Archive for the 'Daily Featured' Category

May 10 2008

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Dusty

Judge to review torture memo.

Filed under Daily Featured, news

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein wants to read the 2002 CIA torture memo. He wants to read it in order to decide whether or not to grant the ACLU request to make it public. From the CommonDreams writeup:

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein issued the order after he had earlier said the 18-page memo did not have to be turned over to the American Civil Liberties Union because it was protected by attorney-client privilege. The ACLU said it believes the memo includes a section addressing the subject of waterboarding, which simulates drowning.

Hellerstein said he reconsidered his ruling after hearing from both sides again on the subject. The CIA must turn the item over for review on Monday.

Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for government lawyers representing the CIA, said the government had no immediate comment.

Hellerstein said he realized he did not give sufficient consideration to an earlier court ruling related to the legal issue and to ACLU evidence indicating all or parts of the memo may have been incorporated into or used to justify official practice and policy.

Thanks to the work of the ACLU, over 100,000 pages of government documents have been released concerning the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad. The Freedom of Information act, FOIA, is what has enabled the ACLU and others to request access to all types of records. ;)

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May 09 2008

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Dizzy Dezzi

Get a job…ANY job!

Filed under Daily Featured

Image created at GlassGiant.comGet a job…ANY job! Don’t wait for a job in your college degree set.

That’s the advice being given to current college graduates. With the current job market already tight and with new grads competing for choice jobs against folks with already established career experience, new college graduates are being told to face reality and get a job so that they can support themselves and not to wait for that dream job to come available. At least, not right now.

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May 07 2008

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ReasonOne

VA Concealing Number of Suicide Attempts

To say that I am furious would be an understatement. It appears as if the Veterans Administration has covered up the attempted suicides of approximately 12,000 veterans every year/ The cause of these suicide attempts was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and as it turns out it wasn’t because of a lack of resources, it was because the VA, in its reluctance to get involved with the expenses associated with an expensive disorder like PTSD decided not to cover those expenses.

According to a recent Rand study approximately 1.7 million soldiers have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of that number approximately 320,000 have returned with various brain injuries, depression, and psychological disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Until recently the Veterans Administration has claimed that only 1,000 veterans have attempted suicide, but now, two Democratic Senators have called for the resignation of the top VA mental health official. Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Patty Murray of Murray of Washington State have called for the resignations of Ira Katz, the mental health director of the Veterans Administration and other top VA officials.

Information pertaining to the cover up and the actual number of suicide attempts came to light during a national trial in San Francisco when emails by Katz and other officials were disclosed. The trial is a direct result of two veterans groups, Veterans United For Truth and Veterans for Common sense. During the course of the trial, which does not seek monetary damage but rather oversight to guarantee the safety of our Veterans, the emails revealed some of the following attitudes on the part of Katz and his associates.

“Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?” Katz inquired. Another email stated that on the average 18 veterans kill themselves every day and that of that number, 18 per day are successful while, five are under VA supervision at the time. The results are even more tragic when you consider the possibility that only fifty percent of those veterans with depression or PTSD have sought treatment–a fact which may have something to do with the fact that governmental agencies drag their feet when it comes to providing services for those veterans who suffer from psychological disorders, preferring to approve claims for those with physical disorders. Why if you didn’t know better you’d think that the government was dragging its feet where psychological issues are concerned because it believes it can get away with it.

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May 06 2008

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Betmo

winging it

ballet dancer

veronica tennant

i don’t really know what to post about these days- and it is becoming a common lament across the blogosphere. seems like the bad news just keeps coming and getting worse all of the time. i find that i don’t know really what to do but i feel like i must do something. and i find i have to calm myself down and remind myself that this life is only temporary anyway- so i may as well make the most of what i have- and i have so very much more than most people who share this planet. so- here i am. anyone who reads what i write wherever i write- probably has figured out that i am a huge james blunt fan. :) i do not keep it a secret. so- his latest song- ‘carry you home’ is on the rotating playlist- i posted it here not to long ago. but it’s the song-’i can’t hear the music’ that is running through my head at present:

‘And if I can’t hear the music
And the audience is gone
I’ll dance here on my own.
And I hope the lonely hearts club band
Will play out one last song
Before the sun goes down.’

