How Flight 77 Should Have Looked

I have seen the "Official" Video of the Pentagon and I am now even more skeptical then I was before. I never used to believe any of the conspiracy theories about 9-11, and I still don't, but this raised some questions for me. Mostly because the object that appears in the video looks nothing whatsoever like the nose cone of a Boeing 757. I have traveled on a lot of Boeing 757s, and none of them looked like that.

A Boeing 757 has a large, short, wide nose. The object in the video is clearly a thin, long object.

Also, look how close to the ground it is and compare it to the scale graphic below. It's engines would have been scraping on the ground if it were that low, yet the lawn in front of the Pentagon was unblemished.



There have been several recreations of what a 757 should have looked like, and none of them jive with the official evidence.

There is also an animated .gif that can be seen here.

Another Illegal Found - Let's Deport Him

This is funny!

BLITZER: Give us your -- tell our viewers who aren't familiar your personal story, how you got to where you are, your grandparents, your parents. They struggled, they came here. I don't know if they came here legally or illegally, but give us the story.

GONZALES: Well, three of my grandparents were born in Mexico. They came to Texas. My parents -- both of my parents were born in Texas, extremely poor. My mother...

BLITZER: But when they came to Texas, were they legally documented, were they unlegally documented?

GONZALES: You know, it's unclear. It's unclear. And I've looked at this issue, I've talked to my parents about it, and it's just not clear.

The REAL Danger from Wiretapping

As Greg Palast describes in his article the Spies who Shag Us, the Corporate Mainstream Media have missed the real story...again.

the snooping into your phone bill is just the snout of the pig of a strange, lucrative link-up between the Administration's Homeland Security spy network and private companies operating beyond the reach of the laws meant to protect us from our government. You can call it the privatization of the FBI -- though it is better described as the creation of a private KGB.

The leader in the field of what is called "data mining," is a company called, "ChoicePoint, Inc," which has sucked up over a billion dollars in national security contracts.

Worried about Dick Cheney listening in Sunday on your call to Mom? That ain't nothing. You should be more concerned that they are linking this info to your medical records, your bill purchases and your entire personal profile including, not incidentally, your voting registration. Five years ago, I discovered that ChoicePoint had already gathered 16 billion data files on Americans -- and I know they've expanded their ops at an explosive rate.

They are paid to keep an eye on you -- because the FBI can't. For the government to collect this stuff is against the law unless you're suspected of a crime. (The law in question is the Constitution.) But ChoicePoint can collect it for "commercial" purchases -- and under the Bush Administration's suspect reading of the Patriot Act -- our domestic spying apparatchiks can then BUY the info from ChoicePoint.

Who ARE these guys selling George Bush a piece of you?

ChoicePoint's board has more Republicans than a Palm Beach country club. It was funded, and its board stocked, by such Republican sugar daddies as billionaires Bernie Marcus and Ken Langone -- even after Langone was charged by the Securities Exchange Commission with abuse of inside information.

I first ran across these guys in 2000 in Florida when our Guardian/BBC team discovered the list of 94,000 "felons" that Katherine Harris had ordered removed from Florida's voter rolls before the election. Virtually every voter purged was innocent of any crime except, in most cases, Voting While Black. Who came up with this electoral hit list that gave Bush the White House? ChoicePoint, Inc.

And worse, they KNEW the racially-tainted list of felons was bogus. And when we caught them, they lied about it. While they've since apologized to the NAACP, ChoicePoint's ethnic cleansing of voter rolls has been amply rewarded by the man the company elected.

And now ChoicePoint and George Bush want your blood. Forget your phone bill. ChoicePoint, a sickened executive of the company told us in confidence, "hope[s] to build a database of DNA samples from every person in the United States ...linked to all the other information held by CP [ChoicePoint]" from medical to voting records.

And ChoicePoint lied about that too. The company publicly denied they gave DNA to the Feds -- but then told our investigator, pretending to seek work, that ChoicePoint was "the number one" provider of DNA info to the FBI.

