To Ride, Shoot Straight, And Speak The Truth.

from CSMonitor

Vote may signal that Bush campaign to renew and extend Act isn’t winning over Congress.

In a move that may signal a tougher battle ahead, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted Wednesday to remove the Patriot Act provision that “allows federal agents to examine people’s book-reading habits at public libraries and bookstores as part of terrorism investigations.”

Examine people’s book-reading habits? Why do federal agents need to know what books you are reading?

The vote was 238-187 – 38 Republicans joined 199 Democrats and amendment sponsor Bernie Sanders, (I) of Vermont, in supporting the repeal. The Washington Post reports that the vote was the result of conservative Republicans, worried about government intrusion, who joined with Democrats worried about personal privacy.

Government intrusion is the #1 problem with the Patriot Act.

Get rid of the Patriot Act.

from Bella Ciao

The question on lips everywhere lately, since the number of daily deadly attacks is rising rapidly, is “where is Iraq going?” According to a secret Pentagon report that appeared in the Cairo paper “El Isboui,” more than 15,000 guerilla attacks against coalition units have been recorded in nine months (from July 2004 to March 2005). The capital of Baghdad alone has seen nearly 3,500 offensives, two thirds of which are against the GIs.

This river of blood - which, unfortunately, never falters due to the professionalism of the inexhaustible human reservoir of Jihadists, who have enormous logistical means - prompts experts from various backgrounds to predict that even in the long term, any sort of American victory in Iraq, even a partial one, is utterly uncertain or even impossible. Thus, the American forces are condemned to camp there for at least ten more years in order to wage war against an uncatchable “enemy” that has tremendous support from the population, where it evolves like a fish in water.

10 years? That’s all?

from CBS News

(CBS) President Bush was among more than 5,000 people at a Republican fundraiser in Washington Wednesday night that took in more than $23 million for congressional campaigns.

But, explains CBS News White House Correspondent Bill Plante, it was another guest who got all the attention she hoped for, and a lot more than her GOP hosts wanted.

Mary Carey is an actress in “X”-rated films and a would-be politician. She ran for governor of California two years ago and says she plans to run for lieutenant governor there in 2006.

“I’ve been a Republican now for, ummm, a couple of days,” she quipped.

So Carey and her boss, adult film producer Mark Kulkis, came to town to do a little networking with GOP heavy hitters.

“I hope people look around the room and say, ‘Where is that porn star?’ ” Carey says.

The party is trying to reach out and broaden its base but, says Kulkis, “Some people don’t want us here, because they think we’re contrary to traditional family values.”

That’s for sure, Plante notes.

The prospect of the porn star in the same room with the president raised a lot of eyebrows.

Christian evangelical leaders called for an explanation. The only one they got, at least in public, was from a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, who said: “We’ll take that money and use it to elect more Republicans.”

Earlier in the day, Carey, modeling the gown she would wear to dinner, explained that she was dressing up for the occasion: “I thought it would be best to dress all classy and demure, because everyone thought I would come, you know, all slutty.”

Kulkis paid $2,500 each for his ticket and Carey’s after getting an invitation in the mail.

And, according to the campaign committee’s Web site, if Carey had anted up $25,000, she could have had her picture taken with the president.

“I love Bush because he’s really hot!” Carey exclaims.

“The money that this dinner is going to raise overall is the big story for the Republicans, and if there’s a minor embarrassment here or there about who attends, they’re not going to worry about it,” points out Congressional Quarterly columnist and CBS News Consultant Craig Crawford.

From Daily Herald

When Capt. Larry Dibble wanders into Greece Olympia High School, just outside Rochester, he is greeted with smiles and handshakes. Teachers invite him into their classrooms to talk to students about joining the Marine Corps. The school provides an almost-complete list of student names and telephone numbers.

That is not all that is provided. More info than that is handed over. Ethnicity, and much more.

In another suburb, at Fairport High School, Dibble is barred from setting up a recruiting table. Appointments are required to talk to students, and interviews are allowed only in the guidance office. The school will release student contact details only with written parental approval.

