The American Political Handbook

WikiRapes

2010-09-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Swedish Police Woman Image licensed under Creative Commons by ThisParticularGreg

WikiRapes: The VERY unfortunate and rather cynical conflation of WikiLeaks and rape/s or the (repeated) charges of rape/s.... Seems like Sweden (or Julian, ooohhhh...sorry about that!) just can't get enough of serious sex offenses and their related charges of same...

Hugo: Oh, dear God help us, we are going to hell... AZD: No we're not! Doesn't it seem like every time he (Julian) charges the USA with some nefarious activity that Sweden charges him with rape? Hugo: Hmmm...could be a connection there...

FOM: Sweden Reopens WikiLeaks Founder Rape Investigation (from REUTERS News Agency), WikiLeaks Rape Inquiry Reopened (BBC News) and CIA Memo on USA Exporting Terrorism (from WikiLeaks).

Please note: This posting appears simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary.

False Charges Made Against Mr. Assange?* Updated Wednesday, September 1, 2010

2010-08-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by New Media Days

Updated Again Wednesday, September 1, 2010** (See below).

Updated: Sunday, August 22, 2010 & Monday, August 23, 2010*
False Charges Made Against Mr. Assange? At least one other blogger suspects that is so. See the link to the Swedish tabloid Expressen below;

http://www.expressen.se/Nyheter/1.2105554/anhallan-mot-assange-havd

The Swedish tabloid 'Expressen' has reported that the rape charge(s) against Julian Assange have been dropped. See the link up top (if you can read Swedish). If not, here is a very rough translation of the brief and sketchy article below (Copyright 2010 Expressen) ~"Charge Argued Against Assange (or Dropped) - Chief Prosecuter Eva Finn has lifted the (charge) on/of Julian Assange. [But she still might feel that he is suspected of "rape".] But there is no longer any reason to put him into custody said Karin Rosander, Director/Public Prosecution. Chief Prosecutor Eva lifted a petition against Assange at 4:30 pm. So he does not need to surrender to the police. Suspicions of molestation against him have also been addressed, according to Karin Rosander, but they are not written off yet. 'Has the suspicion of rape been reclassified?' I cannot answer, was her response. This is the decision taken at this time. Karin Rosander says that as far as she knows, the police and prosecutors had no contact with Julian Assange. 'We have been unable to contact him', she said. City police in Stockholm would not comment on its investigation without referring to the prosecutor." Fair Use of the translation is claimed for this posting.

At least one blogger (Zennie62, I think it was, pardon me if I got that wrong), believes it is part of a smear campaign against Julian Assange. As you probably know, Mr. Assange has recently been in the news for his release & posting of secret Afghanistan files (the 'Afghanistan War Diaries') on his website Wikileaks. If these events are indeed connected, look for this posting to suddenly and mysteriously disappear. And if that happens, very malignant and malicious forces may be at work here.

The somewhat defensive position of the Prosecution and the silence of the police would suggest that they may have been given false information in regards to any charges against Mr. Assange. However, it might NOT be helpful for Mr. Assange to make any public statements himself. It would be much better if his counsel were to make any statements. We abjectly apologize to all parties if this posting creates any further difficulty in their pursuit of this (legal?) matter.

But, it seems to us, that police and prosecutors drop serious charges like this quickly if they are found to be baseless and without witnesses - even though 2 women have apparently made this case against the man. No, we don't know the original bases for the charges and are pursuing further. This will take some time and we apologize for not having all the facts together at this time.

The rape charge/s, the molestation charge/s, the dropping of some or the same (against Julian Assange) and the publication of the Afghan War Diaries seem somehow related to each other by their proximity in time. It is also very curious that this new scandal seems to be located in Stockholm *.

Just in today (Sunday, August 22, 2010) Wikileaks (?) has made the claim that the Pentagon may be behind the filing of the false rape charges against Julian Assange (**).
* And today, Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, we did a search of police reports on the Swedish Polis website. We were unable to locate a copy of the report. Many other reports are, however, available. Why the apparent secrecy? Also, we have contacted the Wikileaks people (USA) and asked if they could provide us with a copy of the report. We have not heard from them, nor do we expect to. They may be getting 1K+ emails a day...

FOM:**WikiRapes, Sweden Reopens Wikileaks Founder Investigation (BBC News, Sept. 1, 2010), *Statement from the Swedish Prosecutor's Office & FAQs, *Wikileaks Man Says Pentagon May Be Behind Rape Claims (Yahoo!News, Sunday, August 22, 2010), Sweden Drops Accusation of Rape Against Founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange Rape Charge Reads of Smear and Snorting McChrystal

Secure Redaction

2010-08-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Redacted Document image licensed under Creative Commons by jon.bell

Secure Redaction: So you thought you deleted that sensitive or possibly embarrassing information from your documents (WORD and PDFs)? But, the NSA says you may not have. You may have left traces of the sensitive information in your 'redacted document'. Yes, they wrote a brief manual on a suggested procedure. You can link to it here: http://wikileaks.org/w/images/7/75/NSA-redact.pdf

Please note: We found this interesting document while searching for the 'uncrackable insurance file' on Wikileaks. This appears to be the link to the mysterious insurance file. This posting appears simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

The Salmonella Problem

2010-08-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

Did you know over 200 million eggs have been recalled? See more at our posting via this link: http://thelostcookbook.blogspot.com/2010/08/over-200-million-eggs-have-been.html

Meditations on Life's Meaning

2010-08-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Please see our blog post "For Dedanna / Kim" at: http://meditationsonlifesmeaning.blogspot.com/2010/08/for-dedanna-kim.html

MLKvBeck828

2010-08-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by DonkeyHotey

Updated: Friday, August 20, 2010*

MLKvBeck828: When we left Twitter (yes, yes, we did! - we deactivated our account which makes it even more difficult to rejoin!), the one "trending topic" that we contributed to might have been the DC Rally planned by Glenn Beck (and his one follower?) for August 28, 2010 (Which is a Saturday, by the way...). The hashtag for the topic/event became the now-infamous #MLKvBeck828 topic.

