frankilin roosevelt

It's not about being liberal or conservative anymore y'all. That is a hype offered by the fascist whores who want to confuse the people with lies while they turn this country into an aristocratic police state. Some people will say anything to attain power and money. There is no such thing as the Liberal Media, but the Corporate media is very real.


Check out my old  Voice of the People page.


Gino Napoli
San Francisco, California
High School Math Teacher

jonsdarc@mindspring.com




Loyalty without truth
is a trail to tyranny.

a middle-aged
George Washington



ARCHIVES
1664 POSTS
LATEST ITEM

March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
May 2022
April 2022
February 2022
January 2022
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
September 2016
August 2016
May 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
September 2014
August 2014
May 2014
March 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
August 2012
July 2012
April 2012
March 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
August 2010
July 2010
March 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
August 2009
July 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
June 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
June 2005
May 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004

Tuesday, 22 November 2005 at 2h 42m 3s

Roll out the presses, xmas shoppers are on the march


Tuesday, 22 November 2005 at 2h 43m 48s

They are foolish and have no shame

Who are these people, standing before the microphones and disparaging John Murtha's 37 years of Marine service and playing word games by accusing his bill as "cutting and running."

Then, on Friday, the Republican leadership attempts to sneak a "substitute" bill drawn up by California Republican Duncan Hunter (boo, hiss) by calling a vote on the resolution. Thankfully representative Lantos was keen enough to ask what bill was before the House, and thus forcing the House speaker to legally state the bill. [SOURCE] Had the vote occurred, Democrats could have been lured into thinking they voted for another bill. This trick has been pulled by the Republicans -- and Lyndon Baines Johnson even -- before. Thankfully, Lantos was wise to them this time.

Good thing too, because the two resolutions are very different.

Murtha has proposed his own resolution that would force the president to withdraw the nearly 160,000 troops in Iraq "at the earliest practicable date." It would establish a quick-reaction force and a nearby presence of Marines in the region. It also said the U.S. must pursue stability in Iraq through diplomacy.

The Republican alternative: "It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately." [SOURCE]


That's the entire Hunter resolution by the way. We get "the sense." Which sense, the sense of "smell" -- cause that's what this does, it smells.

Congressman Duncan Hunter,52nd District of California
(East of San Diego)
" Believe everything they tell me to say. Trust me. The honesty and integrity will become more obvious as my hands approach one another while I am speaking. "

This is the same Duncan Hunter who earlier in the year read the menu of the Guantanamo Prisoners, so as to dispel any notions that prisoner abuse and torture were not occuring merely because he is reading a "menu" given to him purporting to come directly from spot. He recently also sponsored building a "wall" along the entire border between Mexico and the United States.

Sounds like the Berlin Wall to me, Mr. HUNTER.

Keep in mind that this is the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee during this time of egregious corruption in the sub-contracting process of military procurement, and when 9 billion of 18 billion to be spent cannot be accounted for and in which was specifically written by law to be spent on Reconstruction in Iraq.

Accordingly "snake-oil" salesman Rep. Duncan Hunter R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that the above resolution vote was not a stunt. "This is not an attack on an individual. This is a legitimate question," he said, in the sourced article.

Oh really? So if it is a "legitimate question" then why try to sneak in an alternative resolution without making clear which resolution, Hunter's or Murtha's was about to be voted upon. You see how this works, eh. Those who did not pay attention, only thought the fight was about some "legitimate question," when the fight was really about the secretive tactics. This is how these Rethuglicans (damn near everyone) and a few spineless Democrats (Lieberman and Biden) play the game. They know that at least 80% of the people will not know the details or even the actual series of events, so what the TV audiences and the corporate newspapers get is the offsetting quotes -- with very little or not enough background information.

(Which is why the sourced yahoo article comes from a writer of the Associated Press - - the "associated" means some writer wrote another story and distributed it across the wire, as opposed to a writer from the staff of a particular newspaper.)

85 to 90 percent of the article is a quotation, or mentions conflicts and disagreements in lieu of a quotation without detailing either conflict or disagreement.

It's like, He said,she said, he said, oh and by the way 1+1=2, and then finally, he said. Story over.

Uh .... hello! Who cares what the @*$$!* he or she said, what the hell happened !!!!

Just look how the article describes the voting scenario. Each of the bolded parts are deliberate subjective choices of description

The Republican-controlled House spurned calls for an immediate pullout of troops from Iraq in a vote hastily arranged [ie, not forced by the Murtha resolution] by the GOP that Democrats vociferously denounced as politically motivated...

...Democrats accused Republicans of orchestrating a political stunt that prohibited thoughtful debate on the issue, and nearly all voted against the measure.

...The House action came in a week that also saw the GOP-controlled Senate defeat a Democratic push for President Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal. Instead, senators approved a statement that 2006 should be a significant year in which conditions are created for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces.

...In little more than 24 hours, Hastert and Republicans decided to put the question to the House.

...Republicans hoped to place Democrats in an unappealing position — either supporting a withdrawal that critics said would be precipitous or opposing it and angering voters who want an end to the conflict. They also hoped the vote could restore GOP momentum on an issue — the war — that has seen plummeting public support in recent weeks.

Democrats said it was a sham and quickly decided to vote against the resolution in an attempt to drain it of significance.


Nowhere in this damn piece of $#@@**!% article are the major facts that occurred. The Republicans tried to put their own Resolution before the vote without making clear what was being voted upon. That resolution was one sentence long and only conveyed "a sense" of doing something. And the Murtha resolution was not a call for immediate withdrawal, as the Hunter resolution suggests with a "sense". But apparently, according to the ap writer "Republicans hoped to place Democrats in an unappealing position — either supporting a withdrawal that critics said would be precipitous or opposing it and angering voters who want an end to the conflict."

Indeed, was that the choice according to the ubiquitous "critics" ? A choice between a "precipitous" withdrawal or "angering voters." Was that the choice?

Thank you bullshit ap hack writer for such an insightful clue about your true purpose on the ap wire. Notice that in the paragraph above I can summarize in 3 sentences what you could not even mention in the entirety of your epic whitewashing of the event.

However, the Republican's got other strings to pull, and quickly get on the trail of yet another auspicious ethics probe ... ?

From Roll Call (the House record of business each day): GOP Lawmakers Float Ethics Probe of Murtha Republican lawmakers say that ties between Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and his brother’s lobbying firm, KSA Consulting, may warrant investigation by the House ethics committee.

So they go around attacking the credentials and ideas of John Murtha and then they try to sneak through a fake bill so they don't have to vote on the real "Murtha bill" ...

argh, this truly is disgusting.

Our boys are dying because they can't accept reality without first trying to milk the events for some political gain. This is not about "cutting and running." This is about redeployment. According to the Pentagon, no amount of time or addition of troops will improve the situation in Iraq. The troops will be drawn down and redeployed by the military anyway. Murtha is just saying publically what is already in the works.

But these Republicans have to take their politics to the level of sewage pipes underneath the streets. But then that is where the rats live and breed, so go figure.


Saturday, 19 November 2005 at 19h 1m 55s

Da Prez meets regular guy fo uh be-air


Ever get that down to Earth feeling?

Go here to read more ...

The Onion story behind this mythical meeting by Bush with a "regular Joe" is hilarious, and quite true, even if the actual event did not really occur. Sometimes the truth is more relevent in fiction than real life, because one's loyalties and misconceptions can be stripped free of their symbolism.


Saturday, 19 November 2005 at 18h 50m 23s

Why did they out Valerie Plame again?

Thanks  Bartcop

From _Dave in Half Moon Bay

Just to add a little detail to my claim that Plame was outed because she had prevented the BFEE from planting WMD, here's one place I saw an example by Wayne Madsen:

"According to U.S. intelligence sources, the White House exposure of Plame and Brewster Jennings was intended to retaliate against the CIA's work in limiting the proliferation of WMDs. The CIA Counter-Proliferation Division prevented the shipment of binary VX nerve gas from Turkey into Iraq in November 2002. The Brewster Jennings network in Turkey was able to intercept this shipment which was intended to be hidden in Iraq and later used as evidence that Saddam was in possession of WMDs. U.S. intelligence sources revealed that this was a major reason Bush targeted Plame and her network."

SOURCES:



Friday, 18 November 2005 at 5h 21m 25s

The propaganda machine at work

This is from a recent ROLLING STONE article, By JAMES BAMFORD. [ SOURCE]


On December 17th, 2001, in a small room within the sound of the crashing tide, a CIA officer attached metal electrodes to the ring and index fingers of a man sitting pensively in a padded chair. The officer then stretched a black rubber tube, pleated like an accordion, around the man's chest and another across his abdomen. Finally, he slipped a thick cuff over the man's brachial artery, on the inside of his upper arm.

Strapped to the polygraph machine was Adnan Ihsan Saeed al-Haideri, a forty- three-year-old Iraqi who had fled his homeland in Kurdistan and was now determined to bring down Saddam Hussein. For hours, as thin mechanical styluses traced black lines on rolling graph paper, al-Haideri laid out an explosive tale. Answering yes and no to a series of questions, he insisted repeatedly that he was a civil engineer who had helped Saddam's men to secretly bury tons of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. The illegal arms, according to al- Haideri, were buried in subterranean wells, hidden in private villas, even stashed beneath the Saddam Hussein Hospital, the largest medical facility in Baghdad.

It was damning stuff -- just the kind of evidence the Bush administration was looking for. If the charges were true, they would offer the White House a compelling reason to invade Iraq and depose Saddam. That's why the Pentagon had flown a CIA polygraph expert to Pattaya: to question al-Haideri and confirm, once and for all, that Saddam was secretly stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

There was only one problem: It was all a lie. After a review of the sharp peaks and deep valleys on the polygraph chart, the intelligence officer concluded that al-Haideri had made up the entire story, apparently in the hopes of securing a visa.

The fabrication might have ended there, the tale of another political refugee trying to scheme his way to a better life. But just because the story wasn't true didn't mean it couldn't be put to good use. Al-Haideri, in fact, was the product of a clandestine operation -- part espionage, part PR campaign -- that had been set up and funded by the CIA and the Pentagon for the express purpose of selling the world a war. And the man who had long been in charge of the marketing was a secretive and mysterious creature of the Washington establishment named John Rendon.

Rendon is a man who fills a need that few people even know exists. Two months before al-Haideri took the lie-detector test, the Pentagon had secretly awarded him a $16 million contract to target Iraq and other adversaries with propaganda. One of the most powerful people in Washington, Rendon is a leader in the strategic field known as "perception management," manipulating information -- and, by extension, the news media -- to achieve the desired result. His firm, the Rendon Group, has made millions off government contracts since 1991, when it was hired by the CIA to help "create the conditions for the removal of Hussein from power." Working under this extraordinary transfer of secret authority, Rendon assembled a group of anti-Saddam militants, personally gave them their name -- the Iraqi National Congress -- and served as their media guru and "senior adviser" as they set out to engineer an uprising against Saddam. It was as if President John F. Kennedy had outsourced the Bay of Pigs operation to the advertising and public-relations firm of J. Walter Thompson.


Oh, and that is just the beginning 5 per cent. There is a whole lot more, read on.


Friday, 18 November 2005 at 4h 58m 1s

Proverbs, Chapter 6

Thanks to the passionate and knowledgeable Mike Malloy, I can bring you Biblical scripture from the Proverbs, Chapter 6 verses #16 - #19. [SOURCE]

There are six things which the LORD hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

And hands that shed innocent blood.

A heart that devises wicked plans,

Feet that run rapidly to evil,

A false witness who utters lies,

And one who spreads strife among brothers.


By the way, I find the New American Standard Bible much better than the often cryptic and hard to decipher King James Version.


Friday, 18 November 2005 at 3h 21m 31s

Supermarket meat may not be so fresh

The source can be found here , Capiltal Hill Blue.

Under little-noted rulings over the last three years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has allowed meat processors to use small amounts of carbon monoxide to maintain the red color in fresh meat sold in pre-assembled or "case- ready" packages.

Such packages are airtight containers assembled with the product at meat- packing plants and are not made to be reopened until they are sold to consumers. Some packages are marketed for up to 35 days, or 28 days in the case of ground beef.

Kalsec, a food-and-spice company based in Kalamazoo, Mich., is protesting the FDA action, saying the carbon-monoxide treatment is an illegal additive to fresh meat that disguises the freshness of the meat and hides spoilage.

"Color is the indicator consumers use most often to determine if meat is fresh," said Don Berdahl, Kalsec's vice president. He explained that carbon- monoxide gas reacts with the pigment of the blood in meat and gives it a deep red color that can fool shoppers.

The company also charged that the practice is not safe and can hide the growth of dangerous pathogens like botulinum, salmonella and E. coli.

Kalsec wants the FDA to either rescind its approval of the use of carbon monoxide or require meat packers to label treated product to alert consumers.

The FDA has not objected to companies using carbon monoxide as a processing aid in several cases over the last three years, ruling that the gas is in the category of "substances generally recognized as safe" and so not requiring complete regulatory review.


Of course the idea is to cut the butcher staff at the stores. My best friend has been a butcher for the last 15 years. He's told me the whole story of how the large big box market corporations have turned his profession from one of an entire staff cutting the meat fresh from the carcasses that came two or three times a week, into just him and two other shift workers opening pre-packaged, pre-cut meat in seated containers. Mexican workers in the plants at the border cost 5 to 10% what the cost of the butcher staff workers cost you see. The modern butcher has turned into a customer service representative.

So you buy the bright red meat that happens to be 28 days from being cut and packaged and then put it in the fridge for a day or more before eating it. And when you get diarrhea or feel slightly ill, did you inaccurately attribute the illness to ... the flu? This happens more often then you think.


Friday, 18 November 2005 at 4h 34m 16s

God bless you, Congressman John Murtha

Democratic Congressman John Murtha (D - Pennsylvania) gave a press conference today introducing his resolution for redeployment of American troops in Iraq. He is a decorated Vietnam veteran, was in the United States Marine Corps for 30 years, and has been a Congressmen for 36 years.

Read the full speech here.

Or ... Link to cnn video of speech is here.



Some choice exerpts :

"The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of us. The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq, but it is time for a change in direction. Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action is not in the best interests of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf Region.

"General Casey said in a September 2005 hearing, "the perception of occupation in Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency." General Abizaid said on the same date, "Reducing the size and visibility of the coalition forces in Iraq is part of our counterinsurgency strategy."

...

"We spend more money on Intelligence that all the countries in the world together, and more on Intelligence than most countries GDP. But the intelligence concerning Iraq was wrong. It is not a world intelligence failure. It is a U.S. intelligence failure and the way that intelligence was misused.

...

"The threat posed by terrorism is real, but we have other threats that cannot be ignored. We must be prepared to face all threats. The future of our military is at risk. Our military and their families are stretched thin. Many say that the Army is broken. Some of our troops are on their third deployment. Recruitment is down, even as our military has lowered its standards. Defense budgets are being cut. Personnel costs are skyrocketing, particularly in health care. Choices will have to be made. We cannot allow promises we have made to our military families in terms of service benefits, in terms of their health care, to be negotiated away. Procurement programs that ensure our military dominance cannot be negotiated away. We must be prepared. The war in Iraq has caused huge shortfalls at our bases in the U.S.

"Much of our ground transportation is worn out and in need of either serous overhaul or replacement. George Washington said, "To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace." We must rebuild out Army. Our deficit is growing out of control. The Director of the Congressional Budget Office recently admitted to being "terrified" about the budget deficit in the coming decades. This is the first prolonged war we have fought with three years of tax cuts, without full mobilization of American industry and without a draft. The burden of this war has not been shared equally; the military and their families are shouldering this burden.

...

"I said over a year ago, and now the military and the Administration agrees, Iraq can not be won "militarily." I said two years ago, the key to progress in Iraq is to Iraqitize, Internationalize and Energize. I believe the same today. But I have concluded that the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is impeding this progress.

"Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. They are untied against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. U.S. troops are the common enemy of the Sunnis, Saddamists and foreign jihadists. I believe with a U.S. troop redeployment, the Iraq security forces will be incentivized to take control. A poll recently conducted shows that over 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops, about 45% of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified. I believe we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis. I believe before the Iraqi elections, scheduled for mid December, the Iraqi people and the emerging government must be put on notice that the United States will immediately redeploy. All of Iraq must know that Iraq is free. Free from United Stated occupation. I believe this will send a signal to the Sunnis to join the political process for the good of a "free" Iraq.

"My plan calls:

To immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces.

To create a quick reaction force in the region.

To create an over-the-horizon presence of Marines.

To diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq.

"This war needs to be personalized. As I said before, I have visited with the severely wounded of this war. They are suffering.

"Because we in Congress are charged with sending our sons and daughters into battle, it is our responsibility, our obligation, to speak out for them. That's why I am speaking out.

"Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the U.S. can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home."


Enough said. Thank you Congressman John Murtha.


Thursday, 17 November 2005 at 4h 31m 10s

Steven Jones, patriot

You need to go here and read about why Brigham Young physics professor Steven Jones has a different opinion about why the buildings in New York City fell on September 11th. Let's just say that I agree.

Also, in support of Steven Jones, go here , a response to a puerile popular mechanics article, whose writers thought they had a clue merely because (on the 9th page) they "consulted more than 300 experts and organizations in [this] investigation into 9/11 conspiracy theories."

Well god damn Junior, seems like they must be legit since they got 300 idiots out there who can't tell a fact from a press release.

Here's the link to the original popular mechanics article of which I speak.


Thursday, 17 November 2005 at 2h 57m 47s

A Funny book is on the market

Thanks to Bill in Portland, Maine on Daily Kos.

America (The Book) has won the Thurber Prize for outstanding humor writing. From page 162-63: A Who's Who of Political Interviewers:


Tim Russert Holding your own against Russert is a political rite of passage akin to the Masai teenage-warrior circumcision ritual and only slightly easier on your penis. But tread carefully: It's early Sunday morning, and he fact checks.

Chris Matthews Talk, talk, talk. Everywhere you go they expect you to talk. Not on Hardball. Matthews will deliver the sound waves; all you need to do is take a page from the guy sitting in the Maxell ad and hang on. As long as you grunt or nod enough to uphold the minimum body language requirement of the social contract you just bought yourself a half hour of free television time. (Caution to asthmatics and those with heart conditions: Carbon dioxide levels around Matthews can become dangerously high. In the event of a diatribe, oxygen masks will drop from the ceiling. Help yourself, then help the children.)

Bill O'Reilly This is the venue for those who could use an immediate and certain judgment concerning their value as human beings. Are you a man amongst men whose moral clarity and vision stand unsurpassed or a maggot feeding upon the flesh of the dying? You will be told within the first minute of the program. Do not question the judgment. Accept it, and make the necessary changes.





GOTO THE NEXT 10 COLUMNS