Rest in peace, Mr. President

This is a man who sacrificed is political career to bring the country together, and is probably the last republican I liked. Have fun in the big golf course in the sky, Mr. President.

Video game: Convert Muslims and Jews, or kill them

Left Behind Games (named after the mega-successfult series of books) came up with a game called Left Behind: Eternal Forces where the players can play on the side of Christianity, or join the antichrist. If they are playing on behalf of christianity, they can convert non-christians, or kill them. Sure, there is no blood, but the player is shooting with a gun, and his victims are dying. So in the land of "life, liberty pursuit of happiness" it's OK to kill people because they are of a different religion?

BTW, Wal-Mart is selling this game (they refuse to carry some video and music because of language). If the following disturbs you, you might want to call Wal-Mart and politely explain why they should not carry this violent game that teaches xenophobia.

Tara Raddhol
1-479-277-7589
Tara.Raddhol@wal-mart.com


The SF Chronicle reports:

"It's an incredibly violent video game," said Stevens. "Sure, there is no blood. (The dead just fade off the screen.) But you are mowing down your enemy with a gun. It pushes a message of religious intolerance. You can either play for the 'good side' by trying to convert nonbelievers to your side or join the Antichrist."

The Rev. Tim Simpson, a Jacksonville, Fla., Presbyterian minister and president of the Christian Alliance for Progress, added: "So, under the Christmas tree this year for little Johnny is this allegedly Christian video game teaching Johnny to hate and kill?"

...

In Left Behind, set in perfectly apocalyptic New York City, the Antichrist is personified by fictional Romanian Nicolae Carpathia, secretary-general of the United Nations and a People magazine "Sexiest Man Alive."

Players can choose to join the Antichrist's team, but of course they can never win on Carpathia's side. The enemy team includes fictional rock stars and folks with Muslim-sounding names, while the righteous include gospel singers, missionaries, healers and medics. Every character comes with a life story.

When asked about the Arab and Muslim-sounding names, Frichner said the game does not endorse prejudice. But "Muslims are not believers in Jesus Christ" -- and thus can't be on Christ's side in the game.

"That is so obvious," he said.

America's holiest book(s)

David Kuo, ex-chief of the Whitehouse Faith Based Initiative who wrote a book on the topic, says about the Karl Ellison-oath-on-Koran manufactured controversy:

So, a Muslim is coming to the United States House of Representatives and he wants to be sworn into office with his hand on a Koran and not on a Holy Bible. Some conservatives have decided this may well be the end of American civilization. One columnist writes, "He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization." Some people's election loss grief counseling isn't going well.

The writer, Dennis Prager, goes on to argue that this all comes down to "multicultural hubris." After all, "What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book."

So the Bible is America's holiest book? Was there a vote? Did Oprah decide? Was it Jefferson? And if so was it his version of the Bible? Does that mean it is true of every American citizen? Even Kevin Federline? And if it is true then America, with its indifference to the poor and lust for money and power, would be seriously backsliding and in need of spiritual counseling.

No, the Bible isn't Ameirca' holiest book. America doesn't have a holy book. It does have two holy documents, however. One is called the Constitution. The other is known as the Declaration of Independence. That's it. Book study finished

The Diminishing Dollar: Another Bush legacy

The right-wing's favorite bogeyman, George Soros, made his billions by betting against the British pound, making the Bank of England fight for the survival of its treasury (the event is also known as the "Rape of the old lady on Threadneedle Street)

Now, both the British Pound and Euro are at a new high against the dollar. Robert Kuttner writes in the Boston Globe:

The dollar just hit a 20-month low against the euro. It now costs $1.32 to buy one euro, and the dollar is falling against other currencies as well.
...
If any other country ran such a deficit, foreigners would lose confidence and its currency would crash. That's what happened to Mexico, Argentina, even to Britain in the early 1990s. The United States has avoided that fate thus far, because Asian central banks keep the dollar propped up, and that reassures private investors.

But this game can go on only so long. This past week's decline of the dollar against the euro is rather like the seismic tremors that precede a major earthquake on a fault line. We don't know whether this is the big one. We just know that the big one is coming sooner or later.

