US-backed torture programs are growing like bamboo. Just think of all the associated industries – such as car battery manufacturers, plier makers, and Boeing – that are also experiencing a surge in their bottom line thanks to the Bush administration.
The effort President Bush authorized shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, to fight al Qaeda has grown into the largest CIA covert action program since the height of the Cold War, expanding in size and ambition despite a growing outcry at home and abroad over its clandestine tactics, according to former and current intelligence officials and congressional and administration sources.
The broad-based effort, known within the agency by the initials GST, is compartmentalized into dozens of highly classified individual programs, details of which are known mainly to those directly involved.
Nevermind that warrantless spying on Americans is illegal and that torture is a violation of domestic and international law… our profits are through the roof, baby!
Still, virtually all the programs continue to operate largely as they were set up, according to current and former officials. These sources say Bush’s personal commitment to maintaining the GST program and his belief in its legality have been key to resisting any pressure to change course.
“In the past, presidents set up buffers to distance themselves from covert action,” said A. John Radsan, assistant general counsel at the CIA from 2002 to 2004. “But this president, who is breaking down the boundaries between covert action and conventional war, seems to relish the secret findings and the dirty details of operations.“
Bush is exactly the same as Caligula and Saddam’s sons. A little man in big boots who revels in cruelty to those weaker than him. A coward with bloodlust. He among the worst examples of humanity that have ever been put into positions of power.
Prosecutors, your defendant is still pulling a Jessup. Go get ‘em. Congress, this president is breaking the law, your law. Impeach him. Impeach him now.
or is the Kings of Leon lead singer autistic? Either way, their songs are like nails on chalkboard to me. Maybe it’s Aspberger’s syndrome or Tourettes. Whichever, all I want him to do is shut the hell up, already.
I find that the same people who like Kings of Leon seem to like Modest Mouse… and I can’t stand either band. YMMV, of course, but I’d rather sit through generic romcom #50113 rather than listen to Kings of Leon ever again. And I’d sit through a week of generic romcoms to avoid a Modest Mouse-a-thon.
I’m tired of this monochromatic blue-grey thing. We need some colors, yo. So that’s what I’m doing today instead of doing actual work. If things look funky… this is why.
Iranian agent/neocon fantasy love stud Ahmed Chalabi is baaaack. Chalabi, after proving unable to score even a single seat in Iraq’s parliament or more than 0.89% of the special Iraqi ballots (cast from overseas and hospitals) is now the Iraqi Oil Minister.
Iraqi Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum has been temporarily released from his post amid a dispute over the government’s petrol pricing policy.
He is to be replaced for 30 days by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi.
Since I don’t believe in the existence of the devil or an anti-god with whom Chalabi would have made a deal, he must have pictures of Cheney cornholing Rumsfeld as Wolfowitz teabags Perle. He’s a teflon Abramoff.
Perhaps someone else can help me explain this…
The family living next door to me consists of at least 3 people, possibly more. A couple and a third guy at least. There may be some rotation going on, I’m not sure.
Anyway, they moved in the same time that I did, and in the 7 months that I’ve been here… they’ve never once taken out the trash. Not once. I don’t think they’ve even signed up for the service.
So… what the hell are they doing with their trash? I know the woman cooks frequently so there’s definitely leavings of some kind piling up. Do they take last night’s trash to work with them every morning? I don’t know. I’m just not conceiving of a single strategy that fits the fact patterns that doesn’t seem incredible or far too much effort to be practical.
also… provided I post tomorrow, this will be my first month with at least a post on every day of the calender. woo. hoo.
2046 - 5/5
At first glance, there isn’t much noteworthy about 2046. If you’re just watching to watch, you’ll notice the fantastic, artsy cinematography, the excellent soundtrack, and the flat storyline. Hmm… asian film, pretty visuals, empty storyline… pretty much describes every anime film ever made. I was ready to dismiss it after the first 40 minutes as art house eye candy.
However, when I reflected on what I had just watched, I realized at least some of the multiple levels that this movie was operating on. 2046 is also a story of love (not a love story, that is here too), an exploration of the human imperative to be with someone in a world of loneliness, a story of loss, memory and the past, and also an inner existentialist dialogue.
2046 is all of these things, but it is also a eulogy for Hong Kong.
Read more…
We’re not living in 1984-world. No, that would require actual competence, long-range thought, and planning by the hegemony in charge.
No, we are living in Brazil-world.
It would feature an oppressive, totalitarian government which systematically stripped the public of its basic freedoms in favor of an ostensibly fraudulent and hopeless war on terrorism. The term “information retrieval” would be used implicitly throughout the film, a euphemistic nickname for the gruesome torture techniques applied to suspected terrorists as they’re kidnapped, secured, and readied for interrogation.