It was unfortunate that this date was chosen by Mr. Beck and his one lone supporter (?) for the date of his rally as it coincides with the date of the late, great Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (Yes, even though this is a link to the Wikipedia page we urge you to visit it for its great External Links to the YouTube National Archives records of the march itself.) Many tweeters - including ourselves, who view Mr. King as a prophet - saw this coincidence as an affront to the great man himself (Mr. King ~ not Mr. Beck) - perhaps even a racist affront.

Apropos to the times, we tweeted some suggestions for preparing for The Rally, as well as making preparations for the G20 Protests which were happening in Toronto at the time. Because some of our tweeps (Twitter friends) might still be planning to protest or counter-protest the 8/28 "event", we think some of the same preparations and precautions may be in order. We will present some of those below. Why? Well, for one thing, the event does coincide with the day of the March on Washington of '63 - we expect many Americans to be insulted and will show up to express their outrage perhaps.

You may need some of the following items if you are a protestor or counter-protestor:

1) Handcuff Key Please note: We do not approve, authorize nor endorse the use of these devices if you are under formal arrest by the police. Once arrested YOU ARE OUT OF THE GAME. However, the possession of the key does not imply resistance of arrest. You should make it clear that it is for your own personal protection. USE THE KEY ONLY IF YOU OR OTHERS ARE IN CLEAR OR IMMINENT PHYSICAL DANGER. Fair use of the key is constituted if you are taken against your will by unauthorized persons or personnel.

2) Nylon Tie Cutter Once again Please note: We do not approve, authorize nor endorse the use of these devices if you are under formal arrest by the police. Once arrested YOU ARE OUT OF THE GAME. However, the possession of the cutter does not imply resistance of arrest. You should make it clear that it is for your own personal protection. USE THE CUTTER ONLY IF YOU OR OTHERS ARE IN CLEAR OR IMMINENT PHYSICAL DANGER. Fair use of the cutter is constituted if you are taken against your will by unauthorized persons or personnel.

Remember: Resisting arrest is a crime.

3) Spyderco Knife Once again Please note: We do not approve, authorize nor endorse the use of these devices if you are under formal arrest by the police. Once arrested YOU ARE OUT OF THE GAME. However, the possession of the knife does not imply resistance of arrest. You should make it clear that it is for your own personal protection. USE THE KNIFE ONLY IF YOU OR OTHERS ARE IN CLEAR OR IMMINENT PHYSICAL DANGER. Fair use of the KNIFE is constituted if you are taken against your will by unauthorized persons or personnel.

IF ARRESTED YOU MUST BE FAIR TO THE POLICE AND AUTHORITIES BY ALERTING THEM TO THE PRESENCE OF A KNIFE OR OTHER POTENTIAL/ WEAPONS ON YOUR PERSON. IT IS YOUR DUTY TO DO SO. If you do not commit to this clause, you may be sanctioned by your internet community.

One other potential use for the Spyderco knife is that they have been reported for the use of cutting through seat belts. This tool is also a potential life saver for persons trapped in a vehicle in a dangerous and life threatening situation.

4) Copy of the United States Constitution. Oh, we don't know, we just think it might be handy to have ~ or provide you with something to read if you should be in jail...

5) Gas Mask This should be obvious. You will need it if the authorities decide they need to toss those canisters! It will be worth having one just to see Mssrs. Beck and Palin having to don theirs - if they have one....It should be comical if Sarah and Glenn have to fight over who gets to wear the gas mask! That should really give Becky something to cry about! Also, an old remedy for tear gas is to urinate (we know, gross) on a handkerchief or other piece of cloth or linen. This should then be placed against the mouth and nasal openings to prevent the effects of the tear gas.

Speaking of which, the Sarah Palin DIY mask might make a great fashion statement at the Rally! Go team!

6) The Family Jewels You should consider having a cup just in case something should strike you in the groin - by accident or not. You too ladies!

7) Body Armor Might come in really handy should things get really ugly...Serio, babe.

8) Head and Facial Protection If you decide to wear a Redskins helmet, just tell everybody without one that you're a really big fan! But, seriously, you shold consider wearing a helmet.

9) Tear Gas or Mace: Might be illegal to have this on your person. Not Recommended! But, if you are in a jam, and without police protection, these could be lifesavers!

10) Life Jacket Might come in handy if somebody decides to try and drown you in the reflecting pool...

11) Baton For police personnel only, but like (9), might come in handy in a pinch... NOT TO BE USED AS AN OFFENSIVE WEAPON. INFORM THE POLICE IF YOU HAVE ONE ON YOUR PERSON AND YOU ARE ARRESTED!

12) Portable Police Radio Might come in handy if you have to alert them to a dangerous situation! Might also come in handy if you need to stay in contact with your group! Of course, you should not forget your cell phone this day!

13) Identification: You might not want to forget it this day! Think about Arizona...

14) NO FIREARMS! None at all! Do not carry at the Rally! Forbidden!

15) Safety Glasses or goggles Might come in handy, too.

16) If we left anything out, you might want to consider the writings of Saul Alinsky or George Hayduke...or Hunter S. Thompson...

That all said, we hope you found the links informative or at least entertaining.