No less than former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker put the odds of a dollar crash at 75 percent within five years. He said that more than two years ago.
...
The precarious dollar is also weakened by the big federal budget deficits and the increasing role of hedge funds, which operate like a herd and exaggerate normal swings in currency markets. But Paulson wants even more tax cuts and more financial deregulation.

The dollar dilemma is the Republicans' economic Iraq. It has no easy solution, and could be one more disaster on the watch of George W. Bush.

The Oath of Office for a Congressman

Keith Ellison is a recently elected congressman from Minnesota. He is a religious person, and he is devout. The problem, for some people, is that he prays to a different God: he is a Muslim. When the incoming congress takes its oath of office, he wants to swear to uphold his duty on the Koran, which is God's word to Mr. Ellison. Sounds fair so far?

But in the land of the wingnuts, that is a threat to the American way of life. According to right-wing radio host Dennis Prager Mr. Ellison's act will, apparently:

He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.

I kid you not. One man's expression of his belief undermines a whole civilization? Then it gradually gets worse:

Forgive me, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison's favorite book is. Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress. In your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath.

I want to make it clear: there is no rule requiring people to swear on the Bible or any other holy book. Some congressmen do it on their own, and that is allowed. As ThinkProgress states: "Right-Wing Radio Host Fabricates Controversy to Attack First Muslim Congressman"

But Prager’s column is based on one other glaring error: the swearing-in ceremony for the House of Representatives never includes a religious book. The Office of the House Clerk confirmed to ThinkProgress that the swearing-in ceremony consists only of the Members raising their right hands and swearing to uphold the Constitution. The Clerk spokesperson said neither the Christian Bible, nor any other religious text, had ever been used in an official capacity during the ceremony. (Occassionally, Members pose for symbolic photo-ops with their hand on a Bible.)

Have you no shame, Mr. Prager?

Prez hopeful Mitt Romney: Illegal aliens tended his gardens

Political ambition is a strange thing; and now a major case of "do what I say, not what I do" First he was for the gays before he was against them, and now the Boston Globe breaks a story that the landscaping company Mitt used employed illegal aliens. The whole country knowns illegals work in the landscaping business. And Mr. "700-mile fence" didn't think of checking once?


I think this campaign will collapse before it can begin.

As Governor Mitt Romney explores a presidential bid, he has grown outspoken
in his criticism of illegal immigration. But, for a decade, the governor has
used a landscaping company that relies heavily on workers like these,
illegal
Guatemalan immigrants, to maintain the grounds surrounding his pink
Colonial
house on Marsh Street in Belmont.

The Globe recently interviewed four current and former employees of
Community Lawn Service with a Heart, the tiny Chelsea-based company that
provides upkeep of Romney's property. All but one said they were in the United
States illegally.

...

The worker in Copado said a state trooper stationed in Romney's driveway once
inquired about his immigration status, about six months ago. Saenz, the company
owner, who was at the property at the time, told the trooper that the worker was
in the country legally, but had forgotten his papers, the worker told the Globe.
The trooper never inquired again, said the worker, who repeatedly returned to
the governor's property but avoided the trooper. Saenz told reporters he did not
recall the incident.

Then there is an interesting twist. Did someone ask the trooper to not ask about this any more?

Powell: Iraq now a civil war

Oh man. To repeat an Indian proverb: when the elephant gets stuck in the mud, even the frog kicks him. Reuters reports:

DUBAI --Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday Iraq had descended into civil war and urged world leaders to accept that "reality"

So NBC first (actually, it was the bloggers), then LA Times, and now CP? Is he getting back at deadeye Dicks and Rummy, or trying to salvage his reputation for a 2008 run?

US apologizes to man mistakenly identified as a terrorist; pays $2 million fine

Warts and all, justice prevailed. But I can't help think what would have happened if Mr. Mayfield was not a lawyer, and did not have the monetary resources to pursue this case.

The U.S. government has agreed to pay $2 million to an Oregon lawyer who was wrongfully arrested as a terrorism suspect because of a bungled fingerprint match and has issued an apology for the "suffering" inflicted on the attorney and his family.