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May 05 2008

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sagefever

My vacation…

Filed under Daily Featured, politics

The big blue bus whisks us down Hwy 1, past the Jack Nicklaus Golf course, currently under construction ~ a mere $350 to play we learn. Going past small concrete houses, villas and many hotels we embark at Melia Cabo Real, greeted by friendly Company big wigs, our choice of water, Mai Tai, Mango Margaritas and a quick registration process, were we get our day trip passes and our room keys. Also the magic orange bracelet. Taking the elevator we reach our floor, each has its own “patio’ consisting of sofa, chairs and a mirror~ I note ours has two angel heads as ornamentation.

Our room is spacious~ marble floor through out, that feel very nice on the feet and two nice views; a water feature planted with palms, vines, and manicured sand, raked like a Zen garden. The balcony view overlooks the center court and if daring enough to lean out a bit~ the sea. We freshen up go down to the water side restaurant and begin to experience the “magic” of the orange bracelet….let me just say “all- inclusive” means just that, tips and all . The food here~ from burgers to tamales is surprisingly good ~ more guacamole, chips and seafood than I could imagine. The staff is very attentive and after a great repast, our group decides to power nap through the humidity and regroup for dinner. Repeat of lunch, except of course it is dinner. We head to the main bar for more talking and drinking…the bracelet keeps working and I thank all the hard work my friend and her contemporaries did to get us here.

Mad dogs and Englishmen

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May 02 2008

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Dizzy Dezzi

My Candidate: None Of The Above

ImageChef.com - Custom comment codes for MySpace, Hi5, Friendster and more A lot of potential voters are feeling the strain of the current primary battle going on between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Of course, Obama’s supporters are up in arms about the Clinton camp’s apparent racial comments, not to mention the apparent “slips of the tongue” that seem to be a regular part of Hillary’s stump speeches.

As well, Clinton’s supporters are up in arms about the apparent misogynistic comments coming from the Obama camp. Many even argue that Clinton deserves the Democratic nomination simply because she’s a woman (their argument is that sex should trump race in this election).

Then, there are those Democrats and Progressives who aren’t keen on either candidate, for whatever reason. Of course, they wouldn’t dream of ever voting for a Republican, particularly not John McCain. Many voters are also not keen on voting for relatively or veritably unknown third-party candidates, either.

Many people believe that voting for either a Democrat or a Republican is a sell-out vote, no matter how you cut it. They call it “voting for the lesser of two evils” and of course, that means, no matter how you vote, you are still voting for “evil”. And, there are a lot of people who are not down for voting for “evil”, but they still want their vote to be heard. Instead of “voting for the lesser of two evils”, they prefer to vote “None of the Above” or “NOTA”.

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May 01 2008

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Fran

Prejudice & Politics

I have to admit, there have been some topics of conversation re politics that have absolutely blown me away. At work the other day, a coworker said she was undecided about the Presidential primary. As the conversation went on, she announced she would not vote republican. Whew! Otherwise, that would have been one short conversation!
But she said she really did not like Hillary, sick of Bill in particular, but “not sure she was ready for a black person to be president!” I damned near fell off the chair. A part of me wanted to deck her right there in the employee lounge area. But I took a deep breath. I first commended her for not being inspired to vote republican. Then I asked-, where does this race issue come from? I feel like I live in some bubble because race & gender issues influencing my vote are entirely “off the table” so to speak, politically & in general. I feel broadsided by such remarks- a sideways slam you did not see coming. A Complete non issue for me. So this conversation was highly volatile.
But yet, she was just being honest, while insensing me, to the core.

I went on to say that for me, I could care less about color, or gender. or sexual orientation. I look at voting record, actions & integrity. I am not interested in sound bites, or manufactured campaign strategies. I loathe the low blow Hillary Clinton commercials with Osama bin Laden & images of Barack Obama meshed together in a not-at-all subliminal suggestiveness a la Hillary-the-desperate style. Damn the media for spending excessive debate time talking about flag pins & reverends.

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Apr 30 2008

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PraetorOne

Television and the Growing Epidemic of Stupidity

Filed under Daily Featured, politics

Americans are among the most uninformed people on the face of the earth. We are surrounded by media of all sorts. We have access to newspapers,magazines, television, and the internet,and yet we are among the least educated people in the entire world. By the same token we also watch a disproportionate amount of television.