While we are still on the subject of Glenn Beck, you should catch the BookTV program about Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance by Alexander Zaitchik. We found Mr. Zaitchik to be humorously petulant - even prickly - while discussing his book. But, who can blame him? He said that he had spent about a year wallowing in the "works" of Mr. Beck. We got the sense from him that he considers Mr. Beck to be a truly alarming and dangerous individual. Which causes us to warn you even further to carry some protective gear (mentioned above) should you be daring enough (or foolhardy enough?) to visit the Rally on 8/28/2010. The Q&A session with Mr. Zaitchik was very good - those are usually a crashing bore if you catch the wrong BookTV program - if you know what we mean... If we recall correctly, one of Mr. Zaitchik's main arguments is that Mr. Beck does not need Fox News for the increase and spread of his empire. Despite all the vaunted advertising losses and evacuations from his program, he still has a $30 Million or so empire. Apparently, Mr. Zaitchik does not see this stopping anytime soon. You can find out more about Mr. Zaitchik at his website. You might be able to find more at AlterNet.org. (You might also want to see Mr. Zaitchik's commentary against Twitter). Despite Mr. Zaitchik's attitude about Twitter and his apparent discomfort on BookTV, we think he is an important and rational voice and you might do well to heed him and his thoughts.

Oh! And there's more Beck news, see the Mother Jones Front Cover story in the July+August 2010 issue "The Golden Fleece - They Trusted Glenn Beck to Protect Their Nest Eggs. He's Laughing All The Way To The Bank" (page 24).

Please note: This posting appears almost simultaneously in our sister publication The Anti-Zen Dictionary.

FOM: *ABC News Take on "The Rally"

Dumb*ss

2010-07-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

Image Licensed under Creative Commons by M. V. Jantzen

Dumb*ss

Could this be the title of Michael Moore's new docu-comedy about the Tea Party? Could he throw in the Birthers too? We're hoping, we're hoping... Of course, we're referring to that great Off-the-Cuff comment made by Ken B*ck in regards to the Tea Party and their Birther "questions"? Chris Matthews did a great segment on this on his Hardball "Sideshow" for July 26, 2010.

Bit.ly link to this post: http://bit.ly/cf9ETe

Snorting McChrystal (or Snorting Rolling Stones)?

2010-07-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

Landmines on Display in Afghanistan image licensed under Creative Commons by Carl Montgomery

Snorting McChrystal (or) Snorting Rolling Stones?

Updated: Saturday, August 21, 2010

OK, the whole media world is talking about the sucker coup of Wikileaks (Bravo for them!) and their revelatory Afghan War Diaries leak/s.

The leak took place on or about July 25, 2010. And blame or responsibility has already been assigned to some, sorry to say, low-level US military personnel. A-Hem! Excuse us! Did everybody miss something here? Including The Daily Show and The Colbert Report?

What are we talking about? Hellooooo.... Didn't the US/ISAF General in Charge of the Afghanistan Operations/War just get sent down the tubes about one month ago? Speaking of tubes, is everybody in the media snorting "McChrystal" or some other finely powdered crystalline Class I narcotic? (Sorry, we apologize for the drug/humor reference/s, we know it is in poor taste).

Why did everybody else miss this? Does the world have ADHD? Is Mr. Derp now running Fox News?

Not to mention, therefore, isn't this all a result of that sh*tty tirade reported by Rolling Stone just this summer/spring? You be the judge.

What else is funky about this relationship? We're not saying the general had anything to do with the leaks, but the events are pretty closely related in time. A little too close.

And, when some top guy goes down for something - they sometimes like to leave behind a little 'Position Paper' on where their major activities stood prior to their departure? Is this all starting to sound familiar? Helloooo...

Does anybody remember Abu Ghraib and what happened to all the low-level torture clowns involved there - and then the commanding officer. You do remember the sequence of events in that scandal, right? Ahhh, we detect the odor of the same order of sequence here...

Not to mention, we did have a look at the reports that appear on the Wikileaks website. No, we haven't had time to read all of them. We're still sorting through the Pentagon Papers for G*d's Sakes! But, it is starting to look like the Pakistan-Taliban-US$ connection might be a little overblown. Only 4 known reports appear in the journal concerning finance from Pakistan or anywhere. As far as "hits" (assassinations) go, those were probably in all likelihood funded by the Taliban (with money from Pakistan or from poppy money - its hard to say for sure...). There were something like 48 reports on hits.

We have distilled some of the more "important" categories of reports from the Diaries and listed them below. Approach with caution. We did this in case Wikileaks runs out of funds (again) or gets mysteriously shut down and disappears... Meanwhile, our list, enjoy...

Oh, and something else, nothing shows you are winning the war like the number of enemy surrenders. Ahem, we have FOUR of them. Oh, and reported Food Distributions and Counter-Terrorism attack numbers were also weak; 4 and 1. ONE counter-terrorism attack? That "War on Terror" is going really swell isn't it Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney?

(Oh, don't get us wrong - we love our troops and support those that do honorable service and some not so much, too).

Bit.ly link to this post: http://bit.ly/9Q0XzI

Number of Assassinations reported in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 48

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/assassination_0.html

Number of Attacks reported in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 2283

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/attack_0.html

Number of Ambushes reported in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 538

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/ambush_0.html

Number of Counterterrorism Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 1

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/counter_terrorism_0.html

Number of Drug Operations Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 8

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/drug_operation_0.html

Number of (Enemy) Finance Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 4

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/finance_0.html

Number of Food Distributions Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 4

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/food_distribution_0.html

Number of IED Ambush Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 350

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/ied_ambush_0.html

Number of IED Explosions Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 7202

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/ied_explosion_0.html

Number of IED Found/Cleared Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 8581

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/ied_found_cleared_0.html

Number of Mines Found/Cleared Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 396

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/mine_found_cleared_0.html

Number of Mine Strikes Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 321

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/mine_strike_0.html

Number of Murder Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 100

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/murder_0.html

Number of Willing Recruitments detained Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 1

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/recruitment_willing__0.html

Number of Poisonings Reports (attempted) in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 1

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/poisoning_0.html

Number of Enemy Sabotage Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 6

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/sabotage_0.html

Number of Enemy/Unknown Surrenders Reports in Wikileaks Afghan War Diaries: 4

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/afg/sort/category/surrendering_0.html

FOM: False Charges Made Against Mr. Assange?

