Relax and have a great Cinema Festival!

As for having a '...good eye on democracy' while you are gone. Not to worry, democracy has been in a slumber for quite a while --it would be nice to see it recovery in time for your return but that is too much to hope for in one sitting.

Have a good rest, Brad.

And I've got an idea, good or not, here it is:
What if Michael Moore collaborated with Clint Curtis?

Hey Brad, dude!

Have a fantastic time, and don't worry about us. We won't whine and cry too long, and we'll try to be good.

See you when you get back, totally refreshed by nature.

America The Beautiful!!!

Have a good one! I envy you, meeting Clint Curtis. I think he's one of the most important people in the country. Keep him in the public eye!

I agree, Bluebird. He should be featured prominently in the next Moore film.

Hey Brad. Have a good trip and rest up.

If you get a chance, ask Greg Palast about the Jeb Bush letter he mentioned on CSpan yesterday.

He said he told the mess-media about it but their research into it consisted of one call to Jeb Bush who denied it.

Greg called and somehow fooled them into faxing him a copy.

The letter was a clear and arrogant violation of law (court orders) and ordered that thousands of blacks be taken off the voting records of Florida.

Brad: Enjoy your vacation. You've earned it.

Here are my questions for Clint Curtis. I recognize not all can be answered safely at this point.

1) Do you know of a link between the information you gave the F.B.I. about YEI and Feeney, and Jeff Fisher's allegations about a training camp for young vote-riggers in Florida? Is Fisher now missing?

2) What was John Conyers' reaction to your claims?

3) Are you currently gainfully employed? If not, are you living off savings or are your activities being financed, and if the latter, by whom?

4) If the House Judiciary Committee conducts a full investigation, do you expect to be called to testify?

Thanks, Bob Mills

Be careful, and wear clean underware.

Hi, Brad - If election reform is NOT achieved by 2006, ask Clint if America can out-hack the Bushite hackers and make the fraudulent computer counters fail totally - forcing manual paper voting. America needs to beat these thieves at their little computer tabulating games.

Hi.

Hi Taco!

Yup, Brad banned me. He uses Graymatter 1.3 to ban you by locking out your DNS. Of course, if you sign on with a different computer, he has to lock that one out, also.

Of course, Graymatter 1.3 makes your system VERY unstable and quite frequently causes more problems than it is worth, so not many people use it. It is also FREEWARE, so enough said.

http://www.friendsofdemocracy.info/

http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/

The above are two great Iraqi blogs where you can read the REAL truth about what is happening in Iraq. A lot of America hating people are reading the "Bagdad Buring" riverbend blog. They should realize that the person doing that blog is Syrian and it is a Zarqawi controlled disinformation blog.

Elections soon! Looking good!

I just went to Google news and it looks like Clint Curtis has not gotten any press for a month now.

Brad: please ask Mr. Curtis how many books he has sold and how much he made selling them.

It is my theory that this is ALL about Clint making a few bucks on accusations and statements by him that are not provable as being correct. How many of you agree with me?

American Woman:

How much did you pay for Clint Curtis's book?

Hope you got a BIG discount on it because at least 30% went to him you know.

More proof this is all about selling books for Mr. Curtis.

Hi, Taco Jimmo - I will check out the websites, and am looking forward to Brad's interview with Clint. Glad you are still reading us. Lots of folks write books for profit. Nothing wrong with that. His is an interesting story, and so far I suspect it's quite true.

Taco Jim,

This is all about Mr. Curtis selling books? Get real. When was the last time you heard about someone getting rich off of a self-published book? What makes you think that this isn't about real patriotism ... not to mention personal health and safety?

Have a great time Brad and Happy Anniversary! We'll babysit Paul, Taco Tom and Atty Jim while you're gone.

Have a good time, and watch yourself!

Mix

Brad,

Congratulations on your 1-year anniversary! It has been eventful, and I am glad you have been there to focus on these issues.

When you meet with Clint, the issue most eagerly pursued is of course the Feeney/vote hacking one. Please try to find if there is any link between his experience with Tom Feeney and YEI and the Jeff Fisher allegations regarding the Christian-established troubled boys school. Kids in trouble - especially with drugs - are so vulnerable and easily manipulated! For many purposes. (I am reminded also of the documentary about the pedophile scandal in Nebraska, "Conspiracy of Silence," posted recently on Cannonfire). Such tactics are not new. They are classic KGB-style. Shameful secrets and drug addiction are the surest way to inspire "loyalty"!

The second issue, and equally as explosive, is the government protection of Nee, in spite of (or because of?) his sale of NASA technology to China. The Yangs could be busted for several fatal entanglements, but seem to be protected by powerful government forces. I don't know what it takes to cause a federal judge and prosecutor to let Nee off with just a $100 fine for selling secrets to China! And no prosecutoin at all for YEI. Just working here illegally, or hiring an illegal alien worker, or telling a lie on a federal form or to an immigration officer, etc. could get them so busted! This is incomprehensible! Either "we" want China to receive the NASA technology for some reason and YEI is being used for covert government transactions, or the government is afraid of what YEI could reveal about the election hacking technology and is just keeping them friendly, or ....... WHAT?! How big is YEI, anyway? I suspect it is very small. Why would the State of Florida and NASA contract with such a small outfit, of Chinese nationals, yet, on matters of great sensitivity?

NASA just received a HUGE appropriation (several billion) at the end of last year --- undebated and unexpected. Then Sean O'Keefe announced his retirement (unexpected, I think). Now they are saying that NASA will cut the Hubble telescope maintenance project and let the telescope self-destruct. This is a surprise, as the outcry of support for Hubble last year caused bush to retract his plan to let it go, and to announce that they would find money to support the extremely valuable and beloved project. Now that decision is quietly retracted. This is all so strange! Where is that money going?

Bush's announcement in last year's state of the union speech that we would fund a program for NASA to put man on Mars was bizarre. This from a man who is famously dismissive of science! And then he didn't mention it again, and our media let him get away with it by not asking any questions. (Maybe they were just relieved that he seemed to have forgotten about it). You knew at the time that this announcement was a smokescreen for something else. He was up to something and by sleight of hand we were being duped. Now, it appears to me that the money allocated quietly and without discussion to NASA must be being used for another purpose entirely. We must never forget that we are ruled today by the same gang that brought us Iran/Contra.

Come to think of it, there was also a similarly bizarre disconnect moment when Bush addressed the UN and brought up, out of the blue, the issue of sex trafficking. Hello! Where did that come from and where did that go? But just as the Reagan administration was famously fighting a war on drugs and setting the First Lady up to champion "Just Say No," while benefiting from cocaine trafficking to fund the Contras, you have to look with a jaundiced eye today at a president who pops out with an unexpected war on the sex trade, and a First Lady who is considering taking on as her official cause, "troubled adolescent boys." I think that is a fine cause, and I don't doubt her good will, but I think it is entirely unbelievable and unnatural that she (an only child with 2 daughters and no prior interest in boys' issues that we know of) would choose that subject from among the myriad of others competing for a First Lady's patronage. It has to be an issue put to her by handlers, who realize her popularity and want to harness it in another sleight of hand to hide what they are up to. I realize this is a dastardly accusation/suggestion. But I have never been so cynical and suspicious in my life! I am not naturally so, but the history and tactics of the Bush dynasty have brought me to this point. In fact I am a 55-year-old former Republican who voted for Reagan and for H.W. Bush (the first time he ran). I was certainly trusting then.

My long, meandering point is, it would have once been unthinkable to me that juvenile delinquents could ever be harnessed in our country for dastardly government purposes. Today I entertain the thought. The Boys Town sex scandal that probably roped several powerful politicians into compromising situations to secure their "loyalty" leads logically to the possibilty that Jeff Fisher's outlandish accusations about Lake Pointe School is in fact credible (whether or not it is true, it is certainly credible). TRoubled kids, sex scandals, drug addicts and ex-cons make for very easily manipulated tools in a bigger scheme. They are so vulnerable and expendable and lacking in credibility, should they try to reveal what they know.

Anyway, please ask Clint what he knows about NASA, its use of funds, Sean O'Keefe's sudden retirement, the Yang's own immigration status (do they have a green card, U.S. citizenship? If so, how did they get it? Did they employ others from China? Do they ever go back to CHina? How did they get here in the first place? Did it have anything to do with Feeney? Etc.) As well as what he knows about Jeff Fisher's accusations. Thanks. You are doing a great job. Enjoy UTAH and your well-earned (working) vacation.

CD

re #16:

Peggy: please don't waste your time on the disinformation websites suggested by our resident troll. Getting a handle on world events is hard enough without reading deliberate lies from professional liars.

re #11, #12 and so on:

Taco Jim or Attorney Tom or whoever you are this time: Brad has stated several times that he will not allow people posting under multiple names and pretending to agree with each other. You may continue posting here if you start abiding by the rules. Otherwise I will make no promises.

to atty jim:

I love it when idiots try and sound technical. Please continue with your explanation of how DNS works...

Winter "Patriot":

So I guess you disagree with me that the "bagdad burning" blog is Zarqawi controlled and the blogger is a Syrian. I find that Interesting to say the least.

So in your world anybody blogging "things are horrible in Iraq" is telling the truth, and anybody blogging "things are going good in Iraq" is a liar.

I get it now.

winter, what are you going to complain about on after the Iraq election?

I bet it will be that the election means nothing because some people felt they could not safely vote so everybody elected is illigitimate. Of course, it is a safe bet that those complaining about not being able to vote safely are supporters of Saddam, the insurgents, and Zarqawi, right????

Did you listen to Bush's inaugeration speech? Inspiring wasn't it. I suppose you disagree with that part about us helping anyone that decides they want democracy. Who are WE to tell those dictators that their countrymen deserve to be free when WE are total slaves to the Bushies, RIGHT?

Hi, Winter Patriot -

Good to have you around! I just saw Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now" telecast, one segment of which was devoted to FCC replacements and upcoming projects, INCLUDING federal control of the internet by corporate means.
Oh no...

I hope we're all working on this, trying to get the truth out before it's too late. I think this is urgent.

Hey guys, I have a new theory. Go to the exit poll thread and read my comment #73. What do you think??

Boosterz:

Here, go get an education on Greymatter 1.3 from this web site:

http://noahgrey.com/greysoft/features.shtml

Censoring and IP Banning—For family-oriented sites, Greymatter offers the ability to censor any words or phrases you wish, as well as the ability to ban malicious visitors from voting or posting comments on your site.

And It's Completely Free!—Self-explanatory. =) Donations are always welcome and dearly appreciated, but they aren't required. And unlike some programs, there are no hidden strings whatsoever: you're not even required to display a icon, banner ads, or any other mandatory bit on your site.

http://noahgrey.com/greysoft/features.shtml

Don't call me wrong unless you can support it.

Brad.. you deserve a rest. What you've done here is simply astounding and I doubt anyone is suprised that you need a break.

Thanks for everything you've covered, I've only been reading ya blog for about 4 months... but those 4 months have been interesting to say the least.