The different receptions reflect the twin poles of a nationwide debate about military recruiting in high schools that has heated up with the war in Iraq and the increasing demand for military manpower. As pressure mounts on recruiters to meet their monthly targets, principals across the country are grappling with difficult decisions over how much access to provide the military.

Should the military have so much access to your child’s info? Even if you choose to not have the info sent, it is still handed over to the military, they just promise not to use it

A little-noticed clause in the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act requires high schools to hand over students’ names, addresses and telephone numbers to military recruiters as a condition of receiving federal aid. But some school districts are challenging the military’s interpretation of the law, arguing that they are obliged to protect the privacy rights of their students.

“We’re not going to give out information about our students unless we absolutely have to,” said David Paddock, principal of Fairport High, who placed strict limits on the activities of military recruiters after a verbal confrontation between a Marine sergeant and a student peace activist. He describes the school’s policy as “pro-kid, not anti-military.”

Public schools are the best place to get poor kids that need college money. So, you bait them with college money, get access to their knowledge and then chase them down, call their homes constantly, harrass them etc… this is how the military is made.

The No Child Left Behind Act allows the government to cut federal funding for schools who do not give them info. Simple as that. If you want your school to stay around, let us have your kids. We need more men in Iraq and Baghdad.

Will you give up your kids info to military recruiters? I wonder how much commission they make for each child they sign up?

Developments in Fairport, a largely white school district in an affluent suburb of Rochester, are being closely watched by other school districts unsure about their obligations under the Bush administration’s signature education initiative. Some previously recalcitrant districts have begun to provide student information to the military after being threatened with retaliation by the Department of Defense, while others are reevaluating their access policies after reports of misconduct by military recruiters.

The Department of Defense, threatens schools into complying. “Give us access to your children and data or we cut your funding.”

The Iraq War, is in no way anywhere near over. This battle will take years.

U.S. says Iraqis may fight rebels for years

From Reuters

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday that American forces would not defeat Iraq’s rebels but would make way for Iraqis to put down an insurgency that could go on for a decade or more.

Did, Donald Rumsfeld just ADMIT DEFEAT? Looks like it to me.

His remarks came on another day of bloodshed in which three suicide attacks around the northern city of Mosul killed more than two dozen people, highlighting the task faced by Iraq’s U.S.-trained forces in overcoming a Sunni Arab revolt, backed by foreign Islamists, against the new Shi’ite-led government.

“That insurgency can go on for any number of years,” Rumsfeld told Fox News.

“Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years. Foreign forces are not going to repress that insurgency.

Correct. This is going to last years, who knows, possibly even decades.

We’re going to create an environment that the Iraqi people and the Iraqi security forces can win against that insurgency.”

In the space of a few hours a suicide car bomber wrecked a police headquarters, an attack on an Iraqi army base killed at least 15 people and four police were killed when a bomber walked into Mosul’s General Hospital and blew himself up.

The third attack, on a police post inside the hospital, damaged the emergency ward where casualties had been brought from the previous incidents. Six policemen and nine civilians were wounded, police told a Reuters reporter at the scene.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault on the hospital but the earlier two bombings were claimed by al Qaeda’s Iraq wing, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

In Baghdad, six policemen were killed by a suicide bomber as they were pulling into their base, police said. The deputy head of a city police department was also assassinated.

And it is only going to get worse, for a very long time.

From 365 Gay

Spokane ‘Anti-Gay Gay Mayor’ Denies Wrongdoing
by The Associated Press

Embattled Spokane Mayor Jim West, accused of past sexual misconduct and using his office for personal gain, maintained his innocence in an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday.

“I haven’t misused my office for personal gain. I haven’t done anything illegal,” he said.

A series of Spokesman-Review articles beginning May 5 included accusations the 55-year-old West had molested two boys while he was a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy in the mid-1970s and of more recently abusing the office of mayor to solicit sex from young men on gay chat lines.

