TheEmperfect

For What Did They Die?

2008-11-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

by Joseph L. Galloway

It is autumn, and the air is crisp and cool at night at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

It gets very quiet at The Wall around midnight. The tourists have gone home, and are all tucked into bed.

A homeless Vietnam veteran patrols the black granite panels. He tells us that he has cancer and is having a hard time getting any benefits from the Veterans Administration. He lives in a mission that houses those who have nowhere else to go, but the doors don't open until 11 p.m.

He sees my interest in Panel 3-East, the third panel to the east of the apex of the memorial, and he asks if I was there at the Ia Drang Valley battles that contributed 305 of the names that are on that panel. I nod, and he grows animated. "Oh, I know these guys well. Or at least I know their names." He begins calling the roll to prove it: "Henry T. Herrick, John Geoghegan, Willie Godboldt, Travis Poss, Carl Palmer, Wilbur Curry, Thomas C. Metsker . . . ."

Twenty, then 30 of the names trip off his lips. "I tell people about them when they ask."

So do I.

We slip a few bucks into his hand for something to eat and he wanders off into the night, heading for the mission and a cot where he can rest his head until 7 a.m., when he and the other homeless are shooed out to begin another day of waiting for something good, finally, to happen to them.

I hope that he lives long enough to collect some benefits and get some medical help from the VA, although given the 6- 8-month backlog in processing veterans' claims, there's no guarantee that he will.

I stand before Panel 3-East and slowly scan those names, remembering their stories, their hometowns, their wives and children, remembering, too, how and where they died and what it all means.

Did they die so that a brother veteran can die waiting in line for a little help from the nation that sent them all off to war in the prime of their youth?

Did they die so that four decades later, an American president and his cronies could start another needless war in a far-off land, a war that to date has dragged on almost as long as the one they fought in Southeast Asia?

Did they die so that wounded veterans of that war could come home to a lot of "Welcome Home" greetings and a lot of "Support Our Troops" bumper stickers, but facing the same fight that America's veterans have always faced when they try to get treatment and benefits from our Army and our Veterans Administration?

Did they die so that an administration full of draft dodgers and draft avoiders and almost bereft of anyone who ever wore a uniform or heard a shot fired in anger could prance around presenting themselves as wartime leaders?

Did they die so that 10,000 craven politicians could stand on bandstands and make speeches full of empty praise for those who protect and defend this country and make empty promises of how they guarantee that our wounded, our new veterans, will be treated better than their fathers and grandfathers were when they came home from their wars?

The men and women who wear the uniform today are, many of them, on their fourth or fifth combat tours in Afghanistan or Iraq. They and their families do all the suffering and sacrificing for the rest of us.

Meanwhile over in the Pentagon, the bean counters run their computers and come up with the good news: The economic meltdown in America, the growing ranks of the unemployed, the complete lack of work or prospect of a decent future in the rural and urban backwaters of a great nation make for a boom in enlistments in our voluntary military.

If you sign on the bottom line because you have no other alternative, no other way out of nowhereville, are you really a volunteer?

The bands will play, and the old veterans will march proudly and the politicians will run their mouths this Veterans Day, just as they do every Veterans Day.

And the 400,000 dead of World War II and the 40,000 dead of Korea and the 58,260 dead of Vietnam and the 4,500 dead of Iraq and Afghanistan will rest silent and uneasy under the modest white marble tombstones that a grateful nation has provided them free of charge.

Across town, an old and ailing veteran of one of those wars will line up tonight for a cot in a mission and wonder whether he can live long enough to collect from the bureaucrats what we owe him.

On Army posts around the nation, the battalions and brigades and divisions are either just coming home after a year or more at war while other battalions and brigades are just saying their goodbyes and heading back out on their third or fourth or fifth deployments.

"Where have all the flowers gone?
Gone for soldiers, every one.
When will they ever learn?"

© Copyright 2008, The McClatchy Washington Bureau

Time Warner Links Web Prices With Usage

2008-01-22T13:24:00.000-08:00

Time Warner Cable Will Do Trial on Setting High-Speed Internet Charges Based on Usage

NEW YORK (AP) -- Time Warner Cable will experiment with a new pricing structure for high-speed Internet access later this year, charging customers based on how much data they download, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

The company, the second-largest cable provider in the United States, will start a trial in Beaumont, Texas, in which it will sell new Internet customers tiered levels of service based on how much data they download per month, rather than the usual fixed-price packages with unlimited downloads.

Company spokesman Alex Dudley said the trial was aimed at improving the network performance by making it more costly for heavy users of large downloads. Dudley said that a small group of super-heavy users of downloads, around 5 percent of the customer base, can account for up to 50 percent of network capacity.

Dudley said he did not know what the pricing tiers would be nor the download limits. He said the heavy users were likely using the network to download large amounts of video, most likely in high definition.

It was not clear when exactly the trial would begin, but Dudley said it would likely be around the second quarter. The tiered pricing would only affect new customers in Beaumont, not existing ones.

Time Warner Cable is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company.

These are cool

2008-01-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

The Machine is Us/ing Us

Information R/evolution

Uncyclopedia

2007-10-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

I came across this site looking for a printable Pin the Tail on the Donkey game for my sons 6th birthday party next month. I found myself in stitches after reading the article then immediately looked up Jews.

$200 billion for war, but no healthcare for kids?

2007-10-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

The gap between the President's priorities and your priorities has never been more clear. The President just decided that 3 million poor children shouldn't receive healthcare. It's crazy. At the same time he's asking Congress for $200 billion more to continue his war in Iraq, he's vetoing a healthcare program for needy kids here at home that costs just a small fraction of that.1

But for the first time in seven years, the President might not get his way. We only need 15 Republicans in Congress to break with the President to override the veto.

We've helped organize, along with our friends at MoveOn and our new partners at USAction, emergency rallies all over the country tomorrow. Show up and show your support, not just for kids' healthcare, but for the values that make this country great.

Find an emergency rally for kids' healthcare near you.

This isn't just about the 3 million kids who desperately need this program, this is about the direction of our country. It's time for Congress to take a stand and send a message to this President and his Administration that they will not continue to allow our most basic values to be swept aside. This is the moment that we stand up and say: "no more." We can win this fight, but it's going to take all of us.

If you can't make it to one of tomorrow's rallies, or if there isn't one happening near you, you can click here to tell your Members of Congress to override the President's veto.

Let's get our priorities straight,

Ben Kroetz
TrueMajorityAction.org Online Organizer

1. "Bush vetoes child health bill," Guardian Unlimited, October 3, 2007

Please sign

I sincerely trust this guy

2007-09-26T01:19:00.000-07:00

Check this NYC trailer out & share with your friends:

Rally with Barack Obama
Thursday, September 27th
Washington Square Park
Gates open at 5:00 PM

Text NYC to 62262 for more details.

Thanks for all you do!

Scott & Becky @ Obama HQ

He finally sues

2007-09-01T00:24:00.000-07:00

This guy kicks ass. I've been reading his blog