The guy isn't stopping here:

Under the terms of the settlement announced today, Brandon Mayfield of Portland, Ore., will also be able to continue to pursue a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the USA Patriot Act antiterrorism law, which played a role in Mayfield's case.

Bush summit with Iraqi PM delayed after memo 'leak'

Heck of a job, W!

President Bush's high-stakes summit with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was put off Wednesday after public disclosure of U.S. doubts about his capacity to control sectarian warfare.

And you know why? Because the Bush Whitehouse leaked a memo. And 30 members of the parliament and 5 cabinet ministers are boycotting the Iraqi coalition government in protest of the meeting.

Lawmakers and cabinet ministers loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have suspended participation in parliament and the government to protest Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's summit with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Man's a visionary--been extending Prez power for years

Great article in the Boston Globe about the man behind the man, Dick "Deadeye" Cheney.

In July 1987, then-Representative Dick Cheney, the top Republican on the committee investigating the Iran-contra scandal, turned on his hearing room microphone and delivered, in his characteristically measured tone, a revolutionary claim.

President Reagan and his top aides, he asserted, were free to ignore a 1982 law at the center of the scandal. Known as the Boland Amendment, it banned US assistance to anti-Marxist militants in Nicaragua.

"I personally do not believe the Boland Amendment applied to the president, nor to his immediate staff," Cheney said.

Was he setting himself up for a future presidency, or a Veep-ship? Every school kid knows that congress is supposed to act as a check-and-balance against the presidency. This was amazingly sycophantic. I hope the current congress subpoenas the pants of this guy.

Happy Turkey Day, Mr. Lame Duck.
(or is this a TurDuck? If we could add Cheney, then this would of course become a TurDuckEn)

War criminal gets 5 years in prison

5 years for immigration fraud for lying about military service in a refugee application.

The Boston Globe reports:

It is undisputed that Marko Boskic helped slaughter civilian Muslim men in a 1995 massacre of more than 1,200 at Srebrenica during the Bosnian War and then lied about his military service to win refugee status and residency in the United States.

It is likely that Mr. Boskic will be deported after he serves his prison term.

Humor break

TRADITIONAL ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies and the economy grows.
You retire on the income.

INDIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You worship them.

AMERICAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
You profess surprise when the cow drops dead.
You put the blame on some nation with cows and naturally that nation
will be
a danger to mankind.
You wage a war to save the world and grab the cows.

FRENCH ECONOMICS
You have two cows
You go on strike because you want three cows.

GERMAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You reengineer them so that they live for 100 years, eat once a month
and milk themselves.

BRITISH ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
They are both mad cows.

JAPANESE ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You redesign them so that they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary
cow, and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create cute cartoon cow images called Cowkimon! And market them worldwide.


CHINESE ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim full employment, high bovine productivity and arrest anyone
reporting the actual numbers.


PAKISTAN ECONOMICS
You don't have any cows.
You claim that the Indian cows belong to you.
You ask the US for financial aid, China for military aid, British for
technology, French for submarines, Switzerland for loans, Russia for
drugs and Japan for equipment.
You buy the cows with all this and claim exploitation by the world.


BANGLADESH ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You don't know economics.
You choose one of them as the Prime Minister of the country and the
other the Leader of the Opposition.

Time to get on with the program

Bill Maher, he of the acerebic wit, treads into a controversial territory, and proposes updating the constitution. I fully agree, but can we trust the nimrods who will sit in on the constitutional convension?

There's no out-of-the-box thinking in this country. If we were really looking for a new direction, we'd not just change Congress, we'd have another Constitutional Convention, as Jefferson suggested we do. Jefferson said: "Let us provide in our Constitution for its revision. . . every 19 or 20 years. . . so that it may be handed on, with periodical repairs, from generation to generation." He himself was saying, "I'm a bright guy, but even I can't foresee the iPod." Or the assault rifle.