How bad is it? We sit in front of our television sets in the same way cavemen watched fires.
The average American spends between 5 and 6 hours watching TV. The only activities on which we spend more time are working and sleeping. That’s less time than we spend eating, with our spouses, or with our children. And the situation is even more abysmal where our children are concerned. Children under school age watch as much as eight hours of television a day. School age children watch a little less than eight hours a day. The average twenty-year-old has spent approximately two years watching television. At the same time reading and comprehension levels in every age group has plummeted. As a people we read less and comprehend less than we did ten years ago. In so far as writing is concerned, we are barely capable of stringing together a few simple sentences and that’s about it. As if that weren’t bad enough it appears as of the more television we watch the less we know about the vital issues of the day; and to make the situation even worse it doesn’t seem to matter what we watch. It can be Survivor, American Idol, news shows, the Simpsons, or Masterpiece Theater. The more television we watch the more stupid we become. (Interestingly enough there is some evidence to suggest that viewers of Fox News are even less informed than others.) And to make matters even worse, the trend does not appear to be improving. If anything we appear to be on a downward spiral with each successive generation watching more television but learning less and less. Indeed, the current generation is one of the first to know less than the generation before it.

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Apr 28 2008

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sagefever

Perspectives and Musings…

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We meet at a fellow travelers home around 4 am for a round of Bloody Mary’s, except our driver, toast in memory of my son Christopher (who died this very morning 4 years ago), and then make it to Meadows Field or The Bill Thomas Airport as 1 in 10 people call it. Bill has a lovely bronze bust there of himself (note to self: when I become memorialized in, stone choose age of 30, not current age, as representation of me) and going through Bakersfield Customs is a breeze. We board a mid size plane and in less than a hour find ourselves at Phoenix Airport, where a gate change has us rushing thru another security check and making our connection to Los Cabos International Airport, an Air Bus A320, just in time. This is one big plane, 320+ souls aboard, and it feels like the front “makes air” about a half hour before the back does. Then it is a 2-hour flight over cities, desert and the pacific ocean~ I see very few boarders in the sky or land. The earth and sky is open and so very beautiful from 4000 ft up, I came away with some interesting images in my head, and ones that need to make it onto canvas, soon. We land and make it through customs, pressing the button, it goes green and I am in!

The restroom is the first stop, I wait outside as my friend goes in and a mother and daughter come out. My turn, and as I am washing my hands I look up to see the attendant. She is about 4′1″,very old with the most lovely deeply lined face I think I have ever seen, offset with a humpback, coming towards me with open arms and speaking ~what I have absolutely no clue~ I am smiling and muttering “Gracias” I hug her back. We look into each other’s eyes and part ways. The interesting thing is there are only 3 stalls, my friend swears the attendant did not go in while she waited with the bags, nor was she in there while my friend, the mother and her daughter used the facilities…….jet lag? Mexico magic? My people, the freaks, the artists making me feel welcome? We get goose bumps, but I feel warm inside by this chance encounter with another woman, I feel especially welcome. I think of both my boys.

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Apr 25 2008

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Dizzy Dezzi

Dizzy’s Ten Post Round-Up

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ImageChef.com - Custom comment codes for MySpace, Hi5, Friendster and more It’s almost the weekend, so before you go bask in the sun, bask in today’s Ten Post Round-Up:

1: Something to look forward to? Collection calls from New Delhi…

Another growing industry being outsourced to IndiaBrilliant at Breakfast

2: Sign of the times: Less lattes and Lasik…

And the Latte Indicator Says…Economy ScrewedThe Huffington Post

3: There comes a time where you have to decide to take care of business for yourself…

The Pansification of Our WorldIdentity Check

4: Someone came up with a gadget to drive kids crazy and keep them from hanging around…

Getting Rid Of KidsThe J-Walk Blog

5: Will the third time be the charm for an actual conviction?…

Six Suspects Will Be Tried a Third Time in Sears PlotNew York Times

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Apr 24 2008

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Fran

What’s in a word?

Filed under Daily Featured

bar·rel (brl)
n.
1. A large cylindrical container, usually made of staves bound together with hoops, with a flat top and bottom of equal diameter.

2. Informal A large quantity: a barrel of fun.

3. Slang An act or instance of moving rapidly, often recklessly, in a motor vehicle.
” Barreled down the road.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ever heard of the expression “Over a barrel” ?

It is defined as such: Over a barrel ~ In a very awkward position from which extrication is difficult: During the negotiations the opposing faction had us over a barrel. The expression to “have somebody over a barrel”, meaning to have that person at your mercy.

Speaking of barrels- crude oil has reached an all time high of $120 a barrel.
You hear of rumblings at the pump, and how damned expensive gas is. But there is no rumbling at big oil, $123 billion in profits is a very comfortable margin.

