because I genuinely believe that we need dialogue and compromise between the two sides to eventually end this colonial relationship—a relationship that no one supports in its current form.

“The Puerto Rican people deserve leaders who will tell them the truth, and lead them into a better future. It is time that we all admit that the colonial relationship with the U.S. and the subjugation that it brings have divided us against one another.

“If we are to move toward a better, empowered future for Puerto Ricans, we must stop the infighting, and work together to solve our status problem. Until that is done, we will never move beyond it. Our heritage, our pride, and our history all call us to do what we need to do to move our people to a bright future.”

Jennifer Lopez's grandmother has died.

Oh, and I'll plug in a search engine very soon.

Raw Story: "More than 100,000 pages of newly released government documents demonstrate how US military interrogators "abused, tortured or killed" scores of prisoners rounded up since Sept. 11, 2001, including some who were not even expected of having terrorist ties, according to a just-published book."

And, according to Gen. Michael Dunlavey, Bush gave the "marching orders."

Discussion.

Meet the world's oldest blogger. She likes to sing.

I just finished fixing up a few things around here. I've tried numerous times to enlarge the header, but I just can't get it right. Overall, I like it -- if I expend more time messing around with the template, I certainly can do better. Anyway, to my few readers, I hope you like it. If you have any suggestions, or if you spot anything weird around here, drop me an email.

For Wisin y Yandel fans:

Today Microsoft Corp.'s Zune(R) team announced that a Zune music player produced in collaboration with Latin Grammy-nominated artists Wisin y Yandel, Machete Music and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will go on sale exclusively at Wal-Mart retailers Oct. 29 for $199 (ERP). The black, limited-edition Zune will come pre-loaded with the new Wisin y Yandel album, "Wisin vs. Yandel: Los Extraterrestres," before it is available in stores, and will also feature an exclusive track, music videos, photos and concert footage…

"Wisin y Yandel are currently one the biggest Latin groups out there, so we are excited to have them customize a Zune device and offer exclusive content to their fans," said Javier Farfan, multicultural marketing manager for Zune at Microsoft. "Working together like this has helped us to connect Latino music artists with their fans."

You can check them out here.

UPDATE: For the record, listening to Reggaeton is just not my cup of tea. And, although I speak a little Spanish, I have trouble understanding it -- I'm working on it. My wife, on the other hand, sometimes listens to it.

UPDATE II: Now that didn't sound right. What I meant to say was that I speak broken Spanish and have some trouble understanding people when they talk to me in Spanish. This is why I don't listen to Reggaeton. Another reason why I don't listen to Regaaeton: I'm not into all that "mami tu tiene gulo grande." This is not to say that I don't listen to Spanish music. My tenuous grasp of Spanish notwithstanding, once in a while I throw on some Salsa music (Can someone teach me how to dance?)

The Hill has a piece today on Puerto Rico Gov. Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá's relationship with Sen. Robert Menendez and the debate over Puerto Rico's future.

Go read it all. My thoughts about the debate in a future post.

Open up your "Famous Rightwing Nutball Quotes" and jot down what Glenn Beck said.

Verizon and AT&T have a warm relationship with Sen. Jay Rockefeller.

Forget about post titles. Don't want to spend time on them... perturbing. And like my posts without them anyway.

UPDATE: Heard that posts titles equals more traffic to my blog. Hmm...

On Hillary

Steven D:

Maybe it's time to check out the local Green party in your district. Because, if Hillary Clinton is elected President, which most of our elites already assume to be a "done deal," I won't have any viable reason to support Democrats. Ms. Clinton won't push a progressive agenda when in office, she'll triangulate her way around her term in that office with the advice of her family's loyal retainers. And Congressional Democrats will just follow her lead. Maybe not as faithfully as the GOP herd followed Bush, but well enough so that we still won't have universal health care by 2012, nor will we likely have withdrawn from Iraq.

"At least they fight for the crap they believe in!"