Have a safe trip and good luck with the interview, etc.

--

@Peg C... I think it's safe to say p2p networking can ensure the news still gets distributed, even if it can't be fought legally, at least technically.. it's near impossible for them to stop the distribution of information.

Hi Method

I'm putting your comment in my mental "Yes, but..." folder, which itself is filed under "Cynical Scepticism." I think there are lots of things "they" can do that are not dreamt of in our "quaint" philosophy. ))

Oops. Always preview before posting! Make that "Cynical Skepticism!" Sorry about that.

Sons of prominent Milwaukee politicians among those facing felonies

By DERRICK NUNNALLY
dnunnally@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Jan. 24, 2005

Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann announced this morning that five of the seven men arrested in the election-day slashing of Republican vehicles' tires - including the sons of two prominent Milwaukee Democratic politicians - have been charged with felonies and will appear in court this afternoon.

The five who were charged with felony criminal damage to property for slashing 40 tires on 25 vehicles are:

* Michael Pratt, 32, of the 400 block of N. 16th St., Milwaukee. Pratt is the son of former acting mayor Marvin Pratt.

* Sowande A. Omokunde, 25, of the 4000 block of N. 19th Place, Milwaukee. Omokunde is the son of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore.

* Lewis G. Caldwell, 28, of the 2900 block of N. Summit Ave., Milwaukee.

* Lavelle Mohammad, 35, of the 4700 block of W. Lloyd St., Milwaukee.

* Justin Howell, 20, of the 2400 block of N. Olive St., Racine.

The vans had been rented by the state Republican Party to transport voters to the polls on election day Nov. 2.

If convicted, each of the five faces up to a $10,00 fine and up to 3 1/2 years in prison. The crime met the $2,500 damage threshold as a felony because the slashed tires and towing costs totaled more than $5,300, according to the criminal complaint filed today. It says the men were caught after a security guard in the Republican Party headquarters parking lot saw the vandalism and wrote down the license-plate numbers of a fleeing car.

He said the investigation had taken nearly 12 weeks because witnesses had dispersed after the election to states including Georgia, Virginia, Maryland and New York, and FBI investigators were sent to conduct the interviews.

"Lying to an FBI agent is a federal offense," McCann explained.

http://www.jsonline.com/.../295825.asp?format=print

VERY INTERESTING! Some of you challenged me that this EVER happened!

How I long for the day when the worst "election event" was kids out slashing tires.

Kids love if when a big deal is made of it and they are sentenced to death for doing so ... ;-]

Question for Mr. Curtis:

I've been following Clint Curtis' story since it was broken by Wayne Madsen and BradBlog. I recently read Curtis' book as well. Amazing story, that. I'm convinced (as he seems to be) that the more people that know, the safer he is.

But one thing NOT covered in the book was the vote-rigging story. If you can, Brad, ask him why it is that Clint didn't mention that part of the story in his book. Thanks.

Brad:

Please ask Mr. Curtism or investigate yourselfm more about the investigator Lemme with the FDOT. Does his family believe his death to be really suicide? Has there been any more inquiry into the reasons for his death?

If Mr. Curtis is really trying to sell books, your promotion of them on this website has been pretty disgusting. I had totally forgotten that he ever wrote a book until the freeper troll reminded us, but now I think I may be interested. Taco Tom may be the best promoter of the book after all! And Zarqawi --- he may very well be just a fictitious CIA construct to disinform the US citizens and try to give some lame pseudo-justifications for a unjustifiable war of conquest. An Asia Times reporter did an interview with a leader and organizer of the Iraqi insurgents and the interviewee seemed very skeptical whether Zarqawi even exists. Most all of the resistance is home-grown any way. What people would tolerate foreigners coming in to occupy and steal their resources and control their economy without putting up a fight? I certainly would be an insurgent, too, if a ruthless foreign power invaded my country without provocation!

Is the Curtis story all about people trying to help him sell a book, as one poster who disbelieves Curtis suggests?

Why would Brad Friedman---a reporter for the Seminole paper---Curtis' own lawyers---the witness from the Florida DOT---and his other supporters all risk their personal reputations to help a liar sell his book? For a share of dishonest royalties?

The standard author's contract calls for a 10-12% royalty. If Curtis' book were priced at $25 and 5,000 copies were sold (that's a lot), total royalties paid would be maybe $13,000, divided among Curtis and all the people helping him to lie.

No, I don't agree with you. I think Curtis is telling the truth. The fact that Feeney gave Keith Olbermann six warnings in the course of answering seven questions, then stopped answering them, suggests to me that he's a cornered animal at the moment, trying to scare investigators off.

Question for Mr Curtis, I would like to know if He know if there is an FBI investigation going on about the vote rigging. Have a safe trip, I'm sure all the blogaholics will be here when you return waiting for the answers like hungry wolves.

Atty Jim,

I didn't ask for the f.a.q. off that website, I asked you to continue attempting to explain how DNS works and how you are "using different machines" to get around the block. Please continue.

p.s. is it painful being as dumb as you are?

EWASTUD:

Zarqawi does not exist AND I suppose the holocaust never happened either, right?

Yup, Jewish plots.

After all, all the INFORMED lilberals know that the jets that flew into the towers on 9/11 were remotely controlled by the Israeli Mossad, riggghhhhtt?

I guess the CIA also created Zarqawi's extended family in Jordan!

Good grief. Talk about lunacy at its greatest.

Boosterz:

Its called IP address blocking.

You do know that each and every PC has a different IP address and that blocking software can ferret this out, right?

You must also know that there are a large number of anonymizer companies that hide your IP address for a subscription fee.

Example: anonymizer.com

Hey "ATTY TACO" you sure are in a playful mood today. Me to. Note, you impose alot of strange topics. But many you avoid. Gotta thread for ya,"War would end if the dead could return" Stanley Baldwin .So, you ever seen a dead person? Ever seen a child with it't brains splattered on the wall? Ever seen a whole family, indeed a whole town slaughtered?Dead, mudered by your pres. Whatdaya think? Do you like the image? Or do you pretend it's not going on right now? Come on, lets discuss it. Anxiously awaiting your reply.

"Lying to an FBI agent is a federal offense" unless one is a powerful politician from Florida.

Slashing tires should get one put in jail, but slashing democracy then lying about it is orders of magnitude worse.

Adult politicians who take an oath should not be dealt the same punishment as kids who give no public oath.

So whatever happens to the brats being prosecuted by a democratic prosecutor should at least happen to an adult being prosecuted by a republican prosecutor.

As it is the criminal adult is being handled with kids gloves and the kids are being dealt with as if they were adults and had taken an adult oath of office.

If found guilty they should be punished, only not as bad as the adult criminals should be.

Feeney ... would he agree to that?

Nana:

So I guess you have never seen the Saddam torture films have you.

Nor have you spoken with women that were forced to watch their families butchered in front of their eyes by Saddam.

You never spoke with the newly wed woman Uday picked out on the street and raped. Of course you didn't because she committed suicide shortly after that.

Or the families that Saddam billed for the costs of their executions.

No, you only see America as the villain in the world. Somehow in your world, the people that are blowing up civilians with bombs, shooting Iraqi policemen, telling people to blow themselves up because Allah will give them virgins for it, and imprisoning and beating in basements in Fallujah anybody that was even vaguely suspected of helping Iraq become democratic.

Did you know what the Falluja brigade was? It was the brigade that Saddam would use whenever he needed to put down a rebellion. They were vicious, even more vicious than Saddam's relatives in Tikrit, with the last names Al-Tikriti (from Tikrit). The Fallujah brigade would kill anybody, regardless of age or religion, if Saddam ordered it.

No, in your world dictator do nothing wrong, but America is a criminal. Shame on you.

atty jim,

You go off tangent REALLY easy. A.D.D. perhaps?

You said Brad was blocking you by "locking out your DNS" and that if you "log on with a different computer" he has to block that one too. Let's just ignore the obvious question of why in the world someone would drive around town looking for computers they can use to go to a website they hate and get back to that DNS thing. Do you know what DNS is jimbo?

Boosterz: re: DNS

(1) Short for Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they're easier to remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4.
The DNS system is, in fact, its own network. If one DNS server doesn't know how to translate a particular domain name, it asks another one, and so on, until the correct IP address is returned.
____________________

Hope this helps you understand my posts. Feel free to ask again if this is over your head. Note: I have 3 computers; it is not a case of 'driving around", it was a case of Brad blocking each one as I used them with Greymatter 1.3 freeware software.

#24 Peg C, Hope things are getting better after your loss. I also hope I didn't sound too snippy in reply to your perfectly good question about a neutral media channel!
I have been worrying about this too. A friend says the internet would be very difficult to completely control (BUT is already being used to set traps for people). Some form of connection is vital. if the internet is too vulnerable we should develop an alternative, maybe lots of them. What about something so low tech it couldn't be corrupted? Since this is not my field, maybe someone who knows something could offer an opinion. Once we're successfully cut off from each other it will be so difficult to act on anything in unison.

The following is an article written by a friend, who got some of this information from Al Martin raw:

TITLE 4:1;§8(a)U.S.Code. The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

The United Soviet States of America?

Let's continue our tour under the rocks of Bushonian Democracy …

So, where did all these ideas for the Patriot Act come from? If you think that such sweeping legislation certainly could not have been created out of whole cloth in those few weeks following the 9/11 attacks, you’re correct. The Patriot Act (part 1) is actually a conglomeration of the German Homeland Security Acts of 1934 and 1936. “Patriot 2,” which is being put into place piecemeal to keep it from too much scrutiny, is a virtual translation, almost verbatim according to investigator Alexander Martin, of the Soviet Internal Security Enhancement Act of 1965. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security, in order to implement these “enhancements,” has hired three KGB generals (2 of whom are former KGB directors) as security consultants: General Yevgeny Primakov, Genneral Alexander Karpoff, and General Oleg Kalugin.

Primakov, who has a BBC radio program, is receiving $150K/yr of American tax dollars as a homeland security advisor. He has stated publicly that the "Patriot Acts have effectively "out-Sovieted" the old Soviet Union," referring to sections which establish “internal passports” (the NICA program for a national ID card) and so-called "internal deportation" to federal lands within the US: in Primakov's words, "the creation of an American Gulag." According to Primakov, “when the NICA (National Identity Card Act) gets passed, the Posse Comitatus Act gets overturned, a few other pieces of legislation yet to be proffered get passed, the White House will have more control over the American people than the Kremlin had over the Russian people when Stalin was alive.” He said that and then he laughed.

Provisions of “Patriot 2” have already been passed into law as amendments and riders on other pieces of legislation such as the 2004 intelligence appropriation bill and the national intelligence bill. The remaining pieces will be attached to the $80B supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan, scheduled for a vote on February 3.