A Plan for the Global Economic Recovery

2010-07-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

The US Role in Haiti Food Riots Image licensed under Creative Commons by barrybar

Updated Again Wednesday, September 1, 2010: ***
Updated Friday, July 30, 2010: With the economic report just received from the BBC today **, this blog posting seems worthy of a second review and a follow-up. Check this site later for more updates if possible.

We have been gone for a little while and we hadn't posted anything! ~
Sorry if you have missed us, but we haven't heard much from you either. Apart from having one of our 'tweets' read on the MSNBC Countdown Twitter Report of Friday, May 14, 2010 - we just haven't accomplished much. We're not even certain if they still do the Twitter Report - anyway we have deleted our twitter account - it was @georgek1029. Apologies if you were one of the 1500 or so that were following us.

Anyway! Our Senior Editor had a bit of a vision the other night - he usually does when we conspire to hit him over the head with a blunt instrument. It was like he could see this big fresh new book coming out. He could even see the title and the cover; "A Plan for the Global Economic Recovery". He could even see some very odd diagrams outlining steps and phases (not phrases) meant to outline just that.

The sad thing, we suppose, is that there appears to be no book nor plan with that title. Sure, a lot of excellent books* have been recently written and published about the Global Economic Crisis of 2007 - 2010. But nothing about a plan or a coordinated series of steps towards the Recovery. (What's also "refreshing" to hear is that the Wikipedia has laid the blame on the US Financial Markets for the liquidity crisis which created the global collapse of the markets - scandalous but guilty!).

Notably, the Obama-Dodd Finanical Reform Act 2010 should/will address some of those shortcomings. But, will it guide the overall economy back to the boisterous health that some many of us need and want? Yes, we're talking about you too, dedanna1029. We know, we know, there are some problems with the bill ~ isn't that right Lawrence?

Thankfully, the 111th Congress of the US has finally agreed to extend long-term UE benefits - again. Which seemed to be their bugbear - at least for most of the GOP - with whom some of us still have problems! Sorry to say! It's been said before, you don't turn off the fire hydrant when the house is burning down! Of course, you may as well turn off the hydrant when the house has burnt down...sorry to say...

But that's not enough ~ we need real prosperity and soon. It's probably one of the real true solutions to the current problems of unemployment. Yes, plural, problems. UE is not a problem in and of itself. We need to become educated as to how it is a problem, how it got to be that way and to get us poor and medium-income folks back to making money again! Forget rich! People are too busy just scraping by to survive. People don't want to be rich, they just need enough funds to pay the rent, utilities, finance the car, get medical treatment, pay their union dues, give gifts, buy postage...oh, and don't forget the grocery bill.

That is a BIG problem. We haven't seen food riots here in the USA. But, we have seen food security issues. Our senior editor's sick elderly father recently experienced a food security issue - this is not a nice issue for our sick and elderly to have to deal with. Even worse is the thought of having to go to their local market - and encountering a food riot in the process. Shades of Glenn Beck - we must be starting to sound like that mad *******. (Our google account provisions forbid us from expressing certain opinions here - and they are correct about that! We must agree!). By the way, you have got to see the latest "joke" Glenn Beck account on twitter at http://twitter.com/Glenn_Beck.

Hmmm, we seem to have wandered a bit from our original point. Our senior editor has had some further "revelations" about "A Plan for the Global Economic Recovery". These are some of his bullet points;

1) All systems are inequitable.

2) All economies are based on a "bubble market".

3) The inherent inequities of (1) help contribute to that bubble market of (2).

4) The crash of (2) and the time to the next crash is inversely proportional to the inequities of (1).

To further highlight the "inequities of the system", see the LiveScience article "World Markets Mostly Controlled by Select Companies". And the BookTV Program "Color Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politicis and the Retreat from Racial Inequity". Both of these should shock you to your senses.

Well, that's about it for now. Our "mad" senior editor is developing his new economic theories (Re; the book ~ unless somebody else is writing it) at the time being. We will get back to you with further information.

Until then, these links may be of interest:

bit.ly link to this post: http://bit.ly/9hAgR7

**Updated Friday, July 30, 2010: US Annualized Economic Growth Rate Slows to 2.4% (BBC NEWS)

Acts of the 111th United States Congress (Wikipedia)

Public Laws for the 111th Congress (Library of Congress)

Types of Riots (Wikipedia)

Food Security (Wikipedia)

Further Reading ; External Links on Food Security (Wikipedia References ; Links)

Let's Talk (Blog by dedanna1029)

*A Colossal Failure of Common Sense by Lawrence G. McDonald

World Stocks Controlled by Select Companies (from LiveScience)

Color Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat of Racial Inequity (with author Tim Wise).

***(Updated Wednesday, September 1, 2010) 2010 Hiring Outlook from Industry Market Trends

Turdblossom in the GOPunchbowl

2010-03-07T11:26:00.000-08:00

Image from Amazon.com

Turdblossom in the GOPunchbowl: http://bit.ly/aw3yQl With reference to the recent book by Karl Rove combined with the old saw about "That went over like a turd in the punchbowl". Example: G. W. Bush to Diary - 'Looks like Rove put a Turdblossom in the GOPunchbowl. Hey! I kind of like that! Heheheh...' Also with reference to the lack of finding of WMD's and the plans for war...buy the book... And yet another former staffer rats out the Bushies...