Dave Lindorff:

The Democrats are in the majority in the House, and are a narrow majority in the Senate, yet they cannot pass any consequential legislation. The one thing they tout as an accomplishment in nine months of controlling Congress is a pathetic “raise” in the federal minimum wage which, first of all, is so small and belated that in most states it will go unnoticed because it’s lower than most state minimum wage laws, and in any case it’s below what the market is providing, and secondly, they only passed that measure by attaching it to an obscene $120-billion funding bill to continue the Iraq War.

The Republicans, however, in House and Senate, though in the minority in both Houses, have managed, by asserting their unity and collective strength, to block a bill that would somewhat restrict spying on Americans by the National Security Agency, to block a bill putting a deadline on the US occupation of Iraq, and to uphold a presidential veto on a bill expanding subsidized health insurance for children.

Say what you want about Republicans being cold-hearted, child-hating, war-mongering, domestic spying advocates. At least they fight for the crap they believe in!

Indeed. Go read it all.

Juan Gonzalez

Go read his column.

Leave it to Dennis

Cool vid... and funny.

Mukasey Dances Salsa On Torture Question

And said that "the White House had constitutional authority to act beyond the limits of laws enacted by Congress..."

Sounds like more of the same to me.

UPDATE: Powers of the Executive Branch under the Constitution.

Meanwhile

Iraq:

In what may be more unwarranted attacks on civilians by foreign security personnel, three people were wounded during an incident in Kirkuk and five more in a separate event in Baghdad that involved U.S. troops. Overall, 32 Iraqis were killed and 43 more were wounded in attacks throughout Iraq. An explosion killed one Task Force Lightning soldier and wounded three more yesterday in Salah ad Din province.

''People who are here legally deserve some better treatment and acceptance in the law than people who are not here legally"

Says Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton

She's racking up on Hispanic endorsements.

Whatever. I'm not voting for her because I don't trust her. She's a liar. She's the status quo. And she's too hawkish. A vote for her is a vote for more of the same. Period.

Post Titles

Fixed. Time to update today's posts and plug in a title for each.

Bigot of the Day

John Derbyshire.

Dodd Mania!

Chris Dodd:

The Military Commissions Act. Warrantless wiretapping. Shredding of Habeas Corpus. Torture. Extraordinary Rendition. Secret Prisons.

No more.

I have decided to place a "hold" on the latest FISA bill that would have included amnesty for telecommunications companies that enabled the President's assault on the Constitution by illegally providing personal information on their customers without judicial authorization.

He's the only Senator standing up against this bill. And I thank him for that. You should, too.

UPDATE: What it all means.

Lunch

Out the door. Be back soon.

Purto Ricans

Someone has deleted the ‘britney spaears loves purto ricans.’ In fact, the whole thing is completely different. The Ham Sammich, however, remains.

The War Party

Last year, when they were in power of both the House and Senate, Republicans ignored the American people’s call to hold the Bush administration accountable, end the Iraq war, and restore our freedoms and civil liberties. But then came November: the American people said “no more” and threw the bums out and swept the Democrats into power. So what’s changed up in Washington Circus? Well, nothing. It’s still more of the same bullshit. The Democrats haven’t accomplished the things the American people wanted them to accomplish. And I don't think it's because the Democrats don’t want to look soft on terror, as many people claim. Rather, it seems to me that the warmongers in both the Democratic and Republican parties are -- have been for a very long time -- in bed together. And they're the ones running the show up in Washington Circus. And since they're bloodthirsty liars, and war equals more dead bodies, destruction, lots of money, and the erosion of American freedoms and civil liberties, they're the bums the American people must throw out if they want genuine change.

"Yo Soy Boricua, Pa'que Tu Lo Sepas!"

Haven't seen it but heard it's really good. The documentary will be appearing next month on IFC. The problem is I'm not a subscriber to the channel.

Via.

Capitulating Democrats

The Senate gives Bush what he wants. And it's just more of the same in Congress.

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

Heh.