Later, “Patriot III,” to be introduced in the form of an omnibus spending act, will contain the authority to overturn Posse Comitatus and appropriations to fund all of the various agencies etc. that can be funded after Posse Comitatus is overturned. It also contained, up until a few months ago, the $4.8Bil to begin the NICA program but De Lay, Baker and Burton snuck it into the National Intelligence Bill. Thus, funding of NICA will begin on February 18 and the program will formally commence. All citizens will be required to carry your NICA card at all time on public property or private property you do not own. Failure to have you card on your person, "failure to proffer said to any recognized or authorized agent of the State" will result in an automatic, mandatory, non-appealable, 6 month term of incarceration.

The ACLU was unsuccessful in their Supreme Court challenge of section 802 of the Patriot Act. According to that section, terrorism may be "any act of sedition committed by a citizen against the regime or against the state." Section 432 of the National Security Act of 1949/50 was also recently “strengthened” to state that it is an "act of treason for a citizen to reveal their knowledge of any criminal act being committed by their government, if said revelation should be deemed by the Attorney General to be contrary to the security of the state or the domestic tranquility of the people."

So, currently it is up to the oil-anointed John Ashcroft, who a few years ago spent $76,000 at a London auction for Deputy Reichfuehrer Hermann Goering's dress uniform, to decide if a government whistleblower is committing treason. And soon that will pass to Alberto Gonzales of torture memo fame. Hard to say which is more toxic.

We hear from those on the right that security is so critically important in the aftermath of 9/11 that we must relinquish a tiny bit of liberty to achieve it. But this is part of the same old lie. History tells us there have always been those of the fervent right, the merchants of fear and ignorance and intolerance, who aim to expand the power of the State and decrease the power of the People. But, as Benjamin Franklin wrote in a 1787 letter to Thomas Jefferson, “those citizens, who would sacrifice their liberties for a little security, deserve neither.”

Atty Jimbo

Took you a while to look that up. Since you've looked that up and cut/pasted it here does your original post sound a little silly now? It's not possible to "block your DNS". It IS possible to block an IP, a domain, or a range of IPs. Saying that he blocked your DNS is like saying you are going to your mail box to check for the post office. Rather silly. Mistakes like that happen a lot when non-technical people try and sound technical.

Now then, you say you have 3 computers and brad had to "block each one". Um, you ARE using AOL correct? It IS dialup correct? If so, are you familar with the terms "static" and "dynamic"?

p.s. I work in corporate IT, so don't worry about me. I won't get over my head.

Bluebird:

Can you give me a single example of the misuse of the Patriot Act? Just a SINGLE one?

I didn't think so.

Re #41:

According to Atty Jimmo...

"(1) Short for Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they're easier to remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4.
The DNS system is, in fact, its own network. If one DNS server doesn't know how to translate a particular domain name, it asks another one, and so on, until the correct IP address is returned."

And according to the Webopedia (here)...

"(1) Short for Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they're easier to remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4.

The DNS system is, in fact, its own network. If one DNS server doesn't know how to translate a particular domain name, it asks another one, and so on, until the correct IP address is returned. "

So I was right all along! He's a parrot. But he's a nervy one! He's even got enough nerve to say "Feel free to ask again if this is over your head."

ROTFL, Parrot Jimmo. LOL all over the place!

With protestors and critics of the govt. is being strategically shut down whom are we trying to teach "freedom & liberty"? Can anyone tell me if the word "hypocrisy" has been taken off the American dictionary?

Boosterz:

Well good for you.

You have knowledge of technology.

It makes you feel superior.

Are you German by chance?

Yep, slashing tires is definitely more harmful to democracy that *stealing elections*. Funny it took nearly three months to come up with that ONE story and there have been DAILY stories (well, not in the mainstream media so it must not be true) about the bizarre events in this election.

Jimbo #39 - go ahead, be brave. Answer Nana.

"So I guess you have never seen the Saddam torture films have you."

Have you seen the torture photos from Abu Ghraib? Remember hearing about the Brits torture photos as well? And those are just the ones we know about. The tip of the iceberg...

"Nor have you spoken with women that were forced to watch their families butchered in front of their eyes by Saddam."

Read the news lately? I believe the latest story regards 6 children and the murder of their parents in front of their eyes. Seen the picture of that little girl covered in her parent's blood? Yup, she’s definitely a murdering terrorist.

"You never spoke with the newly wed woman Uday picked out on the street and raped. Of course you didn't because she committed suicide shortly after that."

Didja talk to Selwa? You know Selwa. She’s the 55 year old wife and mother whom the American soldiers broke into her house, stole all her savings and terrified her children and grandchildren. They took her away in flexicuffs when they left and threw her into a detention facility in Tikrit with approx. 700 male Iraqi prisoners where soldiers and guards forced her and the other prisoners to crouch on the ground with their arms above their heads in 100 degree weather.

Yeah you remember Selwa, don’t you Jim? She’s the one that was put on “shit and piss” detail. You know, when a mixture of human feces and urine is put in a metal container and lit on fire to get rid of it. It needs stirring with a heavy club. Did I mention that Selwa is 55? She became tired and said she couldn’t do it anymore. The sergeant came up to her and whispered in her ear that if she didn’t, he would tell one of his soldiers to fuck her.

“Or the families that Saddam billed for the costs of their executions.”

At least Saddam kept track of who he executed. Wasn’t it the one and only Donny Rumsfeld who said early on in the invasion, “We don’t do body counts”? How many families in Iraq have just lost members with no idea where they are? How many families have just disappeared?

“No, in your world dictator do nothing wrong, but America is a criminal. Shame on you.”

No one ever said that Saddam didn’t do anything wrong. However, he was put and kept in power by the American government. America is a criminal for starting a war without provocation and invading and destroying a country based on LIES!

God you’re ignorant!! Why don’t you go play with your own kind?

Atty Jimmo:

Atty Jim: "Well good for you."

Very good for me, thank you. =)

Atty Jim: "You have knowledge of technology."

Yeppers, quite a bit matter of fact.

Atty Jim: "It makes you feel superior."

Not really, it DOES make it easier for me to spot wannabes though.

Atty Jim: "Are you German by chance?"

I thought the standard reply to losing was for you guys to start calling the other person a "liberal" or a "commie"? Where'd German come from?

BTW, you went off tangent again. You need ritalin.
Back to those computers of yours, what kind of internet access did you say you had?

ATTY TACO, wow, I'm impressed, but I want to talk about war.You and I understand war, gota scramble a few eggs to make an omelet, right? Sure. Saddam is in jail now, in case you don't know. However, we got 60-70 other dictators around the world as bad as him, what, they got no oil? Is that why we don't take em out?So let me get this straight, Saddam was mean, killed and murdered his own people, so... no does not compute. Tell ya what, I'll come over to your side, yep, just like in the JFK days. Just do one little thing for me, right here type "My president has killed over 100,000 innocent unarmed men, women and children in Iraq, for nuthin. Come on, it's easy. It's so simple, just like you. Hey, don't be so sensitive, right, they're not Americans, right?

Taco Jimmo - I wouldn't take on Winter Patriot if I were you. You lose.

And don't worry Winter Patriot, I won't let him waste my time.

Too bad, Jimmo. You are entitled to your opinions, but because Saddam was evil, and murdered innocent people to protect his own interests, does not give you or DUMYA or anyone the right to murder innocent people in order to end Saddam's regime. There were always other ways to end his tyranny without becoming a murderer also. You and DUMYA have become even worse than Saddam, because you live in America and should know this behaviour is wrong.

re #43:
Good one, Boosterz:
How did you know Parrot Jim had pasted that definition of DNS?
Here's how I knew he couldn't possibly have written it himself:
[1] All the words were spelled correctly.
[2] All the sentences were well-formed.
[3] It was all true.

Winter Patriot,

He forgot to take the (1) off the front too.

I knew he was throwing out techno-speak trying to make it sound like he had some idea what he was talking about. I knew he had no idea what it was and would HAVE to look it up.

Thank you for #48 Cheryl.

LOL @ #53, Boosterz.

Cheers to Cheryl and Nana for #48 and #50, respectively.

And here's a link for Taco Parrot : dictionary.com's definition of Plagiarize

Nice try on that virus today but I never opened it.

I don't think any impartial person would doubt that today I won ALL the DEBATES!

thank you thank you thank you.

It really was nothing. I just used facts and experience to overwhelm my adversaries.

Welcome to those that have come over to the light of the republican party. I enjoy hearing from you.

Re #44
I can give you several examples of misuses of the Patriot Act, parrot boy.

1. "The Justice Department said it has used authority given to it by the PATRIOT Act to crack down on currency smugglers and seize money hidden overseas by alleged bookies, con artists and drug dealers."

2. "Federal prosecutors used the act in June to file a charge of "terrorism using a weapon of mass destruction" against a California man after a pipe bomb exploded in his lap, wounding him as he sat in his car."

3. "A North Carolina county prosecutor charged a man accused of running a methamphetamine lab with breaking a new state law barring the manufacture of chemical weapons. If convicted, Martin Dwayne Miller could get 12 years to life in prison for a crime that usually brings about six months."

4. "In one case this year, investigators used a provision of the PATRIOT Act to recover $4.5 million from a group of telemarketers accused of tricking elderly U.S. citizens into thinking they had won the Canadian lottery. Prosecutors said the defendants told victims they would receive their prize as soon as they paid thousands of dollars in income tax on their winnings.

Before the anti-terrorism act, U.S. officials would have had to use international treaties and appeal for help from foreign governments to retrieve the cash, deposited in banks in Jordan and Israel. Now, they simply seized it from assets held by those banks in the United States."

Daily Texan Jan/05

5. "A New Jersey miracle man has been charged under the Patriot Act for allegedly shining a laser into two pilots' eyes.
"We are not saying this is a grand terrorist incident," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie told the New York Post. "We have to send a clear message to the public - no matter what the intent was."
6. "Elsewhere, gang members are also being charged under the Patriot Act. Don't plenty of laws already exist for sentencing thugs and murderers?"

The Register

And finally from Faux News.....

7. "Former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., who voted for the bill, but has since voiced his concerns of the law, said he wasn't surprised, but disappointed to hear reports earlier this month that FBI agents investigating two strip club owners in Las Vegas on bribery charges bypassed a grand jury and instead used the Patriot Act to subpoena the financial records of the bar owners as well as several prominent city and county officials.
"The administration presented the Patriot Act to the Congress two years ago as a carefully tailored and limited piece of legislation specific to targeting terrorism. And now they're using it for purposes that are obviously and completely unrelated to terrorism," Barr told Foxnews.com."

Is that enough for ya baby? Cause I can give you more.

Oh, dear. He's talking to himself again.

#55, LOL Winter Patriot!

I try to keep up with all of you but it's not easy! There are so many horrible things to learn and so little time!

This is a quote from Al Martin. I'll find his proper address and post it after the quote.

"Bills to overturn posse commitatus and to fund NICA, will be included in the Patriot III Act which will fund the CDF (civilian defense force) and to "para-militarize" the NWA (Neighborhood Watch Associations) for the purpose of domestic intelligence gathering on US citizens so that a data base for the Office of Internal Security (OIS)......"