We sadly mourn the death of journalistic integrity

Forget civilized dialog--what happened to the basic principles of journalism? CNN's Beck asked Karl Ellison:

On the November 14 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck interviewed Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), who became the first Muslim ever elected to Congress on November 7, and asked Ellison if he could "have five minutes here where we're just politically incorrect and I play the cards up on the table." After Ellison agreed, Beck said: "I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' " Beck added: "I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way."

I must say Mr. Ellison handled it very well.

Email Glenn Beck if you consider this a disturbing trend.

Contact information:

Glenn Beck

When contacting the media, please be polite and professional. Express your specific concerns regarding that particular news report or commentary, and be sure to indicate exactly what you would like the media outlet to do differently in the future.

Jack, Bubba. Bubba, Jack, aka Fresh Meat

Jack Abramoff will be Uncle Sam's guest for the next 6 years.

Hours before entering a federal prison in Cumberland, disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff sent friends an e-mail lamenting "this nightmare" political scandal.

Abramoff, who parlayed campaign donations and expensive gifts into political influence from Congress to the White House, was sentenced to six years for a fraudulent Florida casino deal. He is awaiting sentencing in a Capitol Hill public corruption case in which he also is the star witness.

"He is the most effective racist I know"

So Trent Lott is the #2 senate republican. Somehow I find #2 to be symbolic, but I am not in mood for any scatological humor right now.

Time spoke thusly:

G.O.P. Senators said they were eager to have Lott back in the leadership, as he's known as a clever back-room dealer and tactician on the Senate floor, which operates through a bizarre, complicated rules that at times outgoing Majority Leader Bill Frist didn't seem to understand. "He's the most effective leader I know," said Arizona's John McCain, who has won Lott's support for his likely presidential bid. Minnesota's Norm Coleman called Lott "the master of the Senate."

How desperate is that?

9/11 isnt working any more, so manufacture some dirt on Harry Reid

This man needs to sue someone to shut them up--the same drivel comes up again and again, and he proves again and again that there was no corruption.

ABC reports that the Feds are focusing on Reid now that Abramoff is off to jail. Its NOT a new story, and has been discredited once, twice, and thrice. I am sure there are many more links, but I have less patience than Sen. Reid.

A few days late (celebrating too much)

Countdown To A Majority

We Are In The Majority! 29 And Counting!
7 more races undecided

Democratic
Pickups:

29

GOP
Pickups:

0

Seat Totals: Democrats 231 Republicans 196

Snapshot of the close congressional races

Hotline sayeth that the first 10 are gone (Democratic, that is). A sampler:

	1	ARIZONA-08	Open Seat (R)	Last Ranking: 1
		There's not much left to say about this race. It's over; she knows it and he knows it. Tip Sheet

	2	TEXAS-22	Open Seat (R)	Last Ranking: 2
		The NRCC has now spent over $1 million on behalf of Sekula-Gibbs, indicating they believe this seat is winnable. Bush's late-October rally for her could also help. Tip Sheet

	3	INDIANA-08	John Hostettler (R)	Last Ranking: 3
		Hostettler doesn't have enough money for a viable campaign and there's evidence that the party may be giving up on him. Introducing Rep. Ellsworth? Tip Sheet

Whitehouse aid gets 18 months in jail

The Abramoff scandal is starting to bear its toxic food. This is what the judge had to say:

"There was a time when people came to Washington because they thought government could be helpful to people," said U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman. "People came to Washington asking not what government could do for them and their friends but what they could do for the public."

This could actually work

Where do I sign up?

LONDON -- A Sudanese billionaire is putting up millions in prize money to promote good governance in Africa -- and to encourage leaders on the world's poorest continent to step down once their democratic mandates have expired.

Judges of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership will rate 53 African countries each year on progress in the economy, health, education, and security.

Each leader awarded the prize will receive $5 million spread over 10 years after leaving office. If still alive when the initial prize is exhausted, prize-winners will receive another $200,000 annually until they die.

In an opinion piece published in The Guardian newspaper yesterday, Ibrahim said he was trying in part to address reluctance to relinquish power on a continent where military dictators and presidents for life have long held sway.

"A situation in which leaders face three choices -- relative poverty, term extension, or corruption -- is not conducive to good governance," Ibrahim wrote in The Guardian. "And the continent's problems will not be solved unless governance improves radically."