Democracy Now reports (April 2008):
“The executives of the five biggest oil companies—Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, ConocoPhilips and Chevron—were called to testify at a congressional hearing on Tuesday. Lawmakers took them to task for making enormous profits but investing next to nothing in renewable sources of energy. They were also called to justify why they got $18 billion in tax breaks last year when their profits had hit $123 billion and oil prices had reached runaway highs.”

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Apr 23 2008

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Sweet Pea

Benedict XVI: Healing the wounds he helped to create

Filed under Daily Featured

”We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry. It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound.”-Pope Benedict XVI speaking in Washington DC in April 2008

Where can I nominate someone for a religious hypocrite award? After listening to Benedict XVI condemn the church sex scandal I am amazed by the man’s duplicity since it was his foot dragging and interference which worsened the situation in the first place. That said, I have to admit that it’s EVER so nice of Benedict XVI to show a willingness to heal the wound that he and the Church hierarchy had a hand in creating in the first place.

What a hypocrite

Forgive my stifled laughter but I can’t help but giggle when I hear Pope Benedict XVI refer to the sex abuse scandal as a source of shame within the church. That’s quite a statement when you consider the fact that it was the former Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) who was largely responsible for the foot dragging and legal maneuvering which delayed and continues to delay justice for countless numbers of innocent sex abuse survivors. Throughout the entire scandal the Vatican behaved as if the Catholic Church were above or even more important than truth and honesty, an attitude (problem) which would soon come back to bite the church in its proverbial ass.

People seem to have forgotten that it was Joseph Ratzinger as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith who made it easier for abusive priests to avoid prosecution for their disgusting acts.

As Cardinal Ratzinger was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the sexual abuse of minors by priests was his responsibility to investigate from 2001, when that charge was given to the CDF by Pope John Paul II. As part of the implementation of the norms enacted and promulgated on April 30, 2001 by Pope John Paul II, on May 18, 2001 Ratzinger sent a letter to every bishop in the Catholic Church. This letter reminded them of the strict penalties facing those who revealed confidential details concerning enquiries into allegations against priests of certain grave ecclesiastical crimes, including sexual abuse, which were reserved to the jurisdiction of the Congregation. The letter extended the prescription or statute of limitations for these crimes to ten years. However, when the crime is sexual abuse of a minor, the “prescription begins to run from the day on that which the minor completes the eighteenth year of age.”[ Lawyers acting for two alleged victims of abuse in Texas claim that by sending the letter the cardinal conspired to obstruct justice...]“*

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Apr 22 2008

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Betmo

i surrender

white flag yep- put a fork in me- i am done. i am giving in and just living and let live. i can’t fight it anymore- the elitist in me has decided that i will acquiesce to the 1/3 of the american people who really think that another clinton in the white house will be what this country needs after 8 years of neo cons; to the 1/3 of the american public who will vote for mccain for reasons i just can’t wrap my mind around. minorities in this country are not well received- apparently, not even by each other as evidenced by the nasty campaign that hillary clinton has waged against barack obama. the people who are clinton supporters think bowling and lapel pins are the merit of how well a president can do their job. they just want to feel good about themselves that they aren’t voting mccain. i posted an editorial from philly highlighting why clinton should just go somewhere. unfortunately for me, that would be back here to new york. sigh. i think i would rather be elitist because at least i have critical thinking skills. no, the 2/3 who will vote for mccain and clinton can’t really see the bigger picture because they don’t really want change. they want to go back iin time to when they could consume and live without having to face the reality of global climate change; starving people around the world; and the fact that we are no longer a democratic republic.

i mean seriously, am i the only one who sees? the fact that the top neo cons in the bush regime have taken up positions in our institutions of higher learning and media outlets? john yoo at berkeley; karl rove at fox; bill kristol at nyt, and most recently- tony snow at cnn. let’s not forget murdoch and zell named to board of directors at associated press. so, the head neo cons are controlling mass media and have put laws in place that permanently circumvent civil liberties in the name of protecting against possibly, maybe, perhaps, someday another terrorist attack- and no says a thing. propaganda machine anyone? but no- the sheeple are busy throwing barbs at each other within the democratic party while watching our country and our planet burn.

and i feel like a stranger in my own country.