This bill should be passed at the end of the year.

I'm sure all of you know this but for newcomers like myself: NICA refers to the National Identification Card we'll all have to carry when we're on public property or on private property not our own. If you're stopped without it you go to jail for a mandatory six month sentence. No appeal.

It sounds like in a year that neighbor you never got along with could be snooping around your house with a gloating smirk and an assault rifle. Tell me I'm wrong. Please.

This thread is so damn funny. I've been laughing sinci I started reading it. Taco Troll can't begin to fathom superior minds. He gets caught in every lie. LOL

regarding # 59

www.almartinraw.com If you add : NICA, the article will be the first or second entry. I applaud the butt kicking abilities of nice Canadians!

Trolls believe the admin no matter what lies are told, and we do not..

Torture to trolls is something other nations do because they do not have the intellectual honesty or ability to contemplate the reality.

The military is putting american soldiers in prison for torture. Because they are enemies of the soldiers?

We can argue whether this is PR or not, but we cannot argue that america is now known as the most famous torture nation on earth right now.

Trolls are not a credible source at this time. Thats all.

Re: USA"PATRIOT" Act. There are gag provisions all through the thing. If the feds pulled your medical, library, bank, or other records and did anything they wanted with them, who would know? It's illegal for your doctor, banker, librarian to tell anyone.

So, in addition to Cheryl's examples, there are big gaps in reporting built right into the law, so the question of the extent of abuse cannot be answered. From the sleazy, pathologically dishonest nature of the current administration we can certainly assume there as been considerable abuse unreported. But the law would be foolishly dangerous in the hands of any administration.

The real issue is the purpose and spirit of the Bill of Rights - and the absurdity of saying that, in particular, the executive branch of the government will be the authority for when it is in effect and when it is not. That is truly absurd, completely un-American, and more than any other issue shows the phony "patriotism" of this bunch of greedy criminals.

Winter Patriot -
Been reading George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography (bushbook.zip).

Although it's written with intent to discredit, this book is loaded with documented facts. Thanks for the tip!!

I just bought a book on ADD for Jimmo. I need an address to send it to.

It's "The American Attention Defecit Disorder Society's Big Book Of Hey Let's Go Ride Our Bikes". revised for 2005. I think he'll like the first three pages.

Cheryl: I asked for misuses and you gave me the followng examples. They all look to me like we caught some criminals. Are you telling me each and every one of these two bit criminals never deserved to be caught and somehow the Patriot Act permitted our Government to act badly? GOOD GRIEF! these were bad people and the Patriot Act caught them in the act! I asked for examples of MISUSE!!!!

I can give you several examples of misuses of the Patriot Act, parrot boy.

1. "The Justice Department said it has used authority given to it by the PATRIOT Act to crack down on currency smugglers and seize money hidden overseas by alleged bookies, con artists and drug dealers."

2. "Federal prosecutors used the act in June to file a charge of "terrorism using a weapon of mass destruction" against a California man after a pipe bomb exploded in his lap, wounding him as he sat in his car."

3. "A North Carolina county prosecutor charged a man accused of running a methamphetamine lab with breaking a new state law barring the manufacture of chemical weapons. If convicted, Martin Dwayne Miller could get 12 years to life in prison for a crime that usually brings about six months."

4. "In one case this year, investigators used a provision of the PATRIOT Act to recover $4.5 million from a group of telemarketers accused of tricking elderly U.S. citizens into thinking they had won the Canadian lottery. Prosecutors said the defendants told victims they would receive their prize as soon as they paid thousands of dollars in income tax on their winnings.

Boortz: don't send me any more viruses.

This comment harks back to #42, bluebird.

Bluebird, Amy Goodman reported that control and access would be via the telephone, telecom, satellite, etc. corporations that provide internet service. It seemed to be a serious and immediate concern, since she implied that freedom of access itself would be curtailed, based upon content. I think that I would, quite literally, DIE if I were to be cut off from all of you. There wouldn't, in the final analysis be much of beauty and value and goodness left to live FOR.

Why do we have to spell everything out in the simplest language for you Taco Tom, or Atty. Jim or whoevever you are?

The Patriot Act was created to catch "terrorists" not criminals.

You have criminal laws for that. And you call yourself an attorney. For shame. I won't be calling you if I need one.

I've read contradictory things about the National Identity Card. Could someone please give me the url of an AUTHORITATIVE website to clarify whether or not the establishment of NICA is a done deal; and if it is, when everyone will be required to carry one.

Thanks

CD #20 - Great comment about China/Yang/Nasa! The reason there are plenty of strange things going on at NASA is because NASA is being taken over by the Pentagon to prepare for STAR WARS! Space based missile launchers, weapons systems, and fighter/military spaceships have been in the works for years. NASA always carried military satellites and cargo, but with advanced technology we're now on the verge of transitioning NASA from a science/exploration center to a universal strategic military/war service system. Plans for going to Mars will become "quaint" distractions from reality.

Speaking of technology, I wrote last night about the Pentagon sending new ARMY KILL ROBOTS to Iraq, which gives a glimpse into our future!

Exactly what the Bush agenda is with China is unclear, but Microsoft's Gates is building a University in China and Wal-Mart is finally going home and opening stores throughout China...you know TACO JIM...that land of the free and home of the brave your freedom loving President adores!

Peg C #24 - Control of the Internet is a top priority of the government. Again, controlling the Internet under the guise of homeland security, but in fact getting ready to regulate and suppress dissent in America. Under FEMA orders, the government plans to be in a position to shut down the Internet completely in a so-called "crisis" as they would all other forms of communication, including major newspapers, radio, television, internet, telephones, cell phones, and more. They would all then be turned back on under strict government control and supervision. If you read up on FEMA plans and connect the dots with Homeland Security, Domestic Military & Intelligence preparedness, and the future use of Patriot Act provisions...look out...the fuzzy picture begins to clarify.

TACO JIM #39/#41 - are those the 3 computers in your office at Homeland Security? CIA? Republican-owned private intelligence contractor? Pentagon?
LOL...go eat some Tacos! And as far as your tears for the Iraqi people, where were you, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condi Rice, Paul Wolfowitz and GW & his DADDY, when Saddam and his sons were torturing, gassing, massacring, and raping? SILENT ALLIES TO SADDAM HUSSEIN'S CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY & WAR CRIMES!!!!!

You right-wing REPUBS are such phony hypocrites! Is it any wonder that after helping cover-up Saddam's war crimes, that the Bush Cabal war crimes and crimes against humanity are cloaked in flowery pro-democracy freedom loving rhetoric to conceal oil and gas and war profiteering agendas that maimed and murdered hundreds of thousands of human beings. GEORGE BUSH & COMPANY are WAR CRIMINALS & MASS MURDERERS!

Blubird #42 - Excellent comments and read about Homeland Security and the Patriot Act. TACO JIM tries to assure us there are no abuses of the act, which has already been addressed. But the Patriot Act is not about present terrorism, it is about controlling dissent in the future under plans being pprepared in conjunction with Homeland Security, CIA, the Pentagon, Justice Department, FBI, and FEMA to prepare for American population control. This will include maintaining data bases on key dissenters, including yours truly, whenever it becomes necessary to force the American people under government submission, control all forms of communication, and distribute disinformation and psy ops operations against the people.

This will also include capturing and detaining key dissenters to be held in newly expanded military detention facilities in Cuba and American military bases. Such detainees will be stripped of all rights and communications, even with family and lawyers. Such dissenters will be conveniently labeled as "terrorists" and "traitors" following a concocted government induced national crisis that will be far greater than 9/11...an experimental test run?

No, I'm not paranoid...just prepared!

To the rest of my friends here...if I failed to mention you, I did read your items and enjoyed the thread! Keep blogging & evolving!

Viva la Revolucion!

Freebird...and this bird you cannot chain...

Hi NoName,
I'm not sure that it is a done deal. At least it's not in Canada. There has been much discussion but that's where it is now. As far as I understand it's the same in the US.

#67, Peg C, It would be the worst thing wouldn't it? It would cut off hope and community. We'll have to find some way around the bastards. I really know how you feel.

#59, This is my entry and I misquoted, Sorry!. This is a quote from an unknown source. They were referencing Al Martin's site which I provided in #61. When you add: NICA , you get the article I quoted, with the address: www.apfn.net/messageboar...scussion.cgi.66.html-8kA

About the statement in #59 that part III of the Patriot Act would pass at the end of this year. In another source, #42 above, written by my friend, funding , at least for NICA, would begin Feb. 18.

If anyone has accurate, up to date information about Patriot III Act, and NICA please let us know.

Does anyone have enough computer background to know how vulnerable the internet is to control?

#70 Freebird, Thanks for your info about the internet. I thought several years back there was talk of some kind of control but at that point it was thought to be too difficult. Do you know what has changed?

Bluebird -

Yes indeed. "Grief" would be drastic understatement. "Claustrophobic terror" might begin to describe even the prospect of such an inhibition of our need to communicate and connect.

The reason I'm back here and not in bed after an exhausting four days is that, while getting ready for bed after reading this thread, I had a possible illumination! Does anyone know whether Tom Feeney has a pre-adolescent son (or even nephew)? Certain postings at this site have the flavor of "musings" by someone of that age and position vis a vis this site in particular. Hmmmm...

Hey Jimmo, you forgot to tell me what kind of internet access you had and whether or not you know what static and dynamic are. Alzheimers? Or is that A.D.D. acting up again?

Nice trick btw, declaring yourself the "winner of all debates"(there was a debate?). Be nice if reality was actually that simple wouldn't it? Just decalre yourself the winner no matter what the evidence says. Kinda makes you sound like a republican running for office...or perhaps a 12 year old who's gone off his meds.

Boosterz, I think Taco Troll learned declaring himself a winner from his Idol, GEEDUMYA. You guys are on a roll tonight.

Atty Jim: "Nice try on that virus today but I never opened it."

sarcasm
What poor virus could withstand your technical prowess?
/sarcasm

Atty Jim: "I don't think any impartial person would doubt that today I won ALL the DEBATES!"

In Jimmo's world impartial means "vegatative"

atty jim: "thank you thank you thank you."

Try and pretend that we're laughing with you and not at you. It won't sting so bad then.

Atty Jim: "It really was nothing. I just used facts and experience to overwhelm my adversaries."

The first sentence is 100% right.

atty jim:"Welcome to those that have come over to the light of the republican party. I enjoy hearing from you."

You should be glad that joining a political party dosen't require any kind of test or that the other members can't "vote you off the island". If either were true, you'd be a registered independent till the day you die...