The statement announcing the prize yesterday included endorsements from former South African president Nelson Mandela, who served one term, and African Union chief Alpha Konare, who stepped down as Mali's president after completing the constitutionally allowed two terms.

The prize will be awarded based on criteria developed by Robert Rotberg, a professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. The first prize will be awarded next year.

Ibrahim sold Celtel International, an African cellphone network, for $3.3 billion in 2005.

Immigration scare-mongering not exactly working for republican candidate

Really? In a border state where half of last year's illegal crossings ocurred? Reuters reports:

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct 8 (Reuters) - Randy Graf became the Republican candidate for Congress by taking a tough stand on Mexican border security but he seems unable to win over voters with a month to go until the Nov. 7 election.

The former golf pro and state representative, who was part of a civilian volunteer force to halt illegal border crossings, is hoping a strong enforcement message that includes deploying troops along the border will draw the hard-line conservative vote in southern Arizona.

"They are mobilized already," Graf told Reuters in an interview. "We are talking seriously about stopping illegal immigration before we talk about any other issues."

Others doubt his pitch will work -- even in an area where almost half of the 1.2 million illegal immigrants caught crossing the U.S. border last year trekked north.

Canadian Asylum adjudicator taking bribes

Desperate people with their lives in the balance, facing a low-ranking civil servant to makes a little over minimum wage. Say you didn't see this coming

MONTREAL — The federal Immigration and Refugee Board has identified nearly two dozen suspect cases handled by a Quebec adjudicator who has admitted to being on the take, according to internal department documents.

Overall, the board's legal team in Montreal reviewed 565 files handled by Yves Bourbonnais, say documents obtained by The Canadian Press using access-to-information laws.

So can anyone become legal, and then enter USA at will? We need a northern fence as well.

NY Times/CBS Poll: 83% think Bush is lying

Wow. The rightwingnuts can't ignore this as just a NY Times commie propaganda

Mr. Bush clearly faces constraints as he seeks to address the public concerns about Iraq that have shrouded this midterm election: 83 percent of respondents thought that Mr. Bush was either hiding something or mostly lying when he discussed how the war in Iraq was going.

Nice. The lunatic in North Korea now has a nuke

North Korea claims successful nuke test
And our military is bogged down looking for WMD in Iraq, while the lunatics are slowly talking over the asylum elsewhere in the world.

The country's official Korean Central News Agency said the underground test was performed successfully "with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent," and that no radioactive material leaked from that test site.

"The test is 100 percent safe," said the KCNA.

"It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the (Korean People's Army) and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability," KCNA said. "It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it."

Of course it pleased the Korean army--now they can starve some more people while basking in the radiation from the warhead. And remember--these crazy mo-fos have some effective short-range missiles.

Courtesy of GOP, voters finally get 'it'

Boston Globe op-ed piece. I have nothing to add to this.

IF I HAD my druthers, this election would have turned on the war in Iraq. I hoped that when the voters finally got it, ``it" would have been the disaster that's turned this war zone into a recruiting ground for terrorists.

Instead, we have the self-described party of family values caught enabling or at least ignoring a sick puppy of a congressman, Mark Foley, who was sex-talking electronically to teenage pages. Instead, we have Speaker J. Dennis Hastert dismissing such an exchange as merely ``over-friendly" and White House press secretary Tony Snow describing the messages as ``naughty." We even have right-wing webmaster Matt Drudge blaming the teens themselves as ``16- and 17-year-old beasts."

And my favorite section:

I remember when Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania blamed the Catholic priest pedophilia scandal on the blueness of Boston, ``a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America." You can no more label homosexuals as predators than you can label milkmen as murderers of Amish school girls. But you can try.

Republicans have been successful in getting a hold on the language and politics of values. There isn't a parent is this country who doesn't wince at and worry about the sexualization of children all over the culture from the clothing racks to the Internet. But the right has grabbed onto the free-floating anxiety and attached it to everything on their agenda from abstinence-only education to the dismissal of a Texas teacher for taking her students to a museum that had nude statues.

Now we are beginning to get ``it." The self-proclaimed party of moral values can't keep its own House in order. The Republicans in charge of too much for too long have one value they now hold above all others: staying in power. Got it? Well, that's a start.

4000 Iraqi policemen dead in 2 years; 8000 more wonded

When its 300 billion in taxpayer money being wasted and 2600 Americans being killed, why should we care about 4000 Iraqi policemen being killed in 2 years? I mean, after all, Haliburton continues to make money!

WASHINGTON --About 4,000 Iraqi police have been killed and more than 8,000 injured since September 2004, the U.S. commander in charge of the police training said Friday.

I reserve the right to hire incompetent idiots

W just stated that contrary to the law, he can hire anyone he wishes for the FEMA director position.

To shield FEMA from cronyism, Congress established new job qualifications for the agency's director in last week's homeland security bill. The law says the president must nominate a candidate who has ``a demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management" and ``not less than five years of executive leadership."

Bush signed the homeland-security bill on Wednesday morning. Then, hours later, he issued a signing statement saying he could ignore the new restrictions. Bush maintains that under his interpretation of the Constitution, the FEMA provision interfered with his power to make personnel decisions.

Information teleported from light to matter

Remember the teleporter in Star Trek? Nothing that cool, but amazing nonetheless.

Until now, scientists have teleported similar objects, such as light or single atoms, over short distances from one spot to another in a split second.

But Professor Eugene Polzik and his team at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark have made a breakthrough by using both light and matter.

"It is one step further because, for the first time, it involves teleportation between light and matter, two different objects. One is the carrier of information and the other one is the storage medium," Polzik explained in an interview on Wednesday.

So we are now buying journalists. Nice.

I come from a 3rd world country, or in politically correct lingo, from a LDC. But this happens in the good old US of A as well. And its not just some small-time a-hole making a lot of money; this is a major newspaper.

The publisher of the Miami Herald resigned today, citing revelations that journalists in the group had been paid by the US government to help undermine Fidel Castro's Cuban regime.

More bombings in Baghdad

Sadly, new all-time high record

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bomb attacks in Baghdad have hit an all-time high, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, as one of the capital's frontline police units was pulled off the streets on suspicion of involvement with sectarian death squads.

Thousands of police face criminal vetting and lie detectors as part of a "retraining" process designed to weed out militia killers who have used the cover of their uniforms to kidnap, torture and commit mass murder, U.S. officials have said.

Foley first reported to Hastert 3 years ago?

CNN says:

• NEW: Aide said he warned speaker's office about Foley 3 years ago
• Former Foley aide resigns after trying to negotiating with news media
• Key conservatives back Hastert, as does White House
• Republican whip questions how Hastert handled Foley matter

And Denny-boy claims he did all he could do. Calling Cardinal Law--calling Cardinal Law...

Boehner: "Foley Was Hastert's `Responsibility'"

The first rule of engagement is, cover your own ass, and this is happening faster and faster.

``I believe I had talked to the speaker and he told me it had been taken care of,'' Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told Cincinnati 700 WLW Radio this morning. ``It's in his corner, it's his responsibility.''

Blame it on Santorum

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) once claimed that catholic-priests molested children because of the lefty leanings of Boston academics (and by extension, all liberals in Massachusetts). No, I am not making this up.

Hmm.. now we find that the head perv was chairman of the missing and exploited children caucus. So, I think its only fair that the Boston Globe asks:

Priests rape young boys, the church hierarchy hushes it up for years, and academics and other assorted Democrats in Boston are to blame. That fact should be obvious to anyone with half a brain, which I think Santorum may have.

So, of course, I find it surprising -- no, make that shocking -- that the center of the storm has shifted from Boston to, of all places, Capitol Hill, and not just any part of Capitol Hill but specifically the offices of the Republican congressional leadership.

And thanks for believing in me, and electing me

The rats are abandoning ship

See no evil, hear no evil, and if you took money from evil, give it back

Among Republicans disposing of Foley money were Virginia Sen. George Allen, who plans to give the $2,000 his campaign received to a charitable cause, and Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico, who plans to give away $8,000 she received between 1998 and 2002. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., already donated $2,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., returned $1,000 she had received from Foley's political action committee.

Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, a member of the Republican leadership, returned $5,000 to Foley's leadership PAC on Friday. Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., returned a $1,000 contribution as well. Reps. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa., and Geoff Davis, R-Ky., donated the $1,000 they each received from Foley's PAC to victims' advocacy organizations in their respective districts.

Perhaps Foley can use this for his legal defense fund. Opps, he can't!

FoleyGate

Perhaphs this will not be as big as WaterGate, but the impact still will be like a Richter 8. And just as luck would have it, some of these guys are up for re-election. From the SF Chronicle:

Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader John Boehner and House GOP re-election chair Tom Reynolds had apparently known about Foley's e-mails for months, perhaps since late last year. The question is which e-mails.

If anyone in Washington knew the contents of the more graphic e-mail exchanges and did not contact authorities -- their careers are over. That would include Hastert or any other member of Congress. No amount of spin will explain how an adult could place the interests of a friend, a political ally, or their party's majority over the safety of an underage page.

Gingrich: Mark Foley is Gay

On Fox News Sunday, Gingrich sayeth (talking about GOP leaders' inaction about Foley):

Well, you could have second thoughts about it, but I think had they overly aggressively reacted to the initial round, they would have also been accused of gay bashing.

Not that there is anything wrong with the orientation of consenting ADULTS, but when a 55-year old man sends dirty emails to teenagers, that is just creepy.

Pakistan, our ally in the war against terror, responsible for Indian train bombing?

The same school of thought was responsible for 3,000,000 people being killed in 1971 in Bangladesh. Why would they change now?

MUMBAI, India -- An Indian investigator yesterday accused Pakistan's spy agency of orchestrating the July train bombings that killed at least 207 people in Mumbai -- an accusation that could threaten the shaky peace process between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Why does the Department of State hate America?

State and Defense sparred with the creep Veep over detainee memo, the NY Times reports:

In a nine-page memorandum, the two officials, Gordon R. England, the acting deputy secretary of defense, and Philip D. Zelikow, the counselor of the State Department, urged the administration to seek Congressional approval for its detention policies.
...
On one side of the fight were officials, often led by Vice President Dick Cheney, who said the terrorism threat required that the president have wide power to decide who could be held and how they should be treated. On the other side were officials, primarily in the State Department and the Pentagon, who portrayed their disagreement as pragmatic. They said the administration had claimed more authority than it needed, drawing widespread criticism and challenges in the courts.

Foley Coverup: Not Vatican scale, but still disgustingly bad

From ThinkProgress

2003 — Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) has sexually explicit IM exchanges with an underage boy who worked as a Congressional page. [ABC News, 9/29/06]

And Sunday's Washington Post has an interesting story. Did the speaker of the house lie?

Only after Reynolds's definitive statement did Hastert concede yesterday that he may have been notified of some of the questionable activities of Foley....

With his statement, Reynolds, who is locked in a difficult reelection campaign, signaled he was unwilling to take the fall alone amid partisan attacks that were becoming increasingly vituperative....

ABC News Video about Mark Foley

This is why snakes should be allowed on planes

Escaped Hamster forces plane to land. 'Nuff said.

If you care about such things...

GreenPeace says in a report:
I am happy to see Samsung where it is (I got amazing customer service from them once, and been a loyal customer since then).

The cover-up is as bad as the crime

Last night, Jay Leno said something like "When the Vatican learned about congressman Foley, they moved him to a new parish just out of habit." The show was taped prior to this news breaking, but as it happens, the house GOP leadership was aware of Mr. Foley's habits for a long time--as long as a year, did nothing, and left him in a position where he would be in contact with more young men.

From the Washington Post:

House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of inappropriate "contact" between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he then told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Boehner later contacted The Post and said he could not remember whether he talked to Hastert.

It was not immediately clear what actions Hastert took. His spokesman had said earlier that the speaker did not know of the sexually charged online exchanges between Foley and the boy.

So who is lying? Foley could go to jail if the Bush DoJ follows the rules. Should Hastert resign? Looks like the distinguished gentleman from IL, and the chairman of the Page board, also aided in the coverup.