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Apr 18 2008

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Dizzy Dezzi

Judge Not Mediator Needed To Handle Iraq Rape Cases

Must Read: U.S. Women Working in Iraq Continue to be Sexually Assaulted While Their Rapists Go Free

As the number of women coming forward rises, Congress has begun to question why these crimes are not being prosecuted. In fact, there are several laws on the books that would allow these cases to proceed: the problem is not a lack of legal tools but a lack of will. “There is no rational explanation for this,” says Scott Horton, a lecturer at Columbia Law School who specializes in the law of armed conflict. Prosecutorial jurisdiction for crimes like the alleged rapes of Jones and Leamon is easily established under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act and the Patriot Act’s special maritime and territorial jurisdiction provisions. But somebody has to want to prosecute the cases. (AlterNet)

There is a lot to be disgusted with about the war in Iraq. We can be disgusted with the way that the US military seems to have a callous disregard for the lives of the citizens they are supposed to be bringing democracy to. We can be disgusted at the way our troops are being treated once they are wounded (mentally and/or physically). We can even be disgusted at how the Bush administration keeps treating our fighting men and women, as yo-yo’s; stringing them along with the idea that things will get better, only to draw back, yank them around and spin them out again, as if it’s all for fun and games in a very active war zone.

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Apr 16 2008

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ReasonOne

It’s Not an Insurgency

By ReasonOne, aka Kyle

Why is it the Iraq War gets worse whenever George W.Bush and FOX news brag about how well the surge is working? Why does the Administration and our boot licking media insist on calling this blood bath an insurgency?

As you might have already heard this was another bad day in Iraq. Insurgents killed at least 40 people in Baquba, the capital city of Diyala Province, using car bombs to destroy restaurants, shops, and several cars. Of the dead 15 were so severely burned that their bodies could not be recognized. Meanwhile, in the Iraqi city of Ramadi a suicide bomber walked into Al Sahl Al Akhdar Restaurant, wearing a suicide belt and blew himself up. This particular restaurant is a popular haunt for police officers and with students from a near by university. According to local policemen, four policemen we killed and15 people were wounded. A total of four cities were struck with a death toll of at least 66 people.

I find it interesting that this takes place despite the escalation, the so-called Surge, which Bush, Petreus, Fox News, and the delusional Neocons maintain has been working. But as the left has pointed out on past occasions ,the Surge won’t work, it will only change the nature of the insurgency. And that has been proven true. We have said before that the escalation will only only succeed in moving the insurgency from one area to another, suppressing it in one locale only to see it erupt in another. Is this not what we are seeing today? Isn’t the insurgency disappearing from one area only to reappear in another?

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Apr 15 2008

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Betmo

history repeats itself

ancient historylike it or not- human nature doesn’t change. it isn’t that it isn’t capable of change- it just doesn’t. anyone who has read any history- whether it be american or global- sizes up our current situation fairly quickly. it is one reason that words like ‘fascism’ and ‘nazism’ are bandied about. my thought is- this particular crew had history as their oyster- they have picked and chosen the worst components of all of the ‘isms’ and rolled them into a bastardized form of capitalism i like to call a corporatocracy. what folks don’t realize- they are just tools and are being used. americans tend to be reactionary folk. easily manipulated comes to mind also. we aren’t the world’s deepest thinkers and we have always been people of action- moving, moving, moving- which is probably how new york got the moniker ‘city that doesn’t sleep’- but i digress. i don’t really have much to say these days as i read words written by other americans. not the politicians- i checked out on that one. many folks are throwing terms around like ‘country falling into an abyss’ and there’s the matter of something like 81 % of the country believes this country is headed in the wrong direction- to which a firm, smirky ’so?’ was the response. how can i say that these folks are wrong? i can’t. they aren’t. the world has ridden out regimes before- this country revolted once against a monarch and has assisted other countries in their fight as well (to what end i now question but i will save that for another time). this century’s greatest single issue is global climate change. we probably have enough oil- but as that’s part of the bigger problem- along with coal- it’s all pretty moot. i guess i just wasn’t expecting things to happen quite so quickly- food and water shortages were not part of the msm’s news array and we have all been kept in the dark as to how bad the state of the world truly is.

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Apr 14 2008

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PraetorOne

Cospeak is nothing less than Doublespeak

Filed under Daily Featured, politics

COSPEAK IS NOTHING LESS THAN DOUBLESPEAK
The Convoluted Language of Crocker and Petreus
By PraetorOne and ReasonOne

I don’t know about you, but I am constantly amazed by our corporate, right wing media as they continue to misrepresent the relationship between Army General David Petreus and George W. Bush. It seems as if you can’t turn on our TV, read a paper, or open a website but what you’re told that General Petreus is offering an opinion as to what President Bush should do in Iraq. This of course is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. General Petreus is hardly offering an objective opinion based on a critical observation of the facts. Instead, he is doing what he has been hired to do. He is serving as an obedient mouth piece for the administration which selected him to offer a biased opinion in the first place.