Dear Banana Bill, Fruity Fred, Taco Tom, Lawyer Larry, Robert Frost, whatever your name might be.
You haven't really gotten rid of Saddam Hussein. You see, G. W. Bush overthrew Saddam by becoming more like Saddam. Saddam is still in power. Only now, his name is G.W. Bush. You know those Saddam loyalists who could see no wrong with Saddam? Well, that's you.
Saddam loyalist=Bush loyalist.
As far as people slashing tires, hey, punish them if they're guilty. We shouldn't beat the Republicans by being more like them(Felon conviction list, Florida 2000). But I read your article. The Feds are looking at this as a tire slashing incident because the monetary damage exceeded $2500. That's it. There's no mention that those at the hotel didn't eventually get to vote anyway. In the end, you might find a bunch of kids guilty of hardly putting a dent in the election the way voting machines and partisan state officials can.
By the way, here are more names I think you might like to use. Pizza Pauly, Haagen Daas Herbert, Stenographer Stan, Judge Jude, Otto Dude, Tom Weeney.
And remember. If you like gay orgies, then vote Republican. The "family values" Republicans endorse gay orgies.

Brad, please ask Clint the likelihood of Henry Nee corroborating his story. I'm not certain, but I think there was a husband and wife couple who were sentenced to death for treason. There are definitely people who have scratched Henry's back for him. Has he tried to persuade the better half of Henry Nee to come out?

#74, Peg C. mmmmmyes I think you're on to something with your son of a Feeney comment!
About that claustrophobic terror, I'm with you and would add "panic". One of the things I truly fear is the total lack of humor or imagination in Bushworld. The fact that truly amazing absurdities can be acted out with such grim resolve gives me a really bad feeling. If it were a movie we'd say the satire was campy and over the top. If it were a movie we could turn it off. Go get some rest, Bluebird will sing you to sleep.

Bluebird #73 - I do know former CIA Director George Tenet has been an advocate of the need to "control" the Internet! And that the CIA, FBI, and Pentagon, and probably Homeland Security and NSA too, are all involved in Internet monitoring and data collection. I'll let you consider what Mr. Tenet actually means by the word "control?

I am not a techie, but my rough understanding is that they will buy up all the server companies and consolidate or regulate them through some law, probably Patriot Act IV or new FCC regulations. Let's not forget how mainstream media and corporate communications systems are already doing just that...heck the Saudi's have an interest in AOL, your phone and cable companies are providing computer access, and plenty of smaller server networks are being consolidated into larger ones.

But while they may find it necessary to control or regulate the Internet in order to temporarily disrupt for crisis or propaganda purposes, they may not necessarily wan't people to stop talking because they don't want to stop listening. Afterall, look how easy it is to just sit there and listen right now! Hi all!

But then again, the Internet is also a great tool for hackers and others to cause problems for the government too. It's sort of like one giant global video game that has unknown variables and uses that governments want to be able to control or regulate, especially to protect their fascist or corrupt interests. And such governments like to manage those variables. So if corporate America is serious about buying up traditional media for message control and to use as a public deception service, then having an off message system like the Internet is a threat to their quest for total information management.

I remember a film by John Carpenter about ten years ago that never got much press or publicity (Hmmm? I wonder why?), but it was about how mass media was brought under total information control in order to keep people compliant through the use of subliminal messaging by an alien force seeking global control (Bush & Company...LOL). I think it was called "THEM" and sort of a quirky sci-fi, but made you think! Check it out some time!

Which returns me to a point I made some time ago. We should not rely on the internet as the sole source of communication and information. Face to face grass-roots networking and hardcopy information distribution must also be included in any effective organized resistance movement. I use carrier pigeons!

Finally, I would just like to quickly add that the Patriot Act is basically allowing Congress to very subtlely amend the Constitution without going through a highly publicized and critical amendment process. My greatest concern is not that they are going to do away with the Constitution, but they are engaged in a very deliberate unconstitutional process of weakening if not close to eliminating some of the most important provisions of the Bill of Rights...including right to counsel...right to speedy trial...right against unlawful searches and seizures (the most critical)...right against self-incrimination..right to a writ of habeas corpus, etc.

In other words, some of the greatest and most important fundamental rights you have in order to protect yourself against fascism and tyranny. The Founding Fathers are puking in their graves at the Patriot Act. Oh those Republicans, they've really got their statute naming skills down..."PATRIOT" Act my ass!

Once these very basic rights are weakened or lost, then the government will have police state powers similar to Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Which is why I found Bluebirds contribution so valuable, because it speaks to how foreigners who worked under dictatorial regimes are being brought in by supposedly "your" government to advise on how to destroy "your" rights. That, my friends, is called TREASON!

But don't worry, our upcoming Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, will advise that some of these Bill of Rights are simply "outdated" and "quaint" legal provisions, no longer necessary in our new world order environment of global (corporate royalty concocted) terrorism. Killer robots, information management, and a worthless constitutional paper tiger! What fun!

Viva la Revolucion!

Freebird

Hi all ( and bluebird #80)-

Couldn't sleep. Did anyone watch the Condi hearings last Wednesday? Who besides we, who stared at each other in disbelief, shock and awe, heard our next Secy. of State tell her grillers that Saddam Hussein was "cavorting" with our enemy Osama bin Laden?

[This is off-thread, I know, but that's the nature of the BradBeast. )]

Guess who. When we tuned in to Comedy Central Thursday, at 7 P.M. (EST), to see Jon Stewart's
repeat telecast, we were overwhelmed and delighted to hear HIM jumping on this amazing misspeak by the resident minority genious in the WH.

The picture is a little too disgusting to rest long upon, isn't it. Saddam and Osama "gyring and gimboling" in the wabe?!

Sweet dreams, all. I love you.

One last thing.

Hi Freebird. You popped up between my exiting to compose and my posting. Thank you for corroborating the threat. I've been sweating constantly with the necessity of presenting my suspicions without appearing overly paranoid. And...I want everyone here to be on the qui vivre, know what our urgency is about, and that it IS an urgent urgency.

Bonne nuit, tout le monde (it's that "qui vivre" thing above).

# 81, Freebird, I will pass your positive comment on to my friend who wrote the article. My friend sent me the texts of pamphlets that were written by the White Rose Society in Nazi Germany. They described how people grew used to the government taking them by surprise with increasingly extreme legislation. But it was never extreme enough to make people run out and riot in the streets, it occured in small increments. It made people uneasy, but not uneasy enough to act. Then, one day, it was too late. All the machinery was in place.
This is exactly what's happening here. The Bush administration refuses to allow access to information about dangerous bills it wishes to put through, it sneaks them through at 1:30 AM, it sticks bits of them at the hind end of much larger bills. It gnaws at the Constitution and Bill of Rights like a rat. They are doing it bit by bit. The traitor press helps them do it.
I agree about alternative methods of communication. If this blog shuts down right now, we won't be able to connect. If something would happen to our email addresses (I don't know if this is possible), Brad couldn't connect us. We can work in our communties, but we also need ties that span the country. Because we need to make a very big noise. Thanks for all the info. Goodnight Freebird.

Oh. YES!

Bluebird, Freebird, Winter Patriot, Peggy, Teresa, Cheryl...and on and on and on -

Keep it up, intensively, as long and as hard as you can. We've GOT to stop this nihilistic goosestep towards destruction and oblivion.

Re Peg C comment #82:

I must have lost a day this week. "Wednesday" should read "Tuesday" and "Thursday," "Wednesday."

Good overview, Arry.

These people are really archaic, using all the old techniques in a game they probably are not good at. The collective has changed, and they haven't. They are not savvy in the new ways to really connect and therefore manipulate the populace. Some of the ones that are can issue a request in cyberspace and get massive response in a day. Senator Boxer, for example, felt the swell of an army behind her immediately. It blew her mind. These fools are much clumsier and slower. I know they would love to use all that brute force....all that primitive club banging... and that George salivates at the thought of instituting martial law, but even if by some quirk of fate it happened, I think it would be short-lived.
It all seems so phony to me. A big game. It's all fun and games for all the politicians. The wars, torture, games of intrigue, and everything else have always been going on. It's just more out in the open now.

It's all disconnected . Their game doesn't fit the reality of our society. This is not prewar Germany, nor is it like Russia. They are doing all the things according to the books, but can it really work?
This is a huge experiment for them, and their lack of experience is to our benefit.

Things are never what they appear to be. All the Acts, the wars, the controls, and all other details mask a big picture.

I don't know what it is, but the jury, for me, is still out. Stealing an entire country's freedom is a daunting task.

Plus, I still think there are some powers mocking them, and watching them hurtle toward humiliation and defeat.

Bush won - get over it.
Even HILLARY is MOVING TO THE CENTER!

On another note: Yesterday's hot media topic was the Washington Post report regarding the super secret "SSB" under the control of the evil Donald Rumsfield and the "fact" that nobody in congress authorized this.

Today's much cooler media topic is that the super secret "SSB" was fully authorized by Congress; the Washington Post just forgot to tell them it was the same people but they got the name wrong.

I heard Mark Dayton ranting & raving on the Ed Schultz show about the super secret SSB with Ed eating it all up. OOPS Mark!

YOU & others in Congress authorized it and were present when it was discussed!

OOPS.

Hey jimbo, you forgot to answer my question.
scroll back up to #75.

Hey jimbo, you forgot to respond to my comment. scroll back up to #68. It's awfully hard to have an intelligent discussion with someone who throws out stupid observations and then won't respond to the answer. My DOG does a better job of debating.

(Jimbo's definition of debate: make a stupid comment-wait for response-ignore response-declare yourself winner)

Well, if you follow neo-con doctrine (as the aforementioned witless wonder apparently does) winning anything is easy - you just change the outcome to suit your purpose.

So far I have yet to see him present any compelling evidence for anything except his own idiocy (sorry, cut/paste "skills" don't count). Proof (if any were needed) that the American school system is failing it's pupils - still, if he didn't have to go off and do his homework, we'd all hear even more of his drivel.

Vive le revolution de velours!

PS. Jerkoff Jimmo, that's french for "Live the velvet revolution" - as your grasp of English is poor at best, I figured that you'd appreciate some help with the even harder stuff.

You're welcome.

Cheryl: Dem Senator Joe Biden & I disagree with you on the Patriot Act & how it is used:

As Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) explained during the floor debate about the Act, “the FBI could get a wiretap to investigate the mafia, but they could not get one to investigate terrorists. To put it bluntly, that was crazy! What’s good for the mob should be good for terrorists.” (Cong. Rec., 10/25/01)

Allows law enforcement to use surveillance against more crimes of terror. Before the Patriot Act, courts could permit law enforcement to conduct electronic surveillance to investigate many ordinary, non-terrorism crimes, such as drug crimes, mail fraud, and passport fraud. Agents also could obtain wiretaps to investigate some, but not all, of the crimes that terrorists often commit. The Act enabled investigators to gather information when looking into the full range of terrorism-related crimes, including: chemical-weapons offenses, the use of weapons of mass destruction, killing Americans abroad, and terrorism financing.

