Bush and Obama and Cheeeeney...

i really have been wondering for the last several days if there has been communication between George Bush and Barack Obama over everything going on. seems like the question has been answered by Mr. Obama himself:

In an interview with C-SPAN that will air in entirety at 10.a.m. Saturday, President Barack Obama acknowledged having had conversations with Bush since leaving office, though he insisted on abiding by "a general policy of keeping confidence with your predecessor."

Obama Has Talked With Bush Since Inauguration
Sam Stein, Huffington Post
May 23, 2009

personally, i thought that it was a certainty that they have been talking. i also believe that Obama probably has been talking to George H.W., Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. i also speculate that George W. has been counseled by his father, George H.W. on how to respond or, rather, how not to respond to Cheeney's mutterings.

there is much talk that Mr. Bush and Cheeeeney were at odds towards the end of Bush's term in office. Bush himself said it was time to close Gitmo; Mr. Cheeeney has been continuing his talk to keep it open. something is obviously not right here.

now comes word that Mr. Cheeeney is hawking a book deal - Cheney Seeks Book Deal on Bush Years and More, New York Times, 5/22/09 - and the last few weeks of Cheeeeney's actions and behaviour seem to be even more self-aggrandizing as some have come to explain one reason for his whirlwind jaunt. it's almost a book tour being done BEFORE the book is published.

actually, no publisher has even bought the book yet.

not to worry there. someone is just waiting on the chance to jump on that. that person wants to make a lot of money. Mr. Cheeeeney seems to be investing on his reputation more than anything else.

well, he doesn't need the money. does he?

what's wrong with this picture?

It is a photo of one of the terrorists at the Mumbai train station, and the only one captured alive.

And Gulf News has an interview with Sebastian D’Souza, the Mumbai Mirror photographer who took the chilling photographs of Mr. Qasab [also identified as Azam Amir Kasav] in the train station. Mr. D’Souza jumped from train to train on the platform, evading gunfire, in order to get the photographs, which show Mr. Qasab advancing, wearing cargo pants, a Versace T-shirt and black sneakers, with an assault rifle in hand.

New York Times, Tuesday, December 2, 2008

wearing cargo pants, a Versace T-shirt and black sneakers?

something tells me that this is not something bin Laden, Muhammed, or any of the Islamic fundamentalists would approve.

Versace!

so how are we to take them seriously? they throw down denunciations of everything western and American and they wear Versace clothing to kill people.

that is how we are to take them seriously - as hypocrites, just like everyone else.

think about it. bin Laden himself is a multimillionaire from Saudi Arabia. they use all types of funding from sales of drugs, arms and contraband. they are just like every other organization that is into power and domination. they don't do things for their god. they do things for themselves.

the sad thing? i think that we are in for a very long period of these terrorist hypocrites. their egos have become huge. their dementia has taken on gigantic proportions. their need to use others to fulfill their needs by causing death of innocents as well as the believers they've duped to do their nasty deeds surpasses any legitimate reasons they give.


just another thing to multiply the funk i've been in for the last couple of weeks.

as F.I.S.A. crosses borders...

The United States is negotiating deals with European countries to exchange fingerprint and DNA data in criminal and terrorist cases, and in some circumstances to transfer data on race or ethnic origin, political and religious beliefs, or sexual orientation.

Such agreements are a condition for granting citizens of newer European Union member states the right to enter the United States without visas, and for maintaining that right for older E.U. members. U.S. citizens already enjoy such a right when traveling to Europe.

U.S. Seeks Data Exchange, The Washington Post, 8 July 2008

all in the name of Homeland Security, of course.

when's the last time you heard of a Jehovah Witness, Black, Montengran gueer strap a bomb around his middle and get onto a Unite Airlines 777 and fly to the United States?

or...

when's the last time you ever heard of a Jehovah Witness, Black, American gueer get on a plane and fly to Montengro with a bomb strapped around his middle?

you see it's going to go both ways. they can tell the U.S. who is a Jehovah Witness, Black, Montengran gueer and we can tell them who is Jehovah Witness, Black, American gueer.

what is wrong with this picture?

just asking...

no comment...

Kabul: 19 March 2008
Usama bin Ladin

eco-oxymoronic...

Out in Washington State a group of eco-terrorists put five multi-million dollar homes to the flames that were under construction to protest their belief that the "green houses" were anything but that.

Ecoterrorism Suspected in House Fires in Seattle Suburb

MALTBY, Wash. — Five luxury homes in a subdivision marketed as “built green” near here were destroyed or severely damaged by fire early Monday, and evidence at the scene suggested the fires might have been started by radical environmentalists who viewed the homes as violating rather than complementing the wooded wetlands in which they were built.

“Built green?” read letters spray-painted onto a bedsheet found hanging on a fence at the site, about 25 miles northeast of Seattle. “Nope Black!

Seems like this group has been using actions like this since the 1990's.