Equally obnoxious is Ambassador Crocker, a semi-literate lout who can barely express himself without tripping over and “uh”, an “and-ah,” or an “ahhhmmm.” Both Petreus and Crocker are dangerous, but if Crocker is an embarrassment who can hardly put together a simple sentence, Petreus is the more dangerous of the two because he not only understands the English language, he also knows how to use the English language to mislead and prevaricate.

In a recent article by Dick Cavett (Memo to Petreus and Crocker: More Laughs Please) Cavett points out that Petreus doesn’t use English as much as he does Cospeak, a bastardization of the English Language which substitutes complicated language with big words in an attempt to make the unacceptable sound acceptable. You just have to give Petreus credit. Not only is he a spokesperson for the Administration, a propaganda tool for the Bush Administration, he also knows how to tell the truth in language so that the average Joe won’t know what he’s talking about. According to Cavett:

Petraeus uses “challenge” for a rich variety of things. It covers ominous developments, threats, defeats on the battlefield and unfound solutions to ghastly happenings. And of course there’s that biggest of challenges, that slapstick band of silent-movie comics called, flatteringly, the Iraqi “fighting forces.” (A perilous one letter away from “fighting farces.”) The ones who are supposed to allow us to bring troops home but never do.
Petraeus’s verbal road is full of all kinds of bumps and lurches and awkward oddities. How about “ongoing processes of substantial increases in personnel”?
Try talking English, General. You mean more soldiers

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Apr 11 2008

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Dizzy Dezzi

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

The announcement that Bush made, yesterday, in regards to troop deployments being shortened to 12 months from 15 months was welcome news to many. But, it was sort of depressing news for SSG Dizzy and me.

We had been discussing it for a few days because he had heard a rumor about the announcement that Bush made, but from what he was telling me, they thought that this new announcement would affect them in a positive way, namely, their deployments would be shortened, as well. Continue Reading »

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Apr 10 2008

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Fran

Showtime! General Petraeus Speaks

Filed under Daily Featured, politics

I don’t think any of us really believe the dog & pony show, otherwise known as the testimony from Petraeus & Crocker would yield any earth shattering revelations. They are kind of like wooden dummies on the lap of the bushco ventriliquists- they are told what to say & how to say it.

MSNBC reports
“Their unwavering stance amounted to this: Further pullouts might trigger defeat; the costs of defeat are too horrible to ponder; therefore, we shouldn’t ponder further pullouts.
Specifically, Petraeus called for a 45-day pause after the five surge brigades go home this July. After the pause will come an “evaluation” of the security situation. Then there will be an “assessment” of that evaluation. And on that basis, there will be a “determination” whether further reductions can be made, “as conditions permit.”

Yes, it would appear we are firmly stuck in a quagmire of circular “logic”.

Victory lingo scrapped

All along, we’ve been told of the need to “Stay the course”, that “Victory would be ours”– now the General has repeatedly testified otherwise:

The surge-along with the shift to a counterinsurgency strategy-is a means, not an end. Its point is not to win a military victory (there is no such thing here, Petraeus has emphasized) but rather to create enough security in Baghdad-a “breathing space”-to let the political factions reconcile their disputes

Wow! What a dazzling array of changes we have made. Forget the victory, not gonna happen. Even the notion of installing Democracy (at gunpoint, no less), seems to be off the table- Democracy may be too difficult to achieve– let’s go for “breathing space” as our stated goal.

My bullshit-o-meter is in the red zone

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Apr 09 2008

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Guest Author

Fire and Seeds

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Dark Wraith Publishing ClassicsThis following is an article from the Dark Wraith Classics, content first published at one or more properties of Dark Wraith Publishing during the period 2004 to 2007. It is reprinted here at The Sirens Chronicles by special permission. Website publishers interested in reprinting articles in the Dark Wraith Classics series may contact Dark Wraith Publishing for a list of available articles and the terms and conditions of republication of them.