FOM: Karl Rove , Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight and What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception by Scott McClellan

Please note: This posting appears almost simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

Cheney Conundrum

2010-02-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by Mick Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Cheney Conundrum: Dick's latest media foray could be his last (that is, before his attorneys and handlers clamp a Denver Boot on his tongue...) and its making us ask the question; "Just how dumb is he?" and, further, "Just how dumb are we?". Boy, some of us just aren't grasping the Cheney Conundrum - and that means the heavy hitters like Keith-O, Rachel, Chris Matthews and more... Or maybe we just missed a report from David Corn or Chris Hayes (we like Chris...). JoeNBC seems a little too quiet, maybe he gets it...Joe is, after all, conservative...but still a professional...

GET IT? Get what? You may ask. What Countdown has aired on the primetime (last night AND the night before...) is video of apparently Dick Cheney stepping on his own...er, sword...and possibly foisting himself on it. How? By the tacit admission that he supported *enhanced interrogation techniques (i.e., waterboarding) and some other potential war crimes. We - try to momentarily forget that we are leftofleftliberalefties - firmly believe that he has really set himself up here and just about every other high-level persons-of-interest in the former Bush Administration for war crimes prosecution or violations of the Geneva Convention.

Further, these "confessions" were obtained from a person who apparently was not tortured nor subjected to waterboarding nor *EITs. Yet, this person has apparently put himself and others of his ilk in jeopardy of a war crimes trial (or military tribunal) - with possible punishments and fines and other sanctions. Therefore, by his own administration's "definitions" he has made himself a war criminal, or loosely defined, a bit of a terrorist himself. Yet, his confession(s) and/or admissions were obtained without mention of habeas corpus, without rendition (extraordinary or otherwise), without restraint, without punishment, without military detention, without EITs, without waterboarding and without torture. The man has clearly given us information without benefit of his own tightly adhered-to embrace of EIT and other illogical means of extracting confessions and/or verdicts. Without delay. Without restriction. With freedom of speech and liberties guaranteed under a Constitution and Bill of Rights that his kind appear to have willingly usurped.

Lets try this again. This man Cheney was not waterboarded, nor subjected to any form of EIT that we know of. Nor is he under threat of such or any physical harm or torture. Yet he appears to have willingly admitted and/or confessed to "terroristic" forms of war crimes and tortures by himself and by his own members of his administration. Now isn't that extraordinary? Its extraordinary that a proponent of extrajudicial means of obtaining punishments and extreme measures need not have been subjected to them now nor in the past nor in the future. Its extaordinary that he is going around town promoting such means live and on-air.

In other words, he's just contradicting himself. Over and over and over. He's a living walking contradiction. And an alleged war criminal. Its supremely ironic. The man has publicly disproven his own argument of what he stands for and continues to support. The man is running rings around himself logically. Yet, here he be. He exists despite himself. He should have collapsed into a black hole of irony by now. Or at the very least, the Bush Administration should appear out of a wormhole and render him unto a secret POW camp in the past. Which is where they should be.

Get it yet?

Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/aqWZeP

FOM: Cheney's Costly Mistake , It Came from the Veep and Paradix or Dickundrum.

Updated/Revised: Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Inagural or Inaugural 2013

2010-02-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

htt

Image licensed under Creative Commons by auburnxc

Inagural or Inaugural 2013: http://bit.ly/bkXabG Unfortunate conflation of Inauguration and the epithet "Nag". The predicted misspelling (See our posting: What Was Really Written On Sarah's Hand?) or "respelling" of Inaugural in the event of a Palin win...God help us...

Bit.ly link to this post: http://bit.ly/9Qx8S8

FOM: Palin Hand Crib Notes Attract Scrutiny , Palin Fails to Bring Ideas, The Sound of Palin's Hand Clapping (both from MSNBC Countdown), Sarah Palin's 'helping hand' of crib notes for speech (BBC NEWS) ,Gidget Goes Rogue, Phlegmodium and The Fantastic Ms/Mrs Fox.

Please note: This posting appears simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary.

What Was Really Written On Sarah's Hand?

2010-02-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

(Click on image for full view...)

Breaking News!: This appeared on the other hand: OMG, is that me on the monitor!? I'm so cute and appealing!!!

OK, so maybe thats not her hand, maybe she has "man hands" or maybe its Todd's...

Wait, it gets worse. Who wrote the crib notes? An aide? Somebody else???

FOM: Inagural or Inaugural 2013, Palin Hand Crib Notes Attract Scrutiny , Palin Fails to Bring Ideas, The Sound of Palin's Hand Clapping (both from MSNBC Countdown), Sarah Palin's 'helping hand' of crib notes for speech (BBC NEWS) ,Gidget Goes Rogue, Phlegmodium and The Fantastic Ms/Mrs Fox

Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/clfMY8

Revised/Updated: Tuesday, February 9, 2010; Thursday, February 11, 2010

CrimeSofties? JimHuggers?

2010-02-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by SIR: Poseyal KNIGHT of the DESPONSYI

CrimeSofties or JimHuggers?: Has the GOP and its conservative pundits revealed a fundamental flaw? We're referring to the old conservative political stance of "Getting Tough On Crime". With all of the FOX News Network shameless O'Keefe-hugging, it would appear that FOX and their Conservative ilk are getting "Soft on Crime"? By promoting Mr. O'Keefe and his allegedly illegal break-in (not to mention possible conspiracy by involvement with his whole gang and others...) of Senator Mary Landrieu's Office in a Federal Building, aren't they giving themselves the appearance of aligning with the "crime-dog"? Conservative criminals consorting with known felons? Gee, who'd thunk it?