"And that scares the hell out of me," said the executive (who has since left the company), because ChoicePoint gets it WRONG so often. We are not contracting out our Homeland Security to James Bond here. It's more like Austin Powers, Inc. Besides the 97% error rate in finding Florida "felons," Illinois State Police fired the company after discovering ChoicePoint had produced test "results" on rape case evidence ... that didn't exist. And ChoicePoint just got hit with the largest fine in Federal Trade Commission history for letting identity thieves purchase 145,000 credit card records.

But it won't stop, despite Republican senators shedding big crocodile tears about "surveillance" of innocent Americans. That's because FEAR is a lucrative business -- not just for ChoicePoint, but for firms such as Syntech, Sybase and Lockheed-Martin -- each of which has provided lucrative posts or profits to connected Republicans including former Total Information Awareness chief John Poindexter (Syntech), Marvin Bush (Sybase) and Lynn Cheney (Lockheed-Martin).

But how can they get Americans to give up our personal files, our phone logs, our DNA and our rights? Easy. Fear sells better than sex -- and they want you to be afraid. Back to today's New York Times, page 28: "Wider Use of DNA Lists is Urged in Fighting Crime." And who is providing the technology? It comes, says the Times, from the work done on using DNA fragments to identity victims of the September 11 attack. And who did that job (for $12 million, no bid)? ChoicePoint, Inc. Which is NOT mentioned by the Times.

"Genetic surveillance would thus shift from the individual [the alleged criminal] to the family," says the Times -- which will require, of course, a national DNA database of NON-criminals.

It doesn't end there. Turn to the same newspaper, page 23, with a story about a weird new law passed by the state of Georgia to fight illegal immigration. Every single employer and government agency will be required to match citizen or worker data against national databases to affirm citizenship. It won't stop illegal border crossing, but hey, someone's going to make big bucks on selling data. And guess what local boy owns the data mine? ChoicePoint, Inc., of Alpharetta, Georgia.

The knuckleheads at the Times don't put the three stories together because the real players aren't in the press releases their reporters re-write.

But that's the Fear Industry for you. You aren't safer from terrorists or criminals or "felon" voters. But the national wallet is several billion dollars lighter and the Bill of Rights is a couple amendments shorter.

And that's their program. They get the data mine -- and we get the shaft.

I wonder what it takes to become a citizen of Norway or Holland?

NOTE TO DEMOCRATS - SHUT UP ABOUT IMPEACHMENT

It would be a very bad idea for Democrats to run on Impeachment this year or in 2008.
Yes, many people do want to see it, but not enough that they would vote for the Democrats just to see that happen.

The best move politcially would be for the Democrats to run on National Security. They have the upper hand right now and need to capitalize on it.

They need to run on the promise to enact the reccommendations of the 9-11 commission.

Numerous Democrats have already said that if they get a majority this November then securing our nation would be their first priority.

Many Republicans are very unhappy with their party right now. They are not mad enough to vote for the Democrats but there is a very good chance they will stay home come election time.

What we do not need is a rallying point that the GOP can use to motivate them back to the polls.

Stephen Colbert Is My Idol

Stephen Colbert's wonderfully sarcastic and cynical roasting of both the Bush Administration and the so-called "liberal" Media was, in one word, Awesome. Cynicism and Sarcasm don't work in a vaccuum. They only work when the subject is true.

The entire performance was dripping with sweet cynical sarcasm.

"I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."

And he let the media have it too. They were not amused. I think he hit too close to home.

"Here's how it works. The President makes decisions, he's the decider. The Press Secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know, fiction."

Cynical Sarcasm abounded! It was quite a spectacle.

"So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg."

- Demosthenese

Weighing in on Immigration

Damn Foreigner had a very good piece on immigration.
He saved my favorite quote for the end:

If you believe that illegal immigration shouldn't be rewarded, then stop eating American grown agriculture products.

End Republican Giveaways to Rich Oil Companies

Are you aware that Republicans in Congress have been giving away Billions of YOUR tax dollars to the already rich oil companies? Most Americans are not. Thanks to the "liberal" corporate media, they have not been reporting this phenonmenon.