Now, we shouldn't belittle this group, or any other, for standing up for their principles. It's a commendable thing to do when one feels so passionate about something. BUT isn't is a bit ironic that the act of burning down these houses is, in itself, pollution?

I mean, come on, they released fumes from what they believe are actually toxic materials into the air helping to further deplete the ozone layer; they flooded the ground with noxious chemicals released by the fire; they wasted thousands of gallons of water since the fire department had to put the flames out or the surrounding wooded areas would have been destroyed also; and they wasted fuel by using it as an accelerant.

isn't there something, ummm, self-defeating when you use the same tactics that emulate what you are protesting?


FYI: oxymoron comes from the Greek oxumōros that means pointedly foolish. i would use the word stupid instead of foolish.

White House spying...

There are all these fights going on about rights to privacy with the Bush/Cheney adminsitration's penchant for knowing everything about everyone in the country to prevent suicide bombers from attacking U.S. citizens and soil. In addition to the telephone companies handing over lists of calls to/from American citizens, one of the major aspects is the federal government screening personal emails. The fight looms large.

I received my regular email from Amazon.com. It's a list that their computer program puts together based on things that I've purchased in the past called Amazon.com recommends.... I wondered what profile an agent would create on me from, not just the email but the extended list on the website, the things suggested. Here are some, there are a couple of hundred for me, recommendations:

























So, I drink coffee; I'm pessimistic of the future of America; I don't believe in god; I hate the Bush/Cheney administration; I'm a liberal; I work in the area of gifted education part-time; I'm overweight; I'm an opera queen; I speak French, or at the least listen to French music; I'm a Keith Olbermann junkie; and I'm queer.

It's the last one that really will blow my cover - Dora's Buildable House. This one makes me really dangerous, probably a pervert or someone who needs to know the set-up of a typical American house in order to design suicide bomb placement!

The truth is that I know the cutest three-year old girl who absolutely adores Dora the Explora and bought her the globe/software for Christmas.

yep, I'm dangerous all right.

more than they know...



[how's that for a set-up to get the Gestapo agent thinking twice about my profile?]



better go to Amazon.com and check you own profile out. you never know what they might find.

i'm just saying...

The Osama Collection...

Check out Mark Fiore's take on the new Osama Collection of grooming products. It will do wonders for your surge... ummm, urge... ummm, whatever...

The Osama Collection

explains a lot about Dubya"s speech last night...

continued "war" power for the Czar...

It's really interesting reading the White House website. You can find all kinds of amazing information. Like this announcement in its entirety:

Notice: Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Certain Terrorist Attacks


White House News

Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency I declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, New York, New York, the Pentagon, and aboard United Airlines flight 93, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.

Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, last extended on September 5, 2006, and the powers and authorities adopted to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond September 14, 2007. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year the national emergency I declared on September 14, 2001, with respect to the terrorist threat.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

GEORGE W. BUSH

# # #

got that? George W says he is continuing the "War on Terrorism." He is just notifying us of it or rather the Congress.

he can keep this going indefinitely as long as he's president.

oh, and here's another thought. he can include any action taken by any state, legitimate or other wise, in monitoring and stopping their "terrorist" activities as he determines...

can you spell I*R*A*N?

or "Eyeran" as george would say...

gitmo ≤ or ≥ Ministry of Love...

I was struck by reading an interview between Dr. Angela Hegarty, Amy Goodman, and Juan Gonzales over at Democracy Now! dealing with the Jose Padilla case. Dr. Hegarty is a forensic psychiatrist and professor at Columbia University. She spent 22 hours working with Padilla and came to the conclusion that "'What happened at the brig was essentially the destruction of a human being's mind,' said Dr. Hegarty. 'Padilla's personality was deconstructed and reformed.' She said the effects of the extreme isolation on Padilla are consistent with brain damage.

DR. ANGELA HEGARTY: Well, during my time with him, some of his reasoning seemed somewhat impaired, some of his thinking seemed impaired, his memory certainly, his ability to pay attention seemed very impaired. I developed a differential diagnosis from this: severe anxiety. Post-traumatic stress disorder can do that. But also, we know from really basic neuroscience studies that extreme isolation for prolonged periods of time -- and I’m talking, you know, the studies are on maybe days or weeks, and he had extreme isolation for years -- really do, in fact, impair higher brain function. And I recommended that we get some neuropsychological testing. And, unfortunately, he wasn't able to fully cooperate with that. However, the testing we did do was consistent with brain damage, yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Brain damage.

DR. ANGELA HEGARTY: Yes.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And have you dealt with someone who had been in isolation for such a long period of time before?