Allows federal agents to follow sophisticated terrorists trained to evade detection. For years, law enforcement has been able to use “roving wiretaps” to investigate ordinary crimes, including drug offenses and racketeering. A roving wiretap can be authorized by a federal judge to apply to a particular suspect, rather than a particular phone or communications device. Because international terrorists are sophisticated and trained to thwart surveillance by rapidly changing locations and communication devices such as cell phones, the Act authorized agents to seek court permission to use the same techniques in national security investigations to track terrorists.

Allows law enforcement to conduct investigations without tipping off terrorists. In some cases if criminals are tipped off too early to an investigation, they might flee, destroy evidence, intimidate or kill witnesses, cut off contact with associates, or take other action to evade arrest. Therefore, federal courts in narrow circumstances long have allowed law enforcement to delay for a limited time when the subject is told that a judicially-approved search warrant has been executed. Notice is always provided, but the reasonable delay gives law enforcement time to identify the criminal’s associates, eliminate immediate threats to our communities, and coordinate the arrests of multiple individuals without tipping them off beforehand. These delayed notification search warrants have been used for decades, have proven crucial in drug and organized crime cases, and have been upheld by courts as fully constitutional.

Allows federal agents to ask a court for an order to obtain business records in national security terrorism cases. Examining business records often provides the key that investigators are looking for to solve a wide range of crimes. Investigators might seek select records from hardware stores or chemical plants, for example, to find out who bought materials to make a bomb, or bank records to see who’s sending money to terrorists. Law enforcement authorities have always been able to obtain business records in criminal cases through grand jury subpoenas, and continue to do so in national security cases where appropriate. These records were sought in criminal cases such as the investigation of the Zodiac gunman, where police suspected the gunman was inspired by a Scottish occult poet, and wanted to learn who had checked the poet’s books out of the library. In national security cases where use of the grand jury process was not appropriate, investigators previously had limited tools at their disposal to obtain certain business records. Under the Patriot Act, the government can now ask a federal court (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court), if needed to aid an investigation, to order production of the same type of records available through grand jury subpoenas. This federal court, however, can issue these orders only after the government demonstrates the records concerned are sought for an authorized investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a U.S. person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a U.S. person is not conducted solely on the basis of activities protected by the First Amendment.

MORE INFO ON THE ACT IS AT:

http://www.lifeandliberty.gov/

Senator McCain was right to press the department of defense as to its rogue spy notions.

The conservative still has his wits about him and is becoming disconcerted about Donny the Rummy.

Republican McCain has said publicly that he has no confidence in him.

But Donny the Rummy has way to much on the Bushit boys and he is one guy who will spill the beans if they want to play hard ball.

Karly the Rover is thinking of suing Donny the Rummy for plagarism, advancing the notion that he Karly the Rover is the only one in the admin that should have the OOBS (office of back stabbing).

Donny the Rummy told him to "turn around" ... to which the cunning savage Karly the Rover, as he backed to the door, said "this ain't supposed to happen".

Taco (#94),

From #66-"Cheryl: I asked for misuses and you gave me the followng examples. They all look to me like we caught some criminals. Are you telling me each and every one of these two bit criminals never deserved to be caught and somehow the Patriot Act permitted our Government to act badly? GOOD GRIEF! these were bad people and the Patriot Act caught them in the act! I asked for examples of MISUSE!!!!"

Jeez, you're getting boring. Did you notice that the first line of every one of your paragraphs reminds you that the Act was designed to deal with "terrorists", not criminals?

Here is the final version of your enrolled Bill as passed by both Houses:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cg...ery/z?c107:H.R.3162.ENR:

NOTE THE TITLE:

H.R.3162
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate)

#94-"Cheryl: Dem Senator Joe Biden & I disagree with you on the Patriot Act & how it is used:"

Also, buddy boy, two can play at the he said, she said game. Here are some quotes from one of your Repugs, who actually voted for the Patriot Act.

Bob Barr, former Republican member of Congress ("Subpoena plan stirs alarm," Atlanta Journal Constitution, 9/26/2003)
[On the President’s request to give law enforcement administrative subpoenas]:
"This moves us in the direction of the executive law enforcement power extending to the point where they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want to do it… All in the name of fighting terrorism."

Bob Barr, former Republican member of Congress ("GOP Calls for Wider Powers to Track Citizens," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 4/11/2003)
"Already, government investigative powers have been dramatically expanded. Already, intelligence is working under the flawed premise that to get the bad guys you need to spy unmercifully on the good guys."

Bob Barr, former Republican Member of Congress, ("Ashcroft wants even more," The News & Observer, 2/20/2003)
The proposed legislation seeks "all sorts of powers far beyond what any normal person would deem necessary to fight terrorists acts."

And from Faux News, Dec. 20/04
"Congress really intended for these to be extraordinary powers — not for the government to use them in non-extraordinary criminal cases — I think it's contrary to the intent of Congress," said Barr.”

Hey everyone else! It sure is obvious when Taco boy cuts and pastes, isn't it? It's the only time that he can put together a sentence, complete with punctuation and no spelling errors. Boy, did his parents waste their money on his education.

Sorry everyone. I just love to get his goat.

Good one Cheryl! LOL And good insight and comments from Bluebird #81 and Arry #87 also!

A Jim/Taco Tom...I'm not impressed with you quoting Democrats, since I've long known how corporate America buys both Republicans and Democrats. Especially Joe Biden, who I will grant is an intelligent thoughtful person, but who also voted to support an illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. His views, like Kerry's, are that we should commit war crimes in a more efficient manner and I just can't buy his arguments or motivations. Anyone who supported the Iraq War or the Patriot Act are simply playing to the tune of corporate America to consolidate the political and economic power of corporate royalty to the detriment of the individual rights and liberties of all of us.

Bluebird is correct in arguing that there is a deliberate effort to sneak in Patriot Act provisions under the cloak of darkness and ignorance. Much of these provisions are being approved without public knowledge and after the fact revelations. There is a definite chipping away of constitutional rights and liberties without public awareness and a constitutional amendment process. In essence, a legislative coup to weaken the constitution, or more accurately, the Bill of Rights.

The fact that there are no major abuses yet doesn't mean that they are not planning on using and abusing it for a future totalitarian agenda. Patriot Act provisions are being prepared for future use as a means of stifling dissent, which the corporate government and their wealthy powerbrokers know is building throughout the country. That is why ELECTION FRAUD, RELIGIOUS FRAUD, ENERGY FRAUD, and MEDIA FRAUD are so important as part of an overall national control and total information management strategy.

Furthermore, let us not forget that Homeland Security and Patriot Act structures were already being prepared before 9/11 and our governments probable involvement in 9/11 was the strategic tragedy necessary to create these fundamental building blocks of a fascist state, just as it was used to invade Afghanistan and Iraq for oil and gas, as well as US Military Industrial Complex agendas.

This is why the Homeland Security Department and Patriot Act were so quickly initiated. They were already planned...awaiting a tragedy like the 9/11 attacks for quick uncritical passage, where fear and security played the necessary role of dampening any potential opposition. Although the so-called 9/11 Commision recommended more centralized intelligence monitoring, all that does is now place more power in the White House to politicize and abuse even intelligence gathering for police state agendas.

It is a mistake to confuse terrorists with criminals, since they are all criminals, but the word "terrorist" and the "War on Terror" are being deliberately exploited to evoke notions of fear and have become code words to attack anyone from Muslims to American environmentalists to anyone the government and the corporate media decide to label with the code word to induce images of fear and misdirected allegations of treason.

After 9/11 we had 9/11 terrorists, who were actually murderers with a new label...a label that will be used continuously to describe those who are against America, whether abroad or here at home, who otherwise may have legitimate grievances against US policies. Therefore political protestors and other dissidents will be more easily described as terrorists and traitors to their country in a time of unending warfare. Additionally, by describing these criminals as terrorists and 9/11 as War on Terror instead of a crime, we lose the focus of a criminal investigation through the fog of war. I would submit, an intentional effort to avoid normal legal and judicial process to discover the truth of 9/11 and therefore the role of our government.

If you read up on the backgrounds of the 9/11 Commission, you'll discover all of them, both Republicans and Democrats who were appointed, are all tied to corporate America agendas as lawyers and lobbyists. I'm afraid there was really nothing "independent" about the Independent 9/11 Commission, which produced a thorough White House Wash of what should have been a truly independent investigative and prosecutorial effort led by an independent prosecutor. Not White House appointees who concealed and negotiated their way out of discovering the truth.

The fact they allowed George Bush to appear with Dick Cheney and then limited both time and scope showed just what a fraud their investigation was. Condi Rice, George Bush, Dick Cheney, and others should have all been questioned unconditionally while giving sworn testimony to a special Grand Jury and before a special task force of aggressive professional, not political, independent investigators.

I mention 9/11 simply because it is intimately tied to everything that we are going through in almost every aspect of our country. Discover the truth about 9/11 and you have the key that unlocks the door to this governments prison cells. Failing that ability to do so, then reform or revolution will be our only options remaining. I honestly believe we will not discover the truth about 9/11 unless and until we actually have a new government to do so. A government which will increase, not decrease, our rights and which will put corporate America and their political royalty under intense regulation and scrutiny, if not lock and key!

Freebird

Freebird -

In that vein, read (if you haven't already!) Joel Bakan's "The Corporation: the Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power." We put human criminals behind bars because their are LAWS. Corporate entities are treated as individuals vis-a-vis their rights, but their wrongs cannot be addressed in the same way, resulting in large-scale abuse of humans for profit.

Only strict and enforced regulation, "big government" to the neo-cons, will have any effect in stemming the tsunami of corporate abuse - environmental, economic, social...you name it.

I hope Brad gets plenty of rest before coming back to you left fringe kooks.

Re: USA"PATRIOT" Act and Freebird posts: Great summations, as always, of what is happening.

I have spent a good part of this year, successfully for the most part, working to assure passage of various community No USA"PATRIOT" Act (and unconstitutional executive orders) resolutions, and I can assure you from my necessary immersion in the subject that most of the Bill of Rights is gone, or, I should say, it only exists in a ghostly form. People don't like to say it, and, at this time, the administration can't push beyond a certain point, but the structure is already on the books for an effective fascist takeover.

There are too many issues to talk about here, but one of the things that has struck me in my work is the pervasive, dense bureaucratic myopia among those who have to deal directly with the Act. I've talked with FBI officials, local police, boards of supervisors, city councils, etc. The noses of almost all of them are buried in minutia so that they can't see outside of the bounds of their daily work or the bureaucratic structure they reside in. You have to practically bang them over the head for them to see a glimmer of the dire threat enveloping them and all of us. (A similar astonishing density permeates election officials in regard to accurate elections.) They are so engaged in *process* that I have the impression that if a bully named Mussolini came around and promised to make the trains run on time, so to speak, he would be welcomed. Along with a general population of television zombies, we are ripe for Big Brother fascism.

That said, the resolutions did pass (in the cases I dealt with they were strong resolutions, too) with some of the more heartening and enthusiastic shows of support that I've seen in many years of activism. These resolutions may seem futile, but they are planks of support as communities may become more politically important in any kind of resistance. There are more things happening in this country than a logically-developing process of oligarchic power consolidation, and, it is usually unclear what streams flowing underground will break to the surface.