True, true...Federal property is the "people's property"? But isn't that also true in Red China? Has the Right gone (apparently) Red in embracing an activist demagogue that espouses lame, trite, trivial defenses about public property being his property? Wait? Didn't Timothy McVeigh feel the same about the Alfred P. Murrah building?

Oh, and what about the Nixonian association with the Watergate break-in? We don't recall too many politicos hugging poor old Milhous about that time. Nope, not too many. Didn't he resign in shame and leave the political limelight forever after that break-in and the attempted wiretaps? Shouldn't Roger, Rupert, Sean, Bill-O and the rest be doing the same? That or running for political cover before the political fallout?

Our point is that O'Keefe and his alleged-gang being guilty or no, there's no avoiding the negative connotation. We were slightly amazed that Keith O and his staff did not pull up (gleefully...it would have been OK...) the negative references to being Soft-On-Crime, Hugging Criminals and Conspirators, Sopranos references, Nixon references and more. Yes, we know, the McVeigh reference is nauseatingly over-the-top. But, most of these conservatives (some - not all, we love Joe Scarborough), like the proverbial dog, return to their own vomit.

But, lest we forget, seems that our government is getting actionable intelligence out of the Detroit Christmas Attack terror suspect without resorting to waterboarding, torture nor military tribunals? So, apparently there's no need to overturn the Geneva Convention nor bring this poor chump to a military tribunal. How do we know? Because our senior editor's hometown is Detroit, and he's spitting mad over the whole sordid affair - as well as the "any-means-necessary" hypocritical Bushie conservative approach. They didn't have to waterboard Abdulmutullab, did they? Neither do they have to go around casting rose petals at the feet of O'Keefe. Nauseating.

So what is being kept out of our sight? What is the bigger picture? Why all of the political posturing and gainsaying over one two-bit break-in and illegal attempted wiretap by a cheap (alleged) criminal and his "Apple Dumpling" Gang? What is the big deal? Or is it some kind of cover up and/or whitewash? We're waiting...

Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/bkjuqu

FOM: O’Keefe Toxic for the GOP? – MSNBC Countdown Tues, 2/2/2010http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#35209054 and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#35208524

Updated/Revised: Friday, February 5, 2010

Spray-On Principles?

2010-01-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by talkradionews

Spray-On Principles?: John, now you're using Spray-On Principles just like Spray-On Tan? And, you weren't implying that your opposition has no principles, were you John? John, we think you just spray-tanned yourself into the proverbial corner.

Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/bunf8S

FOM: Boehner: GOPmust ‘stand on principle’

The "I Won't Quit" State of the Union Address?

2010-01-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

Our Main Man gave it up last night. And we're already reeling with our heads spinning from what was said, what was left out and what was what. We should have expected that much. Instead, we expected elegant, polished, smooth oratory. We think we got that... We expected Pericles or at least Cicero. Not so much. We expected Mario Cuomo and FDR and Norman Schwarzkopf. Ehhh, maybe not so much. Still, we thought he was the silver-tongued, he was our 'velvet fog'. Therefore, we still think we caught a whiff o' populism. Just a little.

Somehow, in our very confused tiny little heads, the phrase "Don't Quit!" morphed into "I Won't Quit"! Which was it again? Was that a very subliminal jab at a certain politico? We don't know if anybody else caught it yet. Rachel, what about you? You're pretty savvy and pithy. Yes, we admit we saw the coverage on MSNBC with their crew of Keith-O, Chris & Rach. We admit we're biased. We basically like them. But we like Joe Scarborough, too. (Note: Joe contacted us briefly on Twitter, yesterday - so did Joan Walsh...).

Or should be called the "Get It Done!" speech? We don't know. Shades of Larry the Cable Guy, God help us...

No comments - that we know of - on this historic speech and some of the things that were apparently said the first time at an SOTU. Like, "Madame Speaker, the President of the United States"... first time, wasn't it? No comments? We thought it was pretty special. We thought some of the things said by Our Main Man were pretty special too.

We did expect special things to come out...as well as platitudes. We weren't disappointed...oh well. But, mostly, they were lofty. Some hit the ground with a thud. Don't get us wrong, we love Our Main Man. We would follow him to hell and back. Which could have happened even in his first year. He pointed out (we thought correctly) how hellish things could have been if not for the hated bailout. Hellish, we say. But, again, we find he is preaching to our choir. Sorry.

Yes, he said that. He hated the bailout, we all hated the bailout (except the banks). Sometimes, hate can be refreshing. It wasn't easy. Popular as a root canal, he said. But, do what is necessary and not popular (in that job). That's where he proposed The Fee. The Fee on the biggest banks to pay back the taxpayers who bailed them out in their time of need. Now that was popular and it got a thunderous applause. If not for the bailout, 2 million working Americans would have become unemployed. Hellish.

Jobs are our #1 PRIORITY. (No, not Steve...although Steve does make products that give people jobs...credit where credit is due and all that...). Calling for New Jobs Bill that night. Thunderous Applause. True engine of job creation will always be American business. Short loud applause. Starting with small businesses, entrepreneurs, where most jobs start. Main Man said 30 bn in repayments to go to Community Banks to keep these businesses afloat. So that they can hire new workers or raise wages. And to eliminate the Cap Gain Tax on all small businesses. To applause.

Which seemed to let him segue seamlessly into the next topic and the next and the next... The next of which he stated putting Americans to work today on the future infrastructure. And he related more of the same to thunderous applause, mostly.

We kept taking notes. We had our heads buried in our notebooks and barely saw the speech. 11 pages of notes...we felt like were in lecture hall...Geez, this is like homework. But, our love saw us through.