The Ignoramuses

So many people support Hillary Clinton for president in 2008. Yet, many know nothing about her. If the mainstream media portray her in a good light and give her lots of attention, then she must be the ideal candidate for the job. Or if local politicians with political ambitions go around telling their constituents to vote for her, without giving them good reasons to do so, the ignoramuses will gleefully run to the booths and vote for her. For example, the other day my co-worker -- a good friend of mine -- said that he's going to vote for Hillary because she's the only Dem candidate that didn't vote to give Bush the authorization to invade Iraq. And that with her in the White House, "say goodbye to wars." I'm not joking. But I wasn't surprised. He had said a few weeks ago that Al Sharpton never ran for president, Jesse Jackson did. When I asked him why is that he reads the newspaper everyday but don't know about basic facts, he said because he's only interested in the sports section.

It's ridiculous.

Mitt Romney At UBS

According to my inside sources, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited 299 Park Avenue in NYC yesterday morning to have breakfast with UBS employees.

Meanwhile

Iraq:

On a relatively quiet Wednesday, at least 25 Iraqis were killed and 15 more were wounded. Tensions on the Turkish border continue. Also, an Australian soldier was shot and wounded during an incident in Dhi Qar province.

UPDATE:

On a relatively quiet Wednesday, at least 31 Iraqis were killed and 18 more were wounded. Tensions on the Turkish border continue. Also, an Australian soldier was shot and wounded during an incident in Dhi Qar province.

Hannity & Colmes

Fair and Balanced.

"Impeach Bush Now" Card Decks

Sent to every member of Congress.

Huffpo's Fundrace 2008

Pretty cool.

Whatta Loser

AP:

A man who was out on bail following a drunken driving arrest is back behind bars after he was caught drinking a 12-pack of beer on the Douglas County Courthouse lawn. Martin Ruiz asked the judge to release him on his own recognizance, promising not to drink another beer or drive.

A freakin' 12-pack right after his release? He couldn't wait until he got to his crib?

Ghouliani's Stop At Gino's, And What Philadelphians Think

Read it here.

No More Money For Iraq

Says 89 House members to the Bush-Cheney regime and the stay the corpse Congress.

Hmm, apparently, my Rep., Jose Serrano, hasn't signed the anti-war initiative. Wonder why. Letter to his office tonight.

Meanwhile

Iraq:

Bombings in Baghdad and Mosul injured scores of people. Overall, 27 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 143 more were wounded. No foreign military deaths were reported.

A Question For Rush Limbaugh

Are these soldiers "phony soldiers"?

Will He Get The Colbert Bump?

Funny.

Huh?

Latino Pundit:

poorer kids try to make up for their financial disadvantages by spending more on clothes and footwear than higher income kids in an effort to at least look like they are not poor.

The problem with this claim is that he invokes no evidence to buttress it. And the chart Alex uses just doesn’t do it. Moreover, I don't think Alex is talking about poor kids from poor families. It seems to me -- gave it a cursory read -- that he wants to know what explains the differences in spending on sneakers, clothing, jewelry, etc. among groups -- blacks, whites and other races (like why blacks who make about $35,000 spend more money on their sneakers than whites who make $53,000 do).

UPDATE: It's true that many poor kids do buy expensive clothes and sneakers "to at least look like they are not poor." But many also do it for others reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with being poor. For example, I know lots of poor guys out here that spend their $200 check every week on a pair of $200 kicks simply to "look hot" in front of their boyz and girlfriends.

*But when you wanna go catch a movie or a bite to eat, they're almost always broke. It's weird.

I'm Back

Time to brew some cafe Bustelo, get wired, and read about what bloggers and pundits are saying about the crazy stuff that's going on today in this crazy place we call home.

This Post Is Just a Test

Still working on a few things around here. But I really don’t want to leave this blog post empty. So let me share with you what I stumbled across earlier today as I was reading this Wikipedia entry on Puerto Ricans in the United States:

Despite having been the subject of considerable research and analysis for much britney spaears loves purto ricans myriad stereotypes and misconceptions, both within the United States and in Puerto Rico.

And:

HAM SAMMICH

Concentration

Anybody here knows how to do all that editing stuff? Surely needs a little sweeping.

If you’re against the war, you’re against America... And "you're pro Toyota buddy and you live in Detroit.”

Whatta douchebag.

Kucinich speech at Latino Congresso.

Working on a few things around here. Blogging will resume later...or Monday.

Al Gore won.

Wtf?

Meanwhile:

U.S. attack killed 19 insurgents and 15 civilians, including nine children, northwest of the capital Thursday - one of the heaviest civilian death tolls in an American operation in recent months. The military said it was targeting senior leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq.

I dunno, but since the advent of this AWESOME blog, Google hasn't indexed many of my blog posts. I think it has to do with the way I archive my posts. So, I'm going to turn on Post Pages and give Google a few days to unleash its bots. If that don't work, oh well.

Tweetie on Hardball:

Ben Affleck, you're my savior. You're unbelievable. Warming up that seat and all. You're the best. I'm going to call you when I need you.

Weird.

Watch Lynne Cheney lie.

Because, you know, religious folks don't commit acts of violence.

Out for linner. Be back soon.

NewsMax: Hillary and Gore in Bitter Feud:

A new book reveals the deep division that developed between Vice President Al Gore and first lady Hillary Clinton during Bill Clinton’s years in the White House.

“For Love of Politics — Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years” by Sally Bedell Smith claims that Hillary not only tried to usurp Al Gore’s role as vice president, she cost him the presidency in the 2000 election by draining funds and resources away from his campaign in favor of her Senate bid.

The bitter feelings between Gore and 2008 presidential candidate Hillary are said to persist to this day, leading some observers to speculate that Gore could enter the 2008 race after all — a move that might prove a final payback to Hillary....

Dunno.

CNN:

Pastor Decries Tactics Used Against [Shelwanda Riley] Who Bit officer

Check out the YouTube clip.

UPDATE: Here's the story.

UPDATE: Totally agree. Just horrible.

And Sean and Alan are loathsome little pigs.

If you find blogwars exciting, gotta check this out.

Friggin' kewl.

Headzup: Rush Limbaugh Attacks Child.

Think twice before you attend an antiwar rally. Might just end up with a dragonfly deep in your arse.

"When you paint your house some fluorescent or garish color scheme, you negatively affect my (home) value."

AP:

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — Some residents of this Dallas suburb that tried to ban apartment rentals to illegal immigrants now want the city to regulate which colorful hues people can paint their homes.

Although the City Council hasn't decided whether to consider any house paint restrictions, Hispanic leaders say it's yet another effort to target Latinos in the city.

"I believe controlling the color you paint your house is basically profiling the Hispanic community," said Elizabeth Villafranca, whose family owns a Mexican restaurant in Farmers Branch. "We all know who paints their homes tropical colors."

Two residents requested the council discuss mandatory exterior color standards for buildings....

"It tends to harm the value of the neighborhood when people are shopping for homes," he said.

But Rous, who's building a home in Farmers Branch, questions whether it's proper for government to decide which color palette is considered garish or beautiful.

"To say that we're going to have government officials dictate what constitutes good aesthetics, I'm not sure local elected officials should be making those decisions," said Rous. "I'm not sure what the need is for this."...

Many suburban communities use their zoning ordinances and other related powers for a variety of reasons such as preventing certain people and groups from moving in their communities, which is called by many urban political scientists "exclusionary zoning." And there are a variety of means to do this -- limited-growth and no-growth ordinances, large-lot zoning, designating areas as protected green-space areas, etc. But I've never heard about regulating which colors people can paint their homes as a means to keep certain people and groups out. If it gets its way, the suburb would probably become the first in the nation to have such a regulation on the books.

On the Unprecedented Ordinances Record, again.

UPDATE: Record of Silly Regulations sounds better.

Reverend Jesse Jackson appeared last night on Fox News Hannity & Colmes to talk about the hanging of a noose Tuesday morning on the office door of a black professor at Columbia University. The discussion was short. Jesse Jackson said that it was a hate crime; Sean Hannity agreed. But it seemed to me that Sean didn’t invite Jackson to have a discussion of the incident. Instead, he wanted to ask Jackson a few questions about the Jena 6, Don Imus and Duke Lacrosse brouhahas.

On Jena 6, Sean asked Jackson what should be the punishment for the black kids who "coldcocked the white kid from behind." On Don Imus’s possible return to the airwaves, Colmes asked Jackson if he would advise the National Association of Black Journalists to forgive Imus. On the Duke Lacrosse case, Sean asked Jackson if he's gonna apologize to the innocent boys.

So here it goes: Free lifetime subscription to this blog for the person who can tell me what these dingbats were trying to get across here.

UPDATE: Video.

AP:

House Democrats pushed their government eavesdropping bill through two committees Wednesday with only minor changes, setting the stage for a confrontation with the Bush administration.

Nancy Pelosi on antiwar protesters... and the poor.

I missed the debate last night. But I read the transcript. Lookie what Duncan Hunter said in response to Matthews’s query:

MATTHEWS: If the United States CIA discovers it has a good target site for the bases where they‘re developing the facilities for building nuclear weapons, would you think the president should go to Congress for that or not? Can he do it on his own?

HUNTER: Yes. I would say if it‘s a long-term prospect, and there‘s no need, if there‘s not a fleeting target and there is also not the prospect that you‘re going to see these people bury it...

MATTHEWS: And if Congress refuses to give him that authority, should he still he be able to go?

HUNTER: I would, if...

Asshole.

Last week, on the Fox News show Hannity & Colmes, Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes aired this clip and debated whether the cop was on the right to pepper spray the 15-year-old girl for resisting arrest. Sean, unsurprisingly, said yes. I think Alan disagreed and said something to the effect that the cop was overly aggressive. What’s shocking is how they both ignored the fact that the cop punched the little girl dead in the face when she tried to bite him on the wrist. I mean, they watched the clip. They saw the part when the cop punched her. Yet both of them ignored it.

Hannity, Colmes, why did you look the other way?

Is it just me, or is the United States fighting an economic war with China?

Out the door. Be back later.

NYers hate Rudy Ghouliani.

Dunno what to say about this. Anyone?

Bored? Looking for something to read? Check out these CFR essays:

Rudy "They Hate You" Giuliani

John Edwards

Barack Obama

Hillary Clinton (remarks)

AP:

Congressional Democrats have put on the back burner legislation ordering troops home from Iraq and turned their attention to war-related proposals that Republicans are finding hard to reject.

The legislative agenda marks a dramatic shift for party leaders who vowed repeated votes to end combat and predicted Republicans would eventually join them. But with Democrats still lacking enough votes to bring troops home, the party runs the risk of concluding its first year in control of Congress with little to show for its tough anti-war rhetoric.

Just finished eating two Topps hamburgers. Shits were good.

Mitt Romney: If I were president, and had to wipe out Iran's nuclear facilities, I would first sit down with my lawyers and see what they wanna do.

Uh man. Tweetie is at it with that laugh again. Mr. Camera Man, during commercials, can you please accost Tweetie and tell him to stop laughing like that? Tell him to stop. Please. Just stop it already.

Right-wing bloggers loathe Ron Paul.

Because they love Bush and Cheney, war, torture, warrantless wiretaps, secret prisons, national ID cards, the suspension of habeas corpus, changes to the Insurrection Act of 1807 and to Posse Comitatus, corruption, censorship, the demonization of dissent, big-big government, and lies.

John Tanner, asshole.

Whatta pathetic little wuss.

Headzup: Overriding Bush's veto.

NYT:

A Democratic bill to be proposed on Tuesday in the House would maintain for several years the type of broad, blanket authority for N.S.A. eavesdropping that the administration secured in August for six months....

"Many members continue to fear that if they don’t support whatever the president asks for, they’ll be perceived as soft on terrorism," said William Banks, a professor who specializes in terrorism and national security law at Syracuse University and who has written extensively on federal wiretapping laws.

This is bullshit! Pelosi and Reid should resign. Heck, the whole Democratic leadership needs to be dismantled -- the progressive caucus should run the show instead...though I'd get rid of Lantos and a few others.

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people actually believe this we-will-be-perceived-as-soft-on-terrorism crap. Dems want to leave the powers the Bush administration have intact, or extend them, so that when they get control of the White House in 2009 they can also have them. Get ready people. This means there's going to be more "monsters to destroy." More dead bodies and destruction. More dreams shattered. More families separated. More suffering. More shredding of the Constitution. And more control of our way of life.

Seriously, if you think that things are going to change when the Dems gain control of the WH in 2009, you're a fool. A BIG fool. When the Dems were saying last year, "Choose us and things will change. No more staying the corpse!" They were obviously bullshitting.

The American people... bamboozled again.

UPDATE: Okay, it's not that bad at all. Just hope that in the end of the day, Bush doesn't get what he wants. More on this later.

UPDATE: AP:

A top Democratic leader opened the door Tuesday to granting U.S. telecommunications companies retroactive legal immunity for helping the government conduct electronic surveillance without court orders, but said the Bush administration must first detail what those companies did.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said providing the immunity will likely be the price of getting President Bush to sign into law new legislation extending the government's surveillance authority. About 40 pending lawsuits name telecommunications companies for alleged violations of wiretapping laws. Democrats introduced a draft version of the new law Tuesday — without the immunity language.

Presidential candidate John Cox:

You wouldn't think that would exist today with the Internet, with 24/7 cable news, with the reach of talk radio, but it's amazing to me that so much emanates from the major media, especially on the East Coast. The New York Times and the Washington Post really have such a great amount of power in terms of gatekeeping. I've had so many national radio producers, I mean people who are producing national radio shows, Laura Ingraham and Hugh Hewitt and people like that, they tell me, 'You know, you're not listed as a candidate by the New York Times, You're not listed as a candidate by the Washington Post. You're not shown as a candidate by CBS or ABC, therefore you just must not exist, and I would be destroying my ratings by having you on my show to talk as a presidential candidate, because you're not recognized by the media out in the Beltway echochamber and the New York media.'

[snip]

It shouldn't be just a race to get name recognition, it ought to be about listening to the ideas, listening to the ability to communicate those ideas and looking at the background and experience of putting together a team and executing the ideas and getting the results the American people deserve. We've had Bushes and Clintons for 20 years. We're at another possible four to eight years of Clinton. That's a tribute to the idea that the mainstream media dictates who our candidates are. It's not based upon ideas, it's not based upon actually achieving results, frankly in the last 20 years we haven't had much in the way of results, and I think that's why the American people are very cynical about their political leadership.

Headzup: Blackwater in California.

Neocons for Rudy "They Hate You" Giuliani.

Wendy McElroy:

A disturbing thought. George Herbert Walker Bush was President from 1989-1993, William Jefferson Clinton from 1993-2001. George Walker Bush will have been President from 2001-2009. If Hillary Clinton wins in 2008 and even if she serves only one term, then two families will have occupied the White House for almost 25 years -- more than one generation. The definition of oligarchy is "a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society." How much more elite can America become than to have two families out of a population of 300,000,000 people hold ultimate power for a quarter of a century?

General Petraeus points the finger at Iran -- thought it was al Qaida? -- for the mess in Iraq.

Here we go again.

Headzup: Fred Thompson: Libya lobbyist.

Added three blogs over on the left. Check them out.

UPDATE: Blogroll up soon.

Dennis Kucinich on PBS NewsHour.

I like this guy.

Democrats and Republicans: They're all the same:

After a stalemate of over two years, the Senate passed the 2008 Intelligence Authorization bill Wednesday, with Democrats ceding a key provision regarding pre-war Iraq intelligence that Republicans had decried.

Sources close to the Senate Intelligence Committee say one of the compromises Democrats made to ensure the bill’s passage was to remove language demanding the White House turn over all Presidential Daily Briefings on Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion. Democrats are said to have been hoping to establish whether President Bush mischaracterized intelligence in the lead-up to the conflict....

The request for the PDBs, which also included briefings for President Clinton on Iraq, was part of what is known as Phase II of the Senate investigation into Iraq prewar intelligence, the source added....

Democrats also dropped a demand for the Director of Central Intelligence to identify and hand over documentation related to secret prisons run by the US government around the world and operations involving extraordinary rendition.

updated.

Shove that down your throat, Steny Hoyer!

Go listen to Sen. Robert Byrd.

Hard times for Neocon Review.

The Decider plays Xbox.

It's on!

Rudy Ghouliani courting the bigot and xenophobe vote: "When I come here [to Vento's restaurant], I order in English."

Now was that really necessary? I mean, he could have ordered the fake Philly cheesesteaks without saying what he said.

The Real Al Gore.

Michelle Malkin is very fond of insulting and ridiculing Americans who do not agree with her version of patriotism.

Out for lunch... enjoy.

Ann Coulter said that Faux News "isn’t really a conservative network." She’s right. It’s really a forum to disseminate disinformation and Neocon Review talking points. It’s a place where warmongers and religionists hang out and talk shit about minorities, immigrants, nonreligious folks, the poor, anti-war protesters, etc. And it’s a place to spit at Muslims and Arabs -- the "camel jockeys" and "krauts and nips."

CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC -- they're all the same. Liars. Deceivers. The major difference between these networks and Faux News is that the latter isn't afraid to beat people up out in the open for everyone to see.

Alberto Gonzo-les:

Over the past 2 ½ years as attorney general, I have seen crimes involving dishonesty, corruption and depravity of types I never thought possible. I've seen things I didn't know man was capable of.

He was talking about himself.

Do not support any presidential candidate who has not signed this pledge – all Republican presidential candidates and Hillary Clinton.

The Bush regime and state-sponsored torture: "the harshest interrogation techniques ever used..."

UPDATE: "This country does not torture."

Grab your mug and read this. The Bush administration supports the troops.

The Cure

If you suffer from insomnia, try Fred Thompson.

Ron Paul bringing in the dough -- $5 Million.

UPDATE: YouTube clip.

Buh-bye

Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico intends to retire at the end of his term next year, closing out a 36-year career in Congress, Republican officials said Wednesday….

Domenici would be the fifth Republican senator to decline to seek a new term, giving Democrats an opportunity to expand their majority in the 2008 elections. Sens. John Warner of Virginia, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Larry Craig of Idaho and Wayne Allard of Colorado have previously announced plans not to run again.

A good collection of right-wing quotes.

Rudy Tackles Guantanamo.

And my inside sources tell me that they will ask Lew Rockwell to run for Head of the New England-South Confederacy:

In an unlikely marriage of desire to secede from the United States, two advocacy groups from opposite political traditions — New England and the South — are sitting down to talk.

Tired of foreign wars and what they consider right-wing courts, the Middlebury Institute wants liberal states like Vermont to be able to secede peacefully.

That sounds just fine to the League of the South, a conservative group that refuses to give up on Southern independence.

"We believe that an independent South, or Hawaii, Alaska, or Vermont would be better able to serve the interest of everybody, regardless of race or ethnicity," said Michael Hill of Killen, Ala., president of the League of the South.

Separated by hundreds of miles and divergent political philosophies, the Middlebury Institute and the League of the South are hosting a two-day Secessionist Convention starting Wednesday in Chattanooga.

God I hate his laugh (1:22-1:30).

UPDATE: Tweety. HA! Nice one.

Shorter Mitt Romney: President Bush has the authority to attack Iran without congressional approving. And Hillary is weak.

The right started this "war of words over the war" when they pressured the Congress to denounce the MoveOn “Betray Us” ad. The same people who thought it was a good idea for Congress to get involved in the "Betray Us" issue are the same people who say they’re for small government and free speech. Now they’re somewhat shocked of the backlash and say that this controversy gives the left an excuse to restore the Fairness Doctrine.

Hey, you idiots planted the seed.

Watching The Situation Room on CNN. A few minutes ago, Jack Cafferty called Rush Limbaugh a fat drug addict, and said that the Dems and Reps up in Washington Circus are clowns for focusing on stupid stuff like "Stop talking shit about up our troops" rather than the important issues of the day.

Totally agree.

Richard Nixon endorses Fred Thompson for president.

Go read about "The Borinqueneers":

The American people don’t know the sacrifices of so many Puerto Ricans who died in Korea. It was the bloodiest war for Puerto Rico.

Who said this:

Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I've seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas… And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment.

Give up? Click here for the asshole.