A few general points, in case you are feeling just a bit depressed: 1) Regardless of big plans, arrogant fools abound among the "rulers of the universe" as they like to think of themselves. Arrogant plans rarely come to fruition as planned, although they may cause a lot of pain. 2) These guys are not really creating anything. They are decadent representatives of a system that's gone beyond its time. They have to rely on brainwashing and doublethink to accomplish anything at all. 3) "Civilization has from time to time become a thin crust over a volcano of revolution." and it rarely knows it and plugs along in ignorant arrogance. 4) Profound historical change often happens very quickly. 5) Most of us - conscious beings, we hope - still have one foot in the old world. As we experience the life of a genuine revolution (velvet or otherwise), feeling of community and quickening of events and united commitment snowball and make it much more likely or even inevitable that those underground elements will break through the crust. 6) Even in the event of failure, living a life of great purpose with compatriots and comrades is far superior to waiting for the end. In fact, it's the only life there is, really. At least you can say you were alive which is a very great satisfaction.

(I agree that "Face to face grass-roots networking and hardcopy information distribution must also be included in any effective organized resistance movement." I think we'd better do this sooner than later.)

Knock it off, Paul. You're not banned. You're just in a place where everybody knows you're full of it!

I haven't seen much discussion of Carl Rove in connection with the voting irregularities in Ohio, Florida, etc.
You might ask Curtis if he knows of any connection with his former company and Rove, or whetherRep. Feeney met with him.
Is anybody looking into whether Ohio Sec. of State Kenneth Blackwell has met with Rove?
The forged memo about Bush's National Guard service that torpedoed the staff at CBS news has Carl Rove's trademark all over it, by the way. Consider, news services confirmed that everything in the memo was true, but it was an obvious forgery. It had the effect of shifting focus from the allegations of favored treeatment to the expose of a forgery. Carl Rove did something very similar in early political experience in Illinois.

The entry I spent several hours on was eaten during it's preview! Let it be publicized that I gave thoughtful responses to Peg C, Arry and Teresa, the substance of which will never be known! Or, will be partially known at some later time. I'm going to sit outside with my cat.

re # 103:

Sorry to read that, Bluebird. The same thing has happened to me more than once! LOL now, but it sure wasn't funny at the time.

If you want to prevent such things, you can always write long responses in your favorite word-processor, and then copy and paste the text here. I learned this the hard way --- and too late! --- but it's still a good idea...

I think spending time with your cat is another good idea --- just as long as you don't let the cat eat you!

Birds need to be cautious around cats, as you probably know already!

The laws of the Patriot Act ilk facilitate some unthinkable and unconscionable activities.

One such case to read is Doe v Ashcroft.

If that does not stand your hair on your neck up probably nothing will.

CYTERIA #102

No official report has found the documents to be demonstrably forgeries. The secretary of the purported author says the content is believable.

Read the CJR article for more info.

#103, Thanks for the advice Winter Patriot. I'll remember! This venture ended in failure as well, an invading cat took our space and was too friendly to evict !

Bad day Bluebird. Shoot!
I think its catching. I posted my empathy with your dilemma and it ended up on the wrong thread...#66--Election Probe.

You are right Peg C and let me add a little twist to your comment. Two corporate executives went on trial for corporate crimes today. The high profile cases are the efforts of the government to deceive the American people into believing they are defending America as a neutral independent entity. Just like Democrats posing as a phony alternative "opposition", you can be sure that every now and then a corporate executive will be hung out to dry as a scapegoat for protecting the corporate whole from its more blantantly unlawful parts.

But the government claiming to defend the people through such acts in fact fails to take on the much bigger problem...and intentionally so! The problem of corporate control of America through campaign funding, voting manipulation, media consolidation, a military industrial complex, exploitation of religious and social divisions, and fraudulent energy policy designed to maintain the great global energy con game and its war and coup progeny.

The real problem with corporate America is not that they violate the law, they control it from its creation(legislative) to its implementation (executive) to its interpretation (judicial). By seizing control of all three branches of government, including judges being appointed by corporate bought and paid for executives and legislatures, it's our supposedly "lawful" corporations who buy and corrupt the process to protect their interests against the interests of ordinary Americans as workers, consumers, media users, citizens, students, poor, environmentalists, and so on.

In other words, they make corruption "legal" in order to get away with their corruption. That is why today we live in what Henry David Thoreau would have called a "CORRUPT STATE". Where corporate America has seized control of political mechanisms in order to make sure their agendas are protected from people just like us! Therefore you have a corporate Military Industrial Complex, a corporate Congress and White House, a corporate mainstream media, a corporate privatization of police, military, and intelligence gathering such as data bank development, a corporate controlled American election process, and a corporate PATRIOT ACT and FEMA to provide a defense mechanism against those seeking to overthrow or rebel against their corrupt control of "our", actually their, government! (I know...that's a long sentence...lol)

So they are doing everything they can to make sure they maintain control as they use our tax dollars and our country as the political and financial headquarters to turn the United States of America into the world's police force for corporate control of the world...corporate globalization...and therefore to protect their continued exploitation of the human and natural resources of the world! And through the ruse of the "law" they are in effect legitimizing their corruption and control by being able to buy and control Congresspersons, Senators, Presidents, Governors, State Legislatures, and therefore by fiat, control of the judges they appoint or approve. Where judges are elected...corporations buy them too!

It will never be total control...they don't want that as an image problem...so they'll give us Democrats sometimes and then Republicans and then some of their own sacrificial lambs, but behind the scenes American and Multinational corporations and their wealthy handlers are in control. They are going to try to maintain that control as "legally" as possible by simply controlling the legal and political process that creates, enforces, and interprets the laws their political corporate royalty drafts for them with the help of their lobbysists and political agents!

Sorry...BLUEBIRD tweety...I feel your pain! I've done that a number of times.

Viva la Revolucion...freedom from corporate control and tyranny!

Freebird

Sad how Barbara Boxer is using her attack on Condi Rice to raise money for her Senate Campaign don't you think?

CNN tonight showed how Barbara Boxer is using her attack on Condi to raise money over the internet. So its all about politics with her.

Thank God we elected Bush right liberals?

Say, how come Hillary is coming so far to the right lately?

Quit trying to change the subject Taco. We're not finished our debate yet. Still waiting to hear your response to #96. You can't debate without BOTH participants.

Freebird -

Yes. And doesn't someone whose name we can't bear to type learn that lesson well. "I'm 'elected' again, so that proves that everything that has been done in my name so far is fine, square, and fully authorized by the Constitution I tread upon."

What Atty Jimmo really meant to say was, "Guys, please stop disliking the President. It really hurts my feelings. Pres. Bush in my mind is a diety. Please enable my illusions by agreeing with me.I know the Republicans control the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court. But I can't admit to myself that all fuck ups are their fault."

There, there, Jimmo. "Castles made of sand slips into the sea, eventually," Jimi Hendrix.

All of you are so interesting to read (with the exception of you know (last chance blown) whom I will permanently blip past). But I was getting really upset with all the info. And several things come to mind:

(a) The election fraud didn't occur just with the Presidential elections. Obviously, the Republican majorities in the Senate and House are also the result of election fraud.

(b) America needs to vote out of office EVERYONE involved to date, except for Sen. Boxer, Congressman Conyers, and any elected official who has CONSISTENTLY sided with all that we hold dear. Consistently, because there are some elected officials pretending to be for us, but who work against us behind closed doors.

(c) The Patriot Act and its various versions should be dealt with as follows: after removing the culprits responsible for its issuance, do not read, review, or revise: just SHRED! SHRED! and SHRED!

(d) America needs a NEW, CLEAN start in its government by the people, for the people. Out with the old, and in with the new!

Absolutely right Peggy!! & Peg C too!! Right on Horkus!

Everything they will pull is designed to come across as legitimate and above board. ELECTION FRAUD, WAR FRAUD, ENERGY FRAUD, RELIGIOUS FRAUD, and MEDIA FRAUD! Elections that are illegal but made to sound legitimate! Wars that are illegal but just pass a congressional act and they're made to sound legitimate! Energy policy that is treasonously corrupt yet made to appear legitimate as our only option! Claims of a God chosen President and that America was made to be dominated by Christians that are false frauds yet preached as legitimate! Corporate media propaganda and disinformation designed to deceive and exploit yet published or broadcast as legitimate.

The list goes on and on...

We will always be a corporate controlled America until there is a good HOUSE cleaning, and a new People's Constitution and Government are installed. Our rights should not be weakened, they should be strengthened, especially when the cause for weakening them, 9/11, turns out to be such a fraud itself!

Freebird

Freebird, You're right about the fraud. Hey Jimmo have I got a deal for you. An Elephant is the Republican mascot, Right? And the donkey is the Democrat mascot, Am I correct? So tell ya what. "WE'll hug your elephant if you'll kiss our ass."----Rich Little

PS: Pull out your wallets and purses...George Bush is passing the plate for another 80 billion dollars in war funds. Which would up our contribution to 280 billion dollars, plus all the discretionary funding they haven't told us about! That's $280,000,000,000.00 that we don't have for education, health care, social security, job creation, protecting the environment, and all the other needs of our country!

So while military and reconstruction contractors continue to take us for a ride, we're just suppose to sit here with a smile, do nothing, say nothing, and be the good patriotic compliant Americans helping protect our poor corporate brethren in the oil and gas industry!

Viva la Revolucion!

So, another 80 billion for the Iraq, Afghanistan wars, added to the projected 427 billion dollar deficit for this year, adds up to over half a trillion dollars. And they call themselves conservative. What a crock. Look out domestic programs, Education, Welfare, Social Security, Veterns benefits. And to top that off the Chinese and Japanese Central Banks will be financing most of it by buying our bonds. What happens when the dollar falls some more. Simple they will quit financing our debt. Then shit hits the fan.

Hi everyone, thanks for the sympathy cards. Teresa, I read yours on the election probe blog, thanks.
Peg C, I'm glad to see you so lively today! If I start writing now I won't be able to quit, so goodnight!

I most certainly hope tomorrow is a better day, Bluebird.
May you write reams in your dreams.

Hi Freebird! As usual I agreed with and was inspired by # 109. But I'd like to add a note that when the occasional fat cat is sacrificed he stays at a relatively plush joint for an absurdly short spell compared with, say, a first-time offender caught growing a few pot plants in his own back yard for his own use, or in fact any member of one of the less priviliged social strata committing any of many relatively minor infractions. So even the sacrificial lambs don't exactly suffer. Sheesh!

Re #110 and the Taco tosser.

So when a President charges corporate big wigs $100,000 MINIMUM to become members of his best friends club that's acceptable, but when a senator seeks donations from WE THE PEOPLE (if that phrase doesn't sound familiar then you really shouldn't even be here on a school night) to fund an investigation into voter fraud that the government won't touch, that isn't acceptable?