DR. ANGELA HEGARTY: No. This was the first time I ever met anybody who had been isolated for such an extraordinarily long period of time. I mean, the sensory deprivation studies, for example, tell us that without sleep, especially, people will develop psychotic symptoms, hallucinations, panic attacks, depression, suicidality within days. And here we had a man who had been in this situation, utterly dependent on his interrogators, who didn't treat him all that nicely, for years. And apart from -- the only people I ever met who had such a protracted experience were people who were in detention camps overseas, that would come close, but even then they weren't subjected to the sensory deprivation. So, yes, he was somewhat of a unique case in that regard.

In George Orwell's novel 1984, George Winston, the protagonist, is caught and sent to the Ministry of Love whose purpose is for rehabilitation of members of society who committed thoughtcrimes. The techniques used in the Ministry of Love included torture and brainwashing. The state knew what each person feared the most and used it as the means to rehabilitate citizens. In the end everyone became a good citizen with true loyalty to and love for Big Brother once they had been to the ministry.

Is Gitmo similar to the Ministry of Love?

just asking...

The USSR used a term called Sluggishly progressing schizophrenia in sending its citizens to gulags. Once there, they were rehabilitated, or not. Of course, just presence in the gulag was enough to initiate sluggishly progressing schizophrenia if they didn't have it before arriving.

a serious question on terrorism...

Has any fight against terror/guerilla warfare ever been won?

The catch phrase of the Busheviks [I really like that term from BuzzFlash] is to win against terrorism. Honestly, has any fight against it ever been successful?

really, i'm serious...

if you haven't heard...

the argument being used by Gonzales, besides his condition of donta recalitis, and now being touted by Mike McConnell, is that he wasn't speaking of the TSP [Terrorist Surveillance Program]. He was referring to another aspect of surveillance that was going on that could not be mentioned due to national security issues.

The bigger question now is what other aspects? If the TSP had to be made public because of a congressional inquiry, what was/is being held in secret? AND are they worse than about what we know? It also seems that the Congress doesn't know about these things either.

Mr. Cheney on Larry King last night contradicted both Gonzales and McConnell and said it was about the TSP.

my father always told me to never tell a lie - no one believes the truth anyway!

ain't that the truth?

too bad these guys didn't know my father...

H.U.A.C...

House Un-American Activities Committee...

This committee was in existence until 1975 and held hearings on anything and everything that possibly threaten the security of the U.S keeping lists of people/citizens who it considered a threat to national security. It began in 1938 to investigate the growing Soviet threat to the nation's security. The committee of nine representatives investigated suspected threats of subversion or propaganda that attacked "the form of government guaranteed by our Constitution." Its most notable accomplishment was the arrest and conviction of Alger Hiss for perjury. They believed he lied to the committee, though the controversy still rages.

The Senate had its counterpart.

The Committee on Government Operations was the Senate counterpart. It had the most notoriety. Does the name Joseph McCarthy ring a bell? He had quite a list, hunting down a perceived threat by Communists. [That's big C, not little c.]

Oh, the Senate committee actually is still in existence. It's now called the United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

It, as we are all aware, has its own list. Though it doesn't hunt down Communists any more, it now has terrorists.

There is a third group with a list also - the FBI. It probably is working with the Senate committee.

This is HUAC and the Senate committee and the FBI circa June 2007 -

FBI Terror Watch List 'Out of Control'

A terrorist watch list compiled by the FBI has apparently swelled to include more that half a million names.

Privacy and civil liberties advocates say the list is growing uncontrollably, threatening its usefulness in the war on terror. ABCNews, The Blotter

509,000 people to be exact. As the Federal 4th District Court of Appeals pointed out in its ruling yesterday, there seems to be a lot to be desired about these lists and their legitimacy. They are legal, but that does not mean that they are legitimate. Constitutional safeguards have been under attack since 2001.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have no problem with preventing attacks on the country and its citizens. I question the extent, the fairness and the actual workability of so vast a program. Who is actually in control and who is controlling them? Appeals courts over the last couple of weeks are asking these questions and with their rulings are taking some control.

I have the utmost trust in the Rule of Law. It has served and protected the US since 1789. It's going to continue to work.

oh, wait...

do these guys count as activist judges?

what's going on here...

special...
[yeah, i know i haven't done one in awhile, but this one is special]

Rulings leave Guantánamo in legal limbo

In the second blow to the credibility of the Guantánamo legal process in a year, two different judges yesterday said the military tribunals did not have jurisdiction over detainees on the island.

and what does the White House have to say?

"We don't agree with the ruling on the military commissions," the White House spokesman, Tony Fratto, told reporters covering president Bush's visit to Prague.

"In no way does this decision affect the appropriateness of the military commission system."

of course, they're going to appeal it. The courts have no jurisdiction in the actions of the White House and its war on terror.

At the Democratic debate the other night, Wolf Blitzer asked if it was real or a bumper sticker topic. At this point, what difference does it make? It's like the story of the "boy who cried wolf." It's just that every couple of months the boy's handlers come out with something like the JFK plot in New York.

why do you think that is?

just asking...