Then a bold statement on how we have lost 7 million jobs and therefore long-term growth has to be addressed. We're inclined to agree. "How long should we wait?! (clapping) Washington told us to wait 2 decades. China, Germany and India are not waiting... I do not accept second place for the USA!" To cheers and thunderous applause. Oh, he's preaching to the choir, again. Keep it up.

Financial reform talk then led into section on encouraging American innovation and investment. How energy is the right thing. Need to create more for more production. Yeah, that was making sense... Need safe clean nuclear plants...Huh, What?...clean coal...Huh, what? Excuse us, but wasn't "No Nukes" the rallying cry of the liberal movement some years ago? Was he talking fission or fusion? Big difference. Clean coal? Have you ever seen what a broken coal ash pond can do? Biofuels and offshore development? A Dem wants offshore development...and no tax breaks for Big Oil? Hmmmm...

Got to develop that National Export and Initiative and Control. Won't that usurp NAFTA and Fast Track? You know, products of the Clinton Administration? Hmmmm.... But, he did say that we could lose our chance to create jobs. One Administration Zigs, the other Zags. Just like the economy.... Hmmmm....

That moves us further into Education Reform - the finance reform part of which sounded really good. Increase people's value of their homes. Yes. Relieve the Middle Class Econonmic Burden. Yes. Which is why we still need Health Care Reform. Ha! Gotcha! Whew! He managed to swing back to Health Care Reform - our linchpin for the whole economy and recession and jobs and everything. Hmmmm....

Mario Cuomo-like line: "I won't walk away from the American people and neither should these people in this chamber!".

Swipe at the Dubya Administration: "In 2000 we had a $ 2bn Surplus - now we have a (huge) deficit, 2 wars, a hole in the budget, a recession and more before I walked in the door!". And today (updated Friday, Jan 29, 2009) it was announced that the GDP grew 6% and Obama announced a $ 33Bn taxcredit/jobs growth bill. Equals GOP = SOL and 7 more years of economic growth and President Obama! Hooray!

We've run out of time...except for Mitch McConnell. They say he was giggling like a walleyed country school girl at her first barn dance all the time. The politics of division. The politics of destruction. Keep it up Mitch, you want to divide the nation? Remember that thing called the Civil War?

Since the SOTU, several political pundits have weighed in on some of the boorish behavior observed by all during the speech. Most notably: Sour Justice on Countdown, Jon Alter on Countdown on GOP FAIL to support Main St and RachelBrilliant: Obama SOTU Shows GOP United Against Mainstreet. Since Rach, Jon Alter and Keith-O have been kind enough to point out this boorish and possibly destructive behavior. Its raised one or two more points with us about all this GOPpish "behavior".

To the GOPs; you didn't look unified by the way, the DEMS looked unified. You didn't look passionate about your "cause", look like freshly made up cadavers stolen from a local funeral home. The DEMS looked joyous, you looked like you had all just croaked. Except that one official mouthing words about Obama's comments on the judiciary. Well, when you enter into the political arena with your 'judgements' you should expect to be politicized. We're sorry Ms. Ginsburg had to be subjected to this, she is one of our favorites. Just remember, if Hugo Chavez gets his candidate elected to US office(s) after you ditched that law in question, you may not be doing any judicial work...at least in the US...

Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/b6927q

Phegmodium

2010-01-22T11:37:00.000-08:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by billpalooza

Phlegmodium: The unfortunate portmanteau of phlegm and a popular OTC diarrhea drug. Suggested medication for mouth diarrhea, lipfarts and certain politicians.

Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/8qvNjG

FOM: Gidget Goes Rogue and The Fantastic Ms/Mrs Fox

Please note: This posting appears simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary.

Nude Man Cosmo Girl Model Guy or Senator Nudeman

2010-01-20T07:12:00.001-08:00

Fair Use image for reference; humor licensed under Creative Commons by cosmocatalano

Nude Man Cosmo Girl Model Guy or Senator Nudeman: http://bit.ly/80HCev

You mean the nude man model won?! Awwww, mannn...there goes my healthcare!

FOM: Brown wins Mass. Senate race in upset , Why public support for health care failed and Obama warns Senate on healthcare

Please note: This posting may appear simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

Updated/Revised: Thursday, January 21, 2010

Hope! - Das Obama Musical

2010-01-20T06:48:00.001-08:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by jurvetson

Hope! - Das Obama Musical: These good folks in Frankfurt have turned our president's life into a musical.

Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/7Pa7hJ

Please note: This posting appears almost simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

Now if only we could get some audio of Tom Hanks saying, "Hah...Hahhhh... Those crazy Germans..." Please Mr. Hanks, we're begging you...

FOM: Curtain Up for Obama Musical

MegaDisaster and Obama's Heroes

2010-01-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by the United Nations' World Development Programme

Bit.ly (link to this post): http://bit.ly/8PHupA

MegaDisaster and Obama’s Heroes: We think the Haiti 2010 Earthquake qualifies as what one could call a MegaDisaster. And the USA is right there with them. Fortunately, this is not turning into the debacle like the one we had with Katrina. Yes, its just taken literally two days for aid from the US - and all corners of the world - to land in Haiti.

The last three sentences of this paragraph have changed since we last posted. We did not want to appear ghoulish, but we thought the destruction of Haiti would reach a level of 200,000 fatalities, comparable to the 2004 Tsuanmi. Though this disaster does not (so far...we hope and pray...) present the loss of life as seen in the 2004 Tsunami. The loss of life is striking when you consider that it might be the equivalent of your hometown; like Grand Rapids, Des Moines, Boise, Yonkers, Modesto, Irvine, Fremont and on...passing in one day. Or 6.7 million US citizens passed in one day. Now that should give you some perspective on the current disaster...