Sorry, as a wise android once said "It gives me a headache just trying to think down to your level."

If you are going to get involved in a battle of wits, do us all a favour and next time come armed. It's just a suggestion, but it isn't prudent for a one legged man to go to an arse kicking party expecting to have a good time.

A couple more suggestions;

If you must quote sources in your drivel, at least try to use credible ones - I really would have thought that anyone with two brain cells to rub together would have figured out that Fox, CNN and The Washington Post don't count as news here.

If you have to use "We won, you lost - get over it." in an argument, you lose by default because it doesn't count as an argument. Not the first time, not the hundred and first time.

Stick to the comics kid, they suit your attention span better.

To everyone else, Keep the faith and damn the trolls!

>I hope Brad gets plenty of rest before coming back to you left fringe kooks.

Brad's not getting any rest, Paul. He's pitching script ideas to Bobby Redford. Clint Curtis doesn't really exist. He's Bob Zmuda. And George W. Bush is really Andy Kaufman. It's all a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. That's what Churchill said about Russia and what Joe Pesci said about the JFK assassination, and what Andy Kaufman thought was a stone cold gas.

Cheryl, don't let them know that Bob Barr is actually working with the ACLU on this matter of civil liberties. They may have a fit. Many true conservatives are having fits. They find this administration to be an affront to the constitution. Do a google search on Barr and the ACLU, Bushies. Faux news even reported on it.

Just a note on tiring slashing: Anyone can burn the Reichstag down, but we all know the nazis torched it. I can even see a Republican operative hiring crack addicts to register democrats and paying them with crack cocaine. Maybe the democrats should start to play dirty or even dirtier. I love that cloak and dagger stuff, don't you? It's also possible they intended to slash democrat tires, but just fucked up. There's not much meat in jimmo's soft taco, so I can see that, too. Watergate was a bungled op.

And a great book by a corporate man, Ted Nace, which you can read on line. Maybe someone posted it already. Pardon my multiple posts. It's a long story.

http://www.gangsofamerica.com/

"There's not much meat in jimmo's soft taco" LGM

Ha, ha! Can I try one?

The meat's not cooked thoroughly and the veggies are wilted.

Don't even bother, one small bite and you'll discover that particualr taco is full of shit and bile.

Actually, I think a bean burrito could present a better argument (and it would probably be spelt better too).

It's quite silly for anyone to criticize Barbara Boxer for fund raising, given the Bush administration's efforts in this area.

Recent Example: I'm hardly a Bush supporter, but somehow I got on a G.O.P. mailing list. On Jan. 24, I received by mail an invitation to the Jan. 20 inauguration (I had been there, as a protestor on Pennsylvania Avenue). Included in the envelope were offers for inauguration memorabilia, including a "Lead Crystal Ice Bucket & Champagne Flute Set" for $84.95 and a "Presidential Coaster Set" at the bargain basement price of $85. Evidently they didn't pull in enough to cover the gala, or they're trying to repay the billionaires who fronted the money by selling this souvenir crud to the public.

My reply to President Bush can be found at the BuzzFlash website, in the Mailbag for Nov. 26.

Up to 35 dead soldiers reported this morning in Iraq, 31 from a helicopter crash, in the deadliest day for Americans since this war crime began. Unknown is the total Iraqi dead in another day of chaos as George Bush asks us for 80 billion more dollars to protect his friends in the oil and gas industry and help increase the profits of the Military Industrial Complex.

My sympathies to all the families of all American and Iraqi dead. My sympathies to America for re-electing a mass murderer as President. May we see justice against these war criminals and traitors soon!

JUST a quick question on where the Privacy Policy on this web site is??

I like to debate issues, but there does not seem to be a privacy policy posted here anywhere. I would like to engage people in spirited debate, but not if state privacy laws could or would be violated.

I know California State law requires a policy be posted to protect California residents. My own state AG is horrendously tough on internet privacy violations.

Anybody know where the policy is here? Thanks!

I don't have a proper answer for you except that privacy ain't what it used to be. I have been posting here for awhile and they haven't knocked on my door yet. But I am careful about what I say, because I know they are watching. They aren't actually watching. Computers and software do it for them. I wish I was joking. I'm not. This site may explain it. Think Patriot Act.

http://www.adcritic.com/...ractive/view.php?id=5927

COMMENT #131 [link]

...william said on 1/26/2005 @ 10:13am PT...
JUST a quick question on where the Privacy Policy on this web site is??

I like to debate issues, but there does not seem to be a privacy policy posted here anywhere. I would like to engage people in spirited debate, but not if state privacy laws could or would be violated.

I know California State law requires a policy be posted to protect California residents. My own state AG is horrendously tough on internet privacy violations.

Anybody know where the policy is here? Thanks!

Great point William!

In almost every state, web sites that do not protect or respect the privacy of people visiting that site could be held criminally and /or financially liable for loss, injury, or damage as a result.

You are wise to ask. You are right, there is no privacy policy posted here so if you are correct about California, and I presume you are, the law states the policy has to be posted; and that is just one state's requirement.

So does this mean that you'll stop posting Jimbo?
(wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

I don't think that's Atty Jimmo. Anymore than I think Taco Tom is Jimmo. This fellow and Taco Tom's spelling, punctuation, grammar and syntax, and the fact that they are more cogent and coherent, belie that notion, in my opinion. They may be friends, not in the normal social sense, even family, but whose main contact with Jimmo is over the internet. Probably at Freep.

In fact, I think Atty. Jimmo may have been more than one person at the same computer. I haven't done a comprehensive analysis of the posts. I've been too busy defrosting my frost free refridgerator, but since they are all replaceable cogs in a machine, some more worn out than others, who really cares. I could be wrong, it might all be one guy with a dissociative personality disorder.

Maureen Dowd Is For Sale!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The New York Times
January 27, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST

Love for Sale
By MAUREEN DOWD

I'm herewith resigning as a member of the liberal media elite.

I'm joining up with the conservative media elite.

They get paid better.

First comes news that Armstrong Williams got nearly a quarter of a million from the Education Department to plug No Child Left Behind.

The families of soldiers killed in Iraq get a paltry $12,000. But good publicity? Priceless.

Mr. Williams helped out the first President Bush and Clarence Thomas during the Anita Hill scandal. Mr. Williams, who served as Mr. Thomas's personal assistant at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission when the future Supreme Court justice was gutting policies that would help blacks, gleefully attacked Professor Hill, saying, "Sister has emotional problems," and telling The Wall Street Journal "there is a thin line between her sanity and insanity."

Now we learn from media reporter Howard Kurtz that syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher had a $21,500 contract from the Health and Human Services Department to work on material promoting the agency's $300 million initiative to encourage marriage. Ms. Gallagher earned her money, even praising Mr. Bush in print as a "genius" at playing "daddy" to the nation. "Mommies feel your pain," she wrote in 2002. "Daddies give you confidence that you can ignore the pain and get on with life."

Genius? Not so much. Spendthrift? Definitely. W.'s administration was running up his astounding deficit paying "journalists" to do what they would be happy to do for free - just to be friends with benefits, getting access that tougher scribes are denied. Consider Charles Krauthammer, who went to the White House on Jan. 10 for what The Washington Post termed a "consultation" on the inaugural speech and then praised the Jan. 20th address on Fox News as "revolutionary," said Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group.

I still have many Christmas bills to pay. So I'd like to send a message to the administration: THIS SPACE AVAILABLE. I could write about the strong dollar and the shrinking deficit. Or defend Torture Boy, I mean, the esteemed and sage Alberto Gonzales. Or remind readers of the terrific job Condi Rice did coordinating national security before 9/11 - who could have interpreted a memo titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States" as a credible threat? - not to mention her indefatigable energy obscuring information undercutting the vice president's dementia on Iraq.

My preference is to get a contract with Rummy. It would be cost effective, compared with the latest $80 billion he needs to train more Iraqi security forces to be blown up. For half a mil, I could write a doozy of a column promoting Rummy's phantasmagoric policies.

What is all this hand-wringing about the 31 marines who died in a helicopter crash in Iraq yesterday? It's only slightly more than the number of people who died in traffic accidents in California last Memorial Day. The president set the right tone, avoiding pathos when asked about the crash. "Obviously," he said, "any time we lose life it is a sad moment."

Who can blame Rummy for carrying out policies of torture? We're in an information age. Information is power. If people are not giving you the intelligence you want, you have to customize to get the intelligence you want to hear.

That's why Rummy also had to twist U.S. laws to secretly form his own C.I.A. A Pentagon memo said Rummy's recruited agents could include "notorious figures," whose ties to the U.S. would be embarrassing if revealed, according to The Washington Post. Why shouldn't a notorious figure like Rummy recruit notorious figures?

I could write a column denouncing John McCain for trying to call hearings into Rummy's new spy unit, suggesting the senator is just jealous because Rummy's sexy enough to play James Bond.

The president might need my help as well. He looked out of it yesterday when asked why his foreign policy is so drastically different from the one laid out in Foreign Affairs magazine in 2000 by Ms. Rice - a preview that did not emphasize promoting democracy and liberty around the world. "I didn't read the article," Mr. Bush said.

Why should he? Robert McNamara never read the Pentagon Papers. Why should W. bone up on his own foreign policy?

Freedom means the freedom to be free from reading what you promise voters and other stuff. I could make that case - if the price was right.

liberties@nytimes.com
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2...d.html?oref=login&th

jazzlog #137

LOL.

Good article. Next thing you know the busite will make a presidential order outlawing getting caught doing his bidding.

What's wrong with having the FIRST Recall Petition for a President?

WOW!!!

http://www.informationcl...use.info/article7831.htm

In the new real world imposed by the bushit power addicts privacy is just another word for nothing left to disclose.

The bushit revolution has re-written things in stinking, stinging prose. The new word is "classified".

Privacy is an old word that used to belong to the people.

It now belongs, according to the claims of the dicks, to the militant classified columns marching to the discordant noise of the neocon right.

Hey Brad... seems like some good news for once. As fraudulent as the election was, there seems to have been an underlying positive. It served to kick nearly all Democrats as well as progressive and centrist Republicans in the pants.

Reading Raw Story every day, it sure seems more and more like the Progressives are *FINALLY* standing up to the neo conservatives.

What this tells me is that we are starting to have an effect. This newly reported guerilla movement to stop the destruction of Social Security really shows a snowballing effect that we seem to be having!
read it here

MrBluesky
Bellevue, WA

Actually, Mr. BlueSky, we may just yet get to see a circular, Republican firing squad. Christie Todd Whitman is a little miffed for being fired for trying to do her job. She is making the rounds, flogging her book. 20 Republicans look set to to stand with the dems to make the required 60 needed to shoot down the SS privatization piracy scheme. There is a good chance Bush will spend the next four years in the bunker with Dick. We will have to see what comes of the Iraqi "elections". I would say that "political capital" vanished overnight like your retirement money would in a private acct.

Dear Mr.Curtis,
I want To know your email :laugh: :laugh: