Guest blogged by David Edwards

Cindy Sheehan is hoping that a less confrontational strategy will be more effective. Will President Bush, as a man of faith, join her and others on Friday at noon to pray for the troops? The president is reported to have nothing on his official schedule for this week.

A candlelight prayer vigil is planned for Wednesday night. Cindy asks that mothers around the nation join together on Wednesday night in solidarity to pray for our troops.

Here is the latest video of Cindy speaking about the prayer vigil on MCNBC's Countdown. (Windows Media format).

CrooksandLiars has an earlier MSNBC report from this morning.

UPDATE: Wednesday Candlelight Vigils...
Join with MoveOn, True Majority, and Democracy for America in organizing or attending a Vigil for Cindy Sheehan in your town on Wednesday, August 17, 2005, at 7:30 p.m.
http://www.moveonpac.org/event/cindyvigils/

Guest blogged by David Edwards

The RAW STORY is reporting that Velvet Revolution, a coalition of over 120 activist organizations, is launching an advertising campaign aimed at the Bush Administration's "lies, corruption, fear, incompetence, indifference, and arrogance."

From the Velvet Revolution website:

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Some of us have read the newest Harpers, notable for its excerpt from Mark Crispin Miller's None Dare Call It Stolen. And many of us have been waiting for it to hit the net.

from None Dare Call It Stolen, by Mark Crispin Miller:

... or not ... you may have been expecting it ... once burnt, twice shy, as they say ...

Guest bloged by Joesph Cannon

A little bird has chirped in my ear, telling me to look closer at the possible connection between shady Republican money-man Jack Abramoff and the 9/11 terrorists. Uncharacteristically cryptic, the bird said no more.

I knew about the Associated Press story (referenced here) which reported that Atta and company had hopped aboard a SunCruz casino ship on September 5, 2001. Abramoff owned SunCruz. He acquired the company under circumstances many consider strange --- so strange as to have resulted in his recent indictment. So strange as to involve the murder of the former owner, Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis.

The feds had long suspected that SunCruz ships have been used for money laundering, and perhaps even drug importation. The ships are beyond all regulation --- nothing stops criminals from operating them.

Al Qaida operatives have made many a strange visit to casinos --- visits that most investigators feel had more to do with criminal activity than with gambling.

So what further information was the little bird chirping about?

Guest blogged by UnderstandingLife and David Edwards

Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported that Four-star General Kevin P. Byrnes was relieved of his position due to alleged sexual misconduct. General Byrnes who was near retirement was assigned as commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

From Arianna Huffington in At Rummy's Bizarro Pentagon, Torture is Rewarded While Sex is a Firing Offense, on August 10, 2005 we read:

Yes, we agree with Ms Huffington --- the hypocrisy is all to obvious and that is the problem. Many have recognized that whatever General Byrnes private life might be, it is unlikely to be the primary reason for his current career crisis.

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Larry Mattlage is a neighbor of George Bush in Crawford. He says he was sympathetic to the anti-war protesters when they arrived but has gotten tired of the crowds.

Deborah Mathews reports for The Iconoclast...

CNN just reported on the situation and it seems that Mr. Mattlage claims he was preparing for dove hunting season.

"This is Texas.", he says. He is clearly agitated.

The CNN video clip is available here. (Windows Media format)

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

BRAD BLOG reader and commenter "WTF" pointed out an article [and photos] from the Lexington Herald-Leader. We found the following passages notable, especially given their source.

It irritates us too, Geraldine. No small amount, indeed!

Our heartfelt condolences, and sincerest best wishes, to the family and friends of the late Chase Johnson Comley, and to all the other families and friends who weep today.

Click here or on the photo for more. Thanks to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Or maybe it depends on whay you mean by "is" ...

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Here's a chilling story from Salt Lake City, which one of our friends noticed at The Salt Lake Tribune. It's the kind of tale that Brad eats for breakfast, but for me it's the sort of thing I gag on.

I don't mean "gag" in the way you might think, that the overwhelming nature of the sleaze takes away my appetite. Instead, I mean: Brad would be able to understand all this --- and explain it to you --- a lot better than I can. But he's away --- the slacker! --- and so it falls to this lowly and nearly frozen blogger...

I've read the article, Lobbyist challenged on voting machines: Legal. But ethical? S.L. County's lobbying firm also works for the devices' manufacturer, several times, and the words of Derek P. Jensen are finally starting to seep into my very thick skull. I'm even starting to get a handle on the cast of characters! Listen:

Peter Corroon is the Mayor of Salt Lake County.

Blaze Wharton, Dan Hartman and Paul Rogers are principals in The Tetris Group, a lobbying firm which is paid to lobby for the Salt Lake County Mayor's Office.

The Tetris Group also has other clients, one of whom just happens to be Diebold Election Systems, a manufacturer of touch-screen voting machines, on which The BRAD BLOG has reported many times --- often in less than glowing terms.

Last month, as part of their bid for the lucrative statewide election machine contract, Diebold made a presentation at the Salt Lake County Government Center. They were escorted to this presentation by their lobbyists --- the Tetris team --- who also just happen to work for the county Mayor's Office. One slight problem: the Mayor's Office never asked Tetris to do this for to them.

Peter Corroon: "We never asked Tetris to go out and lobby the state to get the Diebold systems. They came in with Diebold..."

As regular readers of this space already know [all too well], Diebold's machines are crap not always reliable, and as Jensen writes, Salt Lake County "leaders continue to unleash a litany of complaints."