Worse and sorry to say, this is only the first disaster of the decade. Is the next one happening now in Caracas? Having just been struck (close by) by a magnitude 5.7 earthquake. Or the magnitude 4.0 earthquake that struck Oklahoma about 9:18 AM today. Oklahoma?? Brings one closer to Haiti's woes, doesn't it?

Again, US Aid and others are mobilizing aid to Haiti. Which reminds us, our hero, Barack Obama, really did deserve that Nobel Peace Prize - didn't he? He wasted very little time in the Haitian call for aid. Shame, shame... Yes, the people mobilizing the aid effort and the people transporting the aid and themselves to Haiti are now heroes. You might disagree (like Rush...but, Rush has done some good things...), but some of them are Obama's Heroes. But, apparently, there were warnings...

And there should be wasting no time in getting aid and resources to a country like Haiti (or any other in desperate circumstances...). For god's sake, some of the poor folks have to live on dirt. They actually make cookies out of mostly dirt (which are bought and sold, for God's sake...) and they call them bon bon terre. They might throw in a little sugar, flour and some stuff that is actually edible. Haiti was a horrible economic and ecological disaster before the quake.

So why should you contribute and make that donation? Selfishness. That's right - selfishness. Because if you don't, they will have to leave their homes in Haiti and move in right next door to you. That's right. And, the image of one dead child should move anyone to tears.

And if the dead are left unburied, they will have to leave. Before the disease sets in. Diseases like typhus and cholera and God help them.

FOM: Haiti quake toll 'may be 200,000'

U.S. providing relief to Haiti

US Stands with Haiti (COUNTDOWN MSNBC)

http://antizendictionary.blogspot.com/2009/10/instant-peace-prize-or-10-day-prize.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Disasters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_tsunami
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katrina_Hurricane
http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/02/19/dirt-poor-haitians-eat-cookies-made-of-mud/4120/
http://worldfocus.org/blog/2010/01/14/us-prepares-to-launch-100-million-aid-effort-to-haiti/9242/
http://worldfocus.org/
Looting in Haiti
Scientists warned Haiti officials of quake in '08
Burying Haiti’s Dead
javascript:vPlayer('34881362','5bea6c96-c712-429f-a19b-513b4d732957')

Please Note: This posting appears simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

Revised/Updated: Monday, January 18, 2010

Colonel Hank

2010-01-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

Fair Use of Werner Klemperer as Colonel Klink Image for Reference; Humor

Colonel Hank: http://bit.ly/82lXwc The unfortunate conflation of Hank Paulson and Colonel Klink (Hogan's Heroes). Colonel Hank to Geithner: Tim! Timmmm!!!

Bit.ly link to this post: http://bit.ly/7ws0Wr

FOM: House subpoenas Geithner's AIG e-mails, phone logs and The Human Side of Hank Paulson as Presented on CBS Sunday Morning
Revised/Updated: Monday, February 1, 2010

Sergeant McSchultz or John McSchultz

2010-01-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

Fair Use of John Banner as Schultz Image for Reference; Humor

Sergeant McSchultz http://bit.ly/4P0qFJ The unfortunate conflation of John McCain with the late, great John Banner's portrayal of Sergeant Schultz (Hogan's Heroes). The Media: Mr. McCain/McSchultz, what can you tell us about the vetting of Sarah Palin as your VP candidate '08? Sergeant McSchultz: I know nussink! Nussink!

Bit.ly link this post: http://bit.ly/6bKHvt

FOM: Uneasiness Evident in McCain-Palin Ticket, Gidget Goes Rogue and The Fantastic Ms/Mrs Fox

Please note: This posting appears simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary.

Coffetalk with Bill (or Bill Richman?)

2010-01-13T12:23:00.001-08:00

Fair Use regarding Image of Copyrighted Coffee Talk with Linda Richman for Reference; Humor

Coffeetalk with Bill (or Bill Richman) http://bit.ly/56kXRn The somewhat disturbing conflation of Linda Richman and Bill Clinton. Like shades of Coffee Talk with Linda Richman, Big Bill and colleagues allegedly discuss having Obama getting coffee for them? We wonder, would he (Obama?) have peed in it?

Bit.ly link this post: http://bit.ly/5FaRev

FOM: Clinton Made Questionable Obama Remark and Game Change

Please note: This posting appears simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary.

Queen of Heartburn

2010-01-13T12:16:00.001-08:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by Valerie Everett

Queen of Heartburn http://bit.ly/5F4NKn "Off With Their Heads!" Queen Hilary might have shrieked, as the Queen of Heartburn, post-election 2008. Just like the Queen of Hearts. Allegedly lobbing an ashtray at Big Bill's head (Monica Lewinsky scandal...).

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FOM: Clinton Campaign Post-Mortem and Game Change

Please note: This posting appears simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

The Fantastic Ms/Mrs Fox

2010-01-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by billypalooza

The Fantastic Ms/Mrs Fox http://bit.ly/6mCVYn The unfortunate conceptual amalgam of Fantastic Mr. Fox, Fox News and a certain Ms/Mrs. Palin. She doesn't know North Korea from the South. She's a feminist and she's not. Can't say which newspapers she reads and doesn't read. What gives? But she knows dem GOPers from the Dems! Fox News: You're Hired! Pretty foxy, huh?

Bit.ly link this post: http://bit.ly/7kYzwo

FOM: Sarah Palin gets deal as Fox commentator, Uneasiness Evident in McCain-Palin Ticket ,Gidget Goes Rogue and Fantastic Mr. Fox

Please Note: This posting appears simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary.

Revised/Updated: Wednesday, January 13, 2010