Fire and Seeds” was first published at The Dark Wraith Forums on May 23, 2005, and was subsequently republished by Newtopia Magazine. Written at a time when the American-Iraqi War had already ground down several thousand U.S. troops with little evidence of what would later become far wider disaffection with the conflict and its consequences, the article offered slice-of-life vignettes from the perspective of a college teacher observing what appeared at the time to be nascent intellectual turbulence and the emergence of sharpening differences in the perspectives of younger Americans. The evidence of change, then only anecdotal, has since become more obvious. To that extent, then, while “Fire and Seeds” might not have been prescient in its outlook, it certainly hinted broadly at trends now somewhat clearer.


Dark Wraith PublishingThis is a college town: a private college, a state university, something marginally better than a diploma mill, and a community college are all located within about a five-mile radius.The town is divided into the visible, reputable, upper-middle class and the less visible, but far larger class that is considerably below a level of economic comfort.The better people for the most part work in middle or upper management at one of the several huge, multi-national services companies in town. Everyone else gets by. The layoffs at the big factories on the outskirts of town have left a quiet wasteland of older people trying to find work and younger people trying to find a future.The bright kids from the right side of the tracks go to the state university or leave town entirely. The rest of the kids find work where they can, and quite a few stop by the community college on their way to adulthood. They join the ranks of older people taking classes because the old-timers, like their younger counterparts, believe that the key to a job—a real job with permanence and benefits and meaning—lies in education. Many of them, young and old alike, vow to go on to the state university to complete four-year degrees. Most will not.

The people who attend the community college are, for the most part, trying to lay patches on a shambles of education they have already received. Young and old together find the task terribly difficult. Studying productively hours at a time is just not in their nature and not in their backgrounds. Attending classes every day isn’t either. Showing up for exams is not an absolute necessity. Cheating is not a matter of ethical proscription; it’s just a matter of not getting caught. The community college sells them all a bill of goods, and some rise to the challenge, but others simply cannot. At best, though, from this place will come some graduates who will go on to the state university or to a technical school and eventually get a job that pays something like a living wage.

Between the old and new wings of the main building where classes are conducted is a big smoking area. There, the people gather; and there, the conversations among the students paint a broad canvas of the lives these people have and the lives to which they aspire.

So much of what the young men talk about is war. Many are already in the Guard, or they are about to enlist, or they’re back from a tour of duty. They talk about other things; but a great swath of what animates their conversations has to do with war. With their culturally acceptable crew cuts and they’re almost uniform-like clothing, they go on and on about war.

Three young men are talking out there, and the one young man, who’s just enlisted, says, “Fuck, yeah. I’d fucking shoot ‘em. They shit on themselves! Did you hear about that?—they shit on themselves when you lock ‘em up!” The other two are snickering and nodding their heads in agreement.

Another young man—every bit the square-jaw, flat-top, muscles-on-top-of-muscles Marine—sucks hard on the butt of his cigarette while he grumbles about the female soldiers in his company having sex with their superiors, then refusing to do any work, and no one will punish them. He gets off that subject and starts talking about how the Marines don’t do bad things and screw up all the time like the Army people do: Marines are disciplined, trained warriors; and Army people are nothing but a bunch of worthless junk that never thought they’d actually have to do anything for their weekend-warrior paychecks and college grant money. His eyes brighten when he’s asked about weaponry. “You guys didn’t have the ‘Saw’ back then, did you?” he grins. A little prompting gets him to describe it: sort of a cross between an M-16 and an M-60. “It’s sweet,” he concludes.

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Apr 08 2008

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Betmo

wonderings and musings

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great walli read quite a few bloggers every day and i scan headlines of the msm and alternative news sources. and i think about what i read in the context of what is. when i started blogging, i thought i could reach out and change the way people thought by giving them information and suggestions and strategies- and what i found was- the online communities are simply extensions of the ‘real’ communities. and i started really thinking about why people think the way that they do and why they seem to live in a delusional world where all is fine and things will work themselves out- and how we went from a nation of pioneers to couch potatoes. and there are probably an infinite number of reasons but the biggest one that steps out at me– we are human beings. we aren’t any different than the ancient civilizations that took off and were leading edge centers for commerce and technology and education- and then flamed out. the only difference is that this time- we have used up our world and its resources so- this is truly the end of civilization as we have come to know it. and i can’t help but wonder if the ancient peoples saw the writing on their walls too. if they sighed with relief that all of the greed and decadence was on the downward slope and humans would have to start over. i find myself wondering how they felt and what they thought- because people are people. doesn’t matter what era they live in or what clothes they wore or what technology they had- the fundamental core of humanity has always been the same. there have always been the haves and have nots; the powerful and the weak; the greedy and the generous; the people who love and cherish one another and those who kill with impunity. people are people. change takes time and doesn’t always happen. i can’t help but wonder if that’s why buddhism was started- with its emphasis on inner peace and social work- and karma and reincarnation. maybe that ancient civilization saw the writing on its wall and wanted to try again- or have something lasting to leave their posterity.