Being gay isn’t illegal, but being a Gay Republican?

West, a Republican former state Senate majority leader and gay rights opponent, has repeatedly denied the abuse accusations as “flat lies.” The statute of limitations has expired on the molestation claims.

Asked on the “Today” show how he would describe himself, West said, “You know .. bisexual, gay. After my marriage broke up about nine years ago, I did have intimate relationships with both men and women, … I’m not going to go into my private life on national TV.”

A public protest by about 30 people on Friday capped a week in which West said he will be vindicated by two separate investigations into his conduct - one by the FBI and one by the city of Spokane. Several major Spokane business and economic development groups have called for him to step down. One Spokane woman has filed a recall petition.

“I welcome those investigations because I think they will clear me,” West said on the “Today” show.

Bi,… gay… which is it? Being gay is not a crime in this country, why do people expect him to step down if he is gay?

West said he was representing the mostly conservative views of his constituents when he took anti-gay positions.

“I was not a leader of the charge in any of those cases. Every representative and every senator … when people elect you to go to the legislature, they elect you to do certain things,” he said.

The Justice Department and the city are investigating reports that he misused his office by offering jobs to young men he met in a gay chat room. The newspaper conducted a sting operation on a Gay.com chat room to confirm that West was making the offers.

West denied those accusations but acknowledged that he visited gay chat rooms and had relations with adult males.

“I did not have relations with this man”

Then why does it say “In God We Trust” on our money?

People like to pretend that the Government of the United States has some sort of “separation of church and state,” but that has never been further from the truth then right now.

Why? Because of the Christian Right.

Read this:

The Story of In God We Trust (Discovering Our Nation’s Heritage)

God and country are saluted in this unique series

• Teaches historical fact in a Christian light
• The US Postal Service is now designing posters with the In God We Trust motto to be displayed in over 38,000 post offices across the country

This inspiring and informative series is written for those who have cherished our nation’s heritage for many years, as well as our children who are just beginning to appreciate what our country stands for. These books give the factual background behind some of the great icons of American patriotism and history. “In God We Trust” appeared on coins in America during the Civil War, but it was almost a century later before it was adopted by Congress as our national motto. “The Story of…” series is a perfect way to instill patriotic values into the oncoming generation. Following a legal battle to have the words “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, President George Bush has now signed a bill to insure that these patriotic expressions and a recognition of the religious foundation of this country remain a legacy.

US Supreme Court reaffirms government should not promote religion
From PressEsc

Government should not be in the business of promoting religion, the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed upon ending its 2004 Term.

“Americans may count themselves fortunate,” Justice O’Connor wrote. “Our regard for constitutional boundaries has protected us”from the religious violence that plagues so much of the world, “while allowing private religious exercise to flourish.”

The end of the Term may also have signaled the end of an era, with rumors swirling that Chief Justice Rehnquist may soon step down after leading the Court for 19 years.

If she only knew, the type of Cults and Religions that are… well… flourishing.

Cults today are bigger than ever, with broad ramifications for national and international terrorism. In this newly revised edition of her definitive work on cults, Singer reveals what cults really are and how they work, focusing specifically on the coercive persuasion techniques of charismatic leaders seeking money and power. The book contains fascinating updates on Heaven’s Gate, Falun Gong, Aum Shinrikyo, Hare Krishna, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and the connection between cults and terrorism in Al Queda and the PLO.

Check out
Cults in Our Midst (Jossey Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series)

From Kansas City Star

A hearing Thursday on a secret British intelligence memo that said President Bush was committed to waging war on Iraq months before he said so publicly ended with a request for Congress to open an inquiry into whether Bush should be impeached for misleading the nation.

“All we’re asking is to know the truth,” said John Bonifaz, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet,org. “Some of his supporters want to say it’s a question of failed intelligence. If that’s all it was, so be it.”

The truth? You can’t handle the Truth

But if not, said Bonifaz, “then the American people and the U.S. Congress deserve to know.”

The less American’s know, the better!