Ann Coulter was on Hannity & Colmes last night promoting her new book: she said that all Arabs are "camel jockeys" and "krauts and nips."

I bet Charles touched himself each time she tried to explain to Allen why she loathes all Arabs.

Fred Thompson:

We can’t forget the fact that although at a particular point in time we never found any WMD down there, he clearly had had WMD. He clearly had had the beginnings of a nuclear program.

You know, he wants to be president.

Here's what I gotta say: 1) I’m not surprised about what I'm seeing here because this crap always goes on during wartime. Sad but true. 2) Right-wing bloggers are becoming more and more intolerable of dissent. 3) Dems were, I think, stupid to side with the Republicans on condemning MoveOn. 4) It'd be nice if Dems and Reps would stop expending time on this petty stuff. 5) My head hurts.

Ate Topps hamburgers for dinner.

Outrageous:

A young woman of color in Los Angeles had her wrist broken by a school security officer after not cleaning up a piece of dropped birthday cake to his satisfaction. During the attack he said, "hold still nappy head."

The girl, 16 year-old Pleajhai Mervin, was subsequently expelled and arrested for littering and battery. Because as you can clearly see from the video still above, this teenage girl was battering the shit out a full grown, beefy security guard. Uh huh.

But it gets worse. When the girl's mother went to the school to complain and rightfully demand that this guard be arrested--she was arrested and suspended from her job with the school district.

Students at the scene captured the assault on their cell phones; one such student was also beaten.

Students have planned a walk-out in protest. Do your part--spread the word. Oh No a WoC PhD has the contact info for the school and school district office.

Spread the word and make the call. Via.

Rudy Ghouliani and the empty podium.

James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation said a few minutes ago on MSNBC that Seymour Hersh is a great journalist but that you gotta take his article in this week's New Yorker with a grain of salt because his sources are "little people." Whateva that means.

Thanks for linking to one of my blog entries, Latino Pundit.

Damnit, blogger's been acting up on me all day!

Anyway, I'm watching C-SPAN2. Harry Reid is on the Senate floor condemning Rush Limbaugh for his "phony soldier" comment. He thinks Rush should apologize.

Noose found in Police locker room...Long Island.

I'm back. Blogger down all morning.

And I'm referring here to the bloggers who suck-up to the DLC fockers and their warmongering cheerleaders -- the media-fabricated "centrists."

Screw them.

A letter to Hussein Obama.

AEI warmonger John Bolton is calling for the bombing of Iran and regime change.

Gosh I just wanna run-up behind him and rabbit punch the fucker.

Thomas Friedman, today:

...9/11 has made us stupid. I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again.

May 2003:

We needed to go over there, basically, um, and um, uh, take out a very big state right in the heart of that world and burst that bubble, and there was only one way to do it....

What they needed to see was American boys and girls going house to house, from Basra to Baghdad, um and basically saying, "Which part of this sentence don't you understand?"

Nov 2003:

this war is the most important liberal, revolutionary U.S. democracy-building project since the Marshall Plan.... [The Iraq war is] one of the noblest things this country has ever attempted abroad.

UPDATE: "Suck. On. This." [5:26] Via.

Bushie's strategy for exiting Iraq:

Almost a year after the cessation of major combat and a month after the nation's first free democratic elections, President Bush unveiled the coalition forces' strategy for exiting Iraq.

"I'm pleased to announce that the Department of Defense and I have formulated a plan for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq," Bush announced Monday morning. "We'll just go through Iran."

Bush said the U.S. Army, which deposed Iran's longtime enemy Saddam Hussein, should be welcomed with open arms by the Islamic-fundamentalist state.

"And Iran's so nearby," Bush said. "It's only a hop, skip, and a jump to the east."

Some bloggers on the left get orgasmic feelings when idiots such as Rush and O'Reilly spit horseshit out of their mouths. It's SO blog material. Yet, when it comes to really, really serious stuff -- like the fact that the warmongers up in Washington Circus and the media are once again lying to the American people to draw us into a war with Iran -- they stay quiet at the sidelines.

Why do they hate America so much?

On a somewhat-related note, Dennis Kucinich says that now is the time to impeach The Dick.