For their part, Tetris has set up what apears to be a classic runaround: Wharton is referring all questions to Hartman, who isn't returning any phone calls. And Rogers cannot even be reached. So that end of the trail is set up just about the way we'd expect it.

Gavin Anderson is Deputy District Attorney of Salt Lake County and he says the push "to determine an economic conflict must come from the mayor's office", according to Jensen, who quotes Anderson as saying:

Maybe I'm nearly frozen but I'm still functional enough to realize that this sounds like a good idea!! Is there anybody home over at the Mayor's Office?

And what does Diebold say? According to Jensen:

Wow! That's mighty reassuring, is it not?

Well ... don't take my word for it. I'm too cold to make any sense anyway. You should read Derek P. Jensen's Lobbyist challenged on voting machines and enjoy the full reassuring story in its original context.

Thanks, as always. I'll be back. But I gotta go try and thaw out for a while. Brrrr! What a cold story!

P.S. I heard from Brad last night, albeit briefly. He is doing fine, getting some R&R, and heading back to the wild lands. He sends you his best regards. He also says "Watch for some heavy Cannon Fire, coming to a blog near you, on Monday".

I can't imagine what he means. But we shall see...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

No! We are not making this up! We have it via Lex18 in Lexington, KY and the headline reads: Republican Party shells out money to defend voter suppression case

That's a zero-tolerance policy on what, exactly? Could it be a zero-tolerance policy on democracy, by any chance?

A tip of the BRAD BLOG hat to a loyal BRAD BLOG reader for that great catch. No names, please: You know who you are, don't you, John?

Wow...These BRAD BLOG Guest Bloggers got it covered! So my brief foray back into civilization won't be long, and I'm back out into the wilds momentarily.

Looks like there's much going on in my absence, but my ragged brain continues to need some downtime, and it looks like David Edwards, Joseph Cannon, Winter Patriot (and apparently even Chris Floyd) have got things well covered, so I can rest easy.

Looks like there have been a few ACVR shenanigans while I've geen gone, but I've tipped off Joseph C. and hopefully he'll have a report on some of it in the next day or two in my stead.

See ya in a week or so! Until then...once again...and in solidarity with Cindy Sheehan and all the folks who give a damn about Truth, Justice and the American Way...Peace!

Guest blogged by David Edwards

cartoon by Mike Thompson

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

According to Joselyn King of the Wheeling News Register, West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland has said:

... and much more! Ireland talks about her office prosecuting people in connection with buying votes:

But somehow she manages to spin the story so that the real responsibility for "voter fraud" falls to the poor folks who are afraid they'll lose their jobs if they vote for a candidate who supports their interests. Or at least that's what I seem to read here

I've been quoting out of context again. I really hate it when the warmongers do that. Especially when they hide their original sources. So please read the whole piece and decide for yourself whether I'm cherry-picking here, or whether what I'm hearing is what Ireland is actually saying.

Thanks again to special agent Kat L'Estrange for bringing this article to my attention. She made a comment via e-mail which was at least as cogent as the article itself, so I post it here in full.

Your comments as always are invited.

Also invited: a little help for Brad. He works his [ahem] off ... and I can tell because I cover for him while he's away and it's like you don't have time to eat or sleep or anything... not complaining but I do understand how hard it must be for him to do what he does every week ... at the end of which he has to come up with another $500 for studio time so he can do his radio show. So if you enjoy the blog and/or the show, please consider doing one or more of the following:

Visit The BRAD STORE and/or Donate via Credit Card or PayPal and/or Donate via Snail Mail.

Every bit helps and as always we thank you for your support!

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Yes, our Tracy, the soon-to-be "midwife" of Clint Curtis' soon-to-be puppy. The lady in the orange shirt in the photo.

She's been blogging at Booman Tribune. Here's her diary: Militarytracy. Her most recent entry was a beauty: My God It Is Good To Be Alive.

Now that she's away from home, she's been reporting via her friend Brinnainne's account. That happens here. And good things are happening, too. Consider this story: BooTrib Regular with Sheehan in Time Mag.

Also at Booman Tribune, Supersoling has written to say he's flying down tomorrow.

UPDATE:
The Lone Star Iconoclast has some online coverage of today's activities here.

ANOTHER UPDATE:
Crooks And Liars has a nice bit about her here. John Amato Rocks! Anyone can post comments at his site, no registration needed, and I think it would be cool if 6 or 7 people wandered over and told John what we think of Tracy! and his blog!! But that's just my opinion.

I'll update this again when and if I find more good links. And of course, we'll try to keep up-to-date on our BRAD BLOG friends while they're in Texas.

Thanks to Tracy for making the trip, and for bringing a friend, and for making noise, and in general for representing The BRAD BLOG so well in Crawford, Texas, home of some vicious fire ants from Hades, and palatial vacation spot for some vicious neocons who are surely on their way to where the ants came from.

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

A great old BRAD SHOW is almost ready to hit the airwaves. Again. It was a great lineup and a fantastic show. And if the folks at the network pull up the right files, you can hear it again via the Web! Saturday from 7p-11p ET (4p-8p PT) and Sunday 12noon-4p ET (9a-1p PT)

Here's the guest list:

It's free speech at its best, but it's not free! Brad pays for the studio rental --- out of his own pocket --- at $500 per week! He doesn't need to rent a studio this weekend but he still needs donations, so please donate here to help defray costs! Every little bit helps, friends.