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Apr 07 2008

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sagefever

Reflections on 1968

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The summer of love was buried Oct. 6.1967, the funeral “Death of a Hippie” conducted by those left in the Haight, signaled the end of the grand experiment. The next year 1968 would demolish any remnants left and encase them in cement.

Beginning on Jan.5th Dubcek is elected as leader in Czechoslovakia, John Cash records “Live at Folsom Prison”, Jan 23rd the USS Pueblo is seized by North Korea, the end of January is marked by the Tet offensive.

Feb1 the Pulitzer prize winning photograph of the Viet Cong officer being executed makes its way around the world, Feb.3 three college students are dead at the end of a civil rights action at an all white bowling alley,Feb24th the Tet offensive is halted.

March 8th the first protests begin in Prague, March 12 in New Hampshire Johnson edges out McCarthy for the Democratic primary~ foreshadowing the deep division in both party and the country, March 16th My Lai occurs and Robert F. Kennedy enters the race for president, March 27th Yuri Gagarin is killed in a training flight, March 31st Johnson announces he will not seek re-election.

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Apr 04 2008

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Dizzy Dezzi

Dizzy’s Ten Post Round-Up

Image created at GlassGiant.comWith my kids getting a little older and not needing 100% constant supervision (including the fact, as we are doing lessons, they can follow me around the house for instruction when I give them homework) and with the limited time I chat with my husband, online, I am finally getting a groove where I find that I can actually accomplish many things of substance and in a short amount of time. I haven’t had that since before the little ones were still in diapers (which is about the same time that I also started my business). So, now, I am actually experiencing boredom. What a relief!

So what do I decide to do on a workday, when I could be resting up for the long night ahead?

Chocolate? Yes, of course.

But, not only that, I decided to post a round-up. I must like you guys, a lot. Besides, according to my site stats, I have one loyal reader, so I don’t want to disappoint him/her.

It’s snowing outside, so it’s possible that I may not even go to work if it get’s nasty. The weather outside and all the dramz in the nooz is putting me in a miserable funk, so I figured I’d offer up something upbeat and funky for your musical intervention, today (btw: Dizzy abso-friggin-lutely LOVES this song): Ce Ce Peniston - Keep On Walkin

Stop a moment and let me walk you through today’s Ten Post Round-Up:

1: Wholesale Lies: The surge is not working as planned…

General William Odom Tells Senate Rapid Withdrawal Is Only SolutionAfterDowningStreet.org

2: Health Compromised: Eating ourselves to death…

Pollan: Nutrition “Science” Has Hijacked Our Meals — and Our HealthAlterNet

3: Worthless Education: President with an MBA failing the USA in the time of financial crisis…

“Mr. Bush has sometimes seemed invisible during the housing and credit crunch”AMERICAblog

4: Let’s Raise A Toast(er): The Cylons are coming! The Cylons are coming! (PSA: Friday night on Sci-Fi Channel) Consider yourself warned!…

Battlestar GalacticaBuzzFeed

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Apr 02 2008

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Dusty

Is his dream on life support?

President Lyndon B. Johnson and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Image from WikipediaHe was only 39 years old when he was killed on the second floor balcony of a motel in Memphis TN on April 4, 1968. Martin Luther King Jr has been gone from this earth forty years this week. The day before his death, he delivered his “I have been to the Mountaintop” speech at Mason Temple, wherein he spoke of the bomb threat that had been called in on the plane he was traveling on. He also spoke about not fearing his own death:

And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

Days of riots hit our nation. I was fifteen years old when King was taken from us. But I remember the events as if it was yesterday. I remember watching the news reports of the riots in major cities here in the United States. The National Guard was called out and thousands were arrested, many were killed as well.

The sickening irony was not wasted on me that violence broke out from sea to shining sea over the death of a man that always advocated non-violence as the method to attain change in our country.

So how have things changed in these United States of America forty years on? People of color still live in poverty in a disproportionate level compared to their white counterparts. The unemployment rate for people of color is still vastly higher than for white folks. Inner city schools, mostly populated by African American’s and Hispanics, graduate a lower percentage of their students than those of the suburban areas of our nation. A few examples of the graduation rates in major urban areas:

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