Kids: Stay away from this man

Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned today. ABC News confronted him with some AOL instant messenger messages with suggestive content. Mr. Foley was, as it is entirely fit in this bizarro world, the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.

Hours earlier, ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former male pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.

In unrelated news, God was heard mumbling something about Priests and Republicans giving him a bad name.

488 Billion defense bill passed

$70B for Iraq and Afganistan, will reach $110B.

The bill, now on its way to the White House for President Bush's signature, totals $448 billion. It was passed by a 100-0 vote after minimal debate.

Approval by a comfortable margin came despite intense partisan divisions over the course of the Iraq war, which is costing about $8 billion a month. Another infusion of money will be needed next spring.

The House-Senate compromise bill provides $378 billion for core Pentagon programs, about a 5 percent increase, though slightly less than President Bush asked for. The $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan is a down payment on war costs the White House has estimated will hit $110 billion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1

Borat invites W to his movie screening

Borat, played by one of my favorite British comics, tried to invite W to his movie screening. Some other invited guests were O.J. Simpson, "Mel Gibsons" and other "American dignitaries."

Borat would be perfect for giving our dear leader a lesson in international relations and culture

Reuters reported that

Secret Service agents turned away British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, in character as the boorish, anti-Semitic journalist, when he tried to invite "Premier George Walter Bush" to a screening of his upcoming movie, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."

Shortly after Nazarbayev dedicated a statue in front of the Kazakh embassy, Borat denounced an official Kazakh publicity campaign running in U.S. magazines as "disgusting fabrications" orchestrated by neighboring Uzbekistan.

"If there is one more item of Uzbek propaganda claiming that we do not drink fermented horse urine, give death penalty for baking bagels, or export over 300 tonnes of human pubis per year, then we will be left with no alternative but to commence bombardment of their cities with our catapults," Borat said.

But she is a concert Pianist. Lets elect her in 2008--can't do worse than W

From Bob Woodward's new book, state of Denial, via NY Times:

On July 10, 2001, the book says, Mr. Tenet and his counterterrorism chief, J. Cofer Black, met with Ms. Rice at the White House to impress upon her the seriousness of the intelligence the agency was collecting about an impending attack. But both men came away from the meeting feeling that Ms. Rice had not taken the warnings seriously.

I remember reading "All the President's Men" a long time ago and being absolutely amazed that reporters could hold a president accountable. Of course, that was 30 years ago. Nice to see Mr. Woodward is growing back his pair.

Iraq war: $2,000,000,000 (yes, BILLION) A WEEK

Kerry said the war will cost more than $200 billion, and he was laughed at by W and his pet media. Now we already spent $300 billion, just approved another $70 billion, and its climbing. But don't worry, our friends at Haliburton are getting rich. And now we are spending $2 billion each week

A new congressional analysis shows the Iraq war is now costing taxpayers almost $2 billion a week -- nearly twice as much as in the first year of the conflict three years ago and 20 percent more than last year -- as the Pentagon spends more on establishing regional bases to support the extended deployment and scrambles to fix or replace equipment damaged in combat.

Can I get a cut? Oh--I am not a republican.

Senator Allen: Confederate flag, noose, and now the N word

Lets elect him president in 2008

I heard to my left, the ‘n’ word, and I heard it again, and I looked around and heard it again,” she said. “And there was this fellow sitting on the ground. He was putting on red rugby shoes, it is seared in my brain, believe me. And he was kind of showing off I guess, but he was telling a story about something or other and in the story was a lot of ‘n’ words. So, I got out of the bleacher and I went over and I said young man, I am the coach's wife and if you don't mind, would you please not use that word. And he in essence told me to buzz off.

May be he will pick David Duke for his VP ticket

Green Card? We can take it away and stick you in a jail cell. Dont need no stinkin' proof

What happened to "Presumed innocent until proven GUILTY"?

A last-minute change to a bill currently before Congress on the rights of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay could have sweeping implications inside the United States: It would strip green-card holders and other legal residents of the right to challenge their detention in court if they are accused of being "enemy combatants."