The mechanics and systems of this “fantastical” world would need to be absurd and contradictory, serving only to bury its chief directors under bureaucracy, red tape, and endless coils of administrative paperwork. Identification cards, DNA scans and security checkpoints would round out Gilliam’s view of a monolithic, technologically-driven society, and patriotic propaganda posters telegraphing a mandatory us-or-them mentality would be broadcast regularly to all citizens amidst the false cheeriness of a consumer theme park culture.
Abramoffapalooza is going to be AWESOME
Alan K. Simpson (R), the former Wyoming senator who was in Washington during the last big congressional scandal — the Abscam FBI sting in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in which six House members and one senator were convicted — said the Abramoff case looks bigger. Simpson said he recently rode in a plane with one of Abramoff’s attorneys, who told him: “There are going to be guys in your former line of work who are going to be taken down.”
Abramoff is a real nasty piece of work, even lower than DeLay I think.
Just working on some ideas here. Feel free to contribute, but if it’s totally awesome, I reserve the right to put it on a bumpersticker.
- Ignorance is Strength
- Suspicion is Certainty
- Treason is Patriotic
- Torture is Kindness
- Fear is Knowlege
- Blindness is Visionary
- Civil liberties are straightjackets (or handcuffs, take your pick)
Had to eat my black beans n’ rice yesterday sans Cholula, but I’m ready now, bitches! Also, got all my gear for my fried rice batch too… now I just need to, you know, figure out how to make it.
Rice, soy sauce, eggs, onion, peas, garlic… am I missing anything? Salt, some form of pepperish seasoning…
Hmm… I’m predicting disaster.
Like the title says, here’s how you can cut down on anonymous spying and decrease your privacy vulnerability in one fell swoop. Somehow, I don’t think this is going to be a hit with the ladies.
With the proliferation of RFID devices and related privacy concerns, it seemed due time to create the RFID Blocking Duct Tape Wallet. There are many ways to prevent Radio Frequency ID tags from being transmitted from devices. I often use my work badge and school ID which both contain RFID tags. With drivers licenses, credit cards, and cash now beginning to contain RFID tags, why not create the wallet.
This post is possibly the greates blog entry, ever. I linked to Alterman’s second fav – Larry David’s middle of the night thoughts – back in June. It’s still funny.
So, I’m going to do the old standby… what’s on your playlist?
I’m not using a playlist right now, so here are the first 10 songs that my player’s[fn1] randomizer chose to serve up:
- Super Sonic Soul Pimps, Joe Schmoe the Garbage Man
- Desert Sessions, Man’s Ruin Preach
- Incubus, The Answer
- Tool, Eulogy
- Led Zeppellin, Out of the Tiles
- Mondegreen, Mistake (release candidate 0)
- Black Sheep, La Menage
- Black Eyed Peas, Hey Mama
- Prince, Automatic
- Harry James & His Orchestra, Music Makers
Hmm. Pretty good genre sampling there (and me coming up was totally… random, btw). Right on, randomizer!
FN1: iAudio X5 (a better fit for my needs than an iPod, so I thought I’d give Cowon a shout out. Plus, they support .ogg and .flac files (open source audio, non-patent encumbered). Right on):
Think that segregationist laws are no longer an issue in the United States?? Think again. The U.S. Congress has passed the budget reconcilliation bill which discriminates against blacks in the deep south, by delaying or impeding their ability to sign up for Medicaid Benefits.
The house bill adds a new requirement to Medicaid elegibility by requiring an applicant to provide either a Birth Certificate or a Passport as documentation of citizenship. This requirement will effectively deny or delay benefits to a significant number of southern blacks, who were born at home because of segregationalist laws that prevented their mother’s from receiving maternity care in the white hospitals. It is possible to get a delayed Birth Certificate in most states but the process takes anywhere from 1 to 3 years and hinges upon the applicant being able to furnish an affidavit from at least one person who was over 10 years old at the time of the applicant’s birth who can attest to the date and place of the birth. It also requires one official document dating to before the applicant’s 10th birthday, that shows the child’s name, date of birth, place of birth, and the date the document was established. A second document is required that establishes that the mother was present in the state at the time of the birth.
I’ve have personally witnessed a number of Mobile residents who present to the Health Department when they reach retirement age because Social Security denied them benefits for not having a birth certificate. Their retirement plans are suddenly thrown into disarray when they find that the delayed certificate might not be issued for years, or might not be possible at all without the proper documentation.
The Birth Certificate/Passport requirement was placed in the bill suppossedly to keep illegal aliens from applying for Medicaid benefits but will mainly serve to keep native born, eligible blacks from Medicaid coverage.
Hey…..back of the bus there darky!!
… but my Shocker 101 t-shirt arrived. w00t!
I’m really going to start working on that “it’s only gay if you’re on top” shirt, just as soon as I learn how to do Rockwellian pastel drawings. May just have to go with the logo and without the thumbs-up Reaganesque cowboy. Time will tell.
At some point, I may return to substantive and serious discussion of the braindead, cowardly cretins currently running this administration and trampling our civil liberties, but for now… parrrrrty time! w0000000!