Normally when an oil company drills for oil on someone else's land they have to pay the owners royalties for the right to drill on their land. In the case of Federal public lands, they had to pay royalties to the American people.

In the late 90s and again last year, the Republican Congress voted to suspend thos royalty payments for the oil companies. During a period when those companies are the most profitable corporations in the world, Congress decided that they need financial "relief" from their reasonable obligations to the owners of the land they are drilling.

In Response Democrats in Congress have put forward the Royalty Relief for American Consumers Act of 2006. This Act would force the oil companies to pay the billions in royalties that they owe to the American people.

Senator Ron Wyden brought the entire Senate to a screeching halt for 5 hours yestersday in an attempt to get Senate Republicans to see logic for once. On the same day that House Speaker Dennis Hastert got caught leaving a photo-op at a local gas station in a hydrogen vehicle, only to go a couple blocks and switch into his gas guzzling SUV.

Senator Wyden was unsuccessful in getting Republicans to see reason, of course.

The Oil Companies bought and paid for Congress long ago.

This is just another example of proof to add to the pile.

Republicans Lying about Democrats Again

They figured that since their base bought the lie about Rep. Murtha (when they claimed that Duncan Hunter's "cut and run" bill was Murtha's) that they would try the same tactic again.

As Josh has mentioned, the GOP is claiming that Democrats have voted to make illegal immigration a felony crime. Exactly the opposite is the case. Ken Mehlman's RNC is even running ads based on this lie.

Bush Spent $1.6 Billion on Propaganda

That is $1.6 Billion taxpayer dollars blown on propaganda and "public relations".

And after wasting all that money their approval ratings are still in the tank.

If Bush's policies has any merit they would stand on their own and wouldn't need such blatent propping up.

Iraqi Government Tells Iraqis To Ignore Police

This was an eye opening piece over at Baghdad Burning.

“The Ministry of Defense requests that civilians do not comply with the orders of the army or police on nightly patrols unless they are accompanied by coalition forces working in that area.”

That’s how messed up the country is at this point.

I makes me sick that we won't hear a peep about this from the "liberal" media, but a young girl in Iraq is well aware of it.

The situation is so bad on the security front that the top two ministries in charge of protecting Iraqi civilians cannot trust each other. The Ministry of Defense can’t even trust its own personnel, unless they are “accompanied by American coalition forces”.

Immigration in the U.S.A.

I thought this summed up my feelings today.

Everybody knows America is polarized right now. Let's face it, we have been since the inception of the two party system. This blog and millions of blogs like it are reflections of that condition and how it has intensified since 9-11. Security has become a real issue but Washington Politicians and the Media are still using it as a divisive tool.

Both parties have come forward with extremely similar bills, but the Republicans are falsely accusing the Democrat's bill of giving "Amnesty" when that is not true. The Democrats are doing the same thing the Republican bill is, making them pay a fine and work in the country for a time before being eligable for citizenship. The only real differences are how much of a fine and how long should they work here.

Republicans are divided over this issue. Many Republicans are making the "amnesty" charge of against their own party. Many of their base, those who support the minutemen, are rallying behind the extreme right's face on immigration, Tom Tancredo. Rep. Tancredo has put forward a bill in congress that calls for an indefinate moratorium on all immigration. That's right, legal immigration as well.
He is of the belief that we should close our borders and start kicking people out.

It is a legislative start towards "ethnic cleansing".

In my opinion the focus of this debate is on the wrong target. Illegal immigration is occuring because Employers are employing illegal immigrants by the tens of thousands in every city across the country. The employers are the ones creating the environment that draws the people here through illegal channels. They truck them across the border to fill the black market demand for a psudo-slave workforce.

We need to put the focus on the Employers who hire these people illegally and who create this situation and who perpetuate myths such as that the immigrants are doing "jobs Americans are not willing to do."

That is nonsense. Americans are willing to do those jobs, but the employers do not want to pay legal wages.

The Democrats Step Up!

There is a reason that scores of U.S. Military veterans are returning from Iraq and running for Office as Democrats!

It is because they recognize that America needs a change and it needs new leadership. They have experienced Iraq first hand, they have sacrificed and bled for that plan and still choose to come back and run as Democrats.

The Democrats have a plan to help restore some of America's honor and integrity. We have suffered great damage the last few years and nobody is pretending it will be easy, but the Democrats have the vision and the determination to make it work.

Bush Fingered as Plame Leaker

Is George W. Bush guilty of Treason?

According to I. Lewis Libby he is. Documents released today revealed that Libby testified to the Grand Jury that George W. Bush approved his leaking of Valerie Plame's identity.

Remember when I said this was going to be huge? Well, it is beginning.

George is apparently guilty of damaging the United State's security and of derailing an undercover program that was tracking nuclear materials headed towards Iran and into the hands of terrorists.

Because George was more interested in playing partisan games he sacrificed our national security for a failed attempt to discredit a lifelong Republican.

In my personal opinion we should take every single Republican who refuses to even consider the possibility of Bush's guilt and we should charge them right along side of him with aiding and abetting.

Throw them all in jail where they belong for playing games with America's security!

The "Liberal" Media strikes again

This is an eye opener from the Muckraker.

He even asks the real questions, "Should a news organization have a military flak writing for it at all? If so, shouldn't she be explicitly identified as a public affairs officer?"

This entire myth about the "liberal media" is just the Right "playing the ref" and trying to intimidate, pretty successfully so far, the media into taking blatently right-leaning stances in order to avoid being accused of being too liberal.

If the left wants to stop this runaway train that is our media, they need to find their outrage and start organizing boycotts against right-leaning media outlets and their advertisers. Most people are well aware that we have a corporate Media that operates for profit. They need to start hitting them in the only place they care about, their pocketbooks.

A Gigantic Trophy

Slam Dunk.

This about sums it up...

Quote of the Week

"It drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, 'We were misled.' It makes me want to shout, 'Fuck you, you weren't misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic."

-- Oscar-winning actor George Clooney attacking the Democratic party for passivity in the face of Republican warmongering, as quoted by the Huffington Post on Mar. 13, 2006.

He was a crappy Batman, but I love this quote.

Why America Does Not Trust Republicans

This is another prime example of why America has lost faith in our government and our political system. The Republicans talk a lot about their moral superiority, but they invariably rush to the defense of immoral scumbags like Tom Delay, "Duke" Cunningham and Jack Abramhoff.

The Abramhoff scandal is just getting started and each day they are unearthing more and more shady, corrupt deals.

This is a real gem, Tom Delay's former aide, Edwin Buckham, was found to have pocketed 33% of the income from his supposedly "nonprofit" organization, totaling over $1 Million. Most of this income has been tied to Abramhoff.

And the Republicans are the ones sanctimoniously claiming that their moral superiority allows them to dictate whether someone should be kept alive artificially, or whether hurricane victims "deserve" help.

Priceless

The Daily Show is some of the funniest shit out there.

The Vice Presidential Firearm Mishap Analyst


Priceless.


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Is the President Above the Law?

The resolution proposed by Russ Feingold to censure George W. Bush is a very important issue that shouldn't be ignored by the "liberal" media.

The "liberal" media is going along with the Republican talking points, as usual, and are focuing not on the censure resolution, but on the Democrats and the partisan spin the Republicans are trying to put on this.

The real issue is the discussion that America needs to have about whether our President is really above the law, as he and the Republicans claim.

So long as the President is a Republican, they want him unhindered by the law.
You remember "law"? It is what keeps our society from breaking down into anarchy.
It is exactly the thing they lack in Iraq.

The issue is simple, George W Bush could have done the surveillence legally, but he CHOSE to circumvent the courts and do it illegally.
The Republicans do not think that the President should abide by the law. Their stance is clear.

The Question they are desperate from having Americans ask themselves is, Do we want a President who is above the law?