The hearing focused on the now-famous Downing Street memo, named after the Downing Street office of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The memo was written on July 23, 2002, by a top Blair adviser.

The memo reports that Bush appeared determined in summer 2002 to proceed with war and had “fixed” intelligence to boost his case before the country and the world. The war began March 19, 2003.

At one point the memo says: “It seemed clear that Bush has made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran.”

Cheaper oil > your opinion.

“Now we’re at $300 billion, countless lives and there’s no end in sight,” said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.

Well, just when you thought you had seen it all. The masterminds of marketing have proven that not only Republicans love buying Bush Dolls, but so do the Democrats.

How can you not love the Farting Bush Doll?

Pull the finger of this cute characterization of George W. Bush and he’ll shake, fart and say 7 wacky phrases and a fart song in the off-beat tradition of our great leader, including: - (FART) That’s what I call the Flatulation Proclamation! - (FART) America… I just *Bleep* my pants! - Our nation must come together (FART) to ignite (FART)!

More: Farting Bush Dolls

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , WASHINGTON
Saturday, Jun 18, 2005,Page 7

Opponents of the war in Iraq on Thursday held an unofficial hearing on Capitol Hill to draw attention to a leaked British government document that they say proves their case that US President George W. Bush misled the public about his war plans in 2002 and distorted intelligence to support his policy.

Mislead the public? Nah, Bush, yould never do that.

In a jammed room in the basement of the Capitol, Representative John Conyers Jr., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, presided as witnesses asserted that the “Downing Street memo” — minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top British security officials — vindicated their view that Bush made the decision to topple former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein long before he has admitted.

“Thanks to the Downing Street minutes, we now know the truth,” said Ray McGovern, a CIA analyst for 27 years who helped organize a group of other retired intelligence officers to oppose the war.

The memo said that Sir Richard Dearlove, the head of British intelligence, had said in the meeting that Bush had already decided on war, “but the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.”

Cindy Sheehan, mother of a 24-year-old soldier killed in Iraq last year, said the Downing Street memo “confirms what I already suspected: the leadership of this country rushed us into an illegal invasion of another sovereign country on prefabricated and cherry-picked intelligence.”

The White House maintains that Bush decided to invade Iraq only after Secretary of State Colin Powell made the administration’s case in a lengthy presentation to the UN Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003. His argument focused on intelligence demonstrating that Iraq had illicit weapons. No weapons, however, have been found.

Asked about the memo last week, Bush said, “Nobody wants to commit military into combat. It’s the last option.”

It is clear that George Bush rushed to war, this was not a “last option.”

He added, “We worked hard to see if we could figure out how to do this peacefully.”

After the hearing, Conyers and a dozen congressional colleagues delivered to the White House bundles they said contained the names of more than 560,000 Americans gathered on the Internet who had endorsed his letter to Bush demanding answers to questions raised by the British memo. Some 122 members of Congress also signed the letter.

Asked about Conyers’ letter and the British memo, Scott McClellan, the president’s chief spokesman, described the congressman as “an individual who had voted against the war in the first place and is simply trying to rehash old debates that have already been addressed.”

Against the war, for the war - it did not matter. We need cheaper oil. Soccer mom and her SUV need cheaper gas.

“And our focus is not on the past,” McClellan said. “It’s on the future and working to make sure we succeed in Iraq.”

Can this line be used in a murder trial? “Let’s forget about the past.”

A bipartisan group of House members introduced a resolution calling on the administration to announce by the end of the year a plan for the withdrawal of US forces, and more than 40 legislators announced the formation of an “Out of Iraq” Congressional caucus led by Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat.

Also, a New York Times/CBS News poll published yesterday showed that 37 percent of Americans questioned approve of how Bush is dealing with Iraq, down from 45 percent in February.

At a rally across from the White House, speakers roused a crowd of several hundred people with calls to recall the troops and to impeach Bush. The protesters, organized by the group AfterDowningStreet.org, said the memo was a “smoking gun” that proving their case against the administration.

Links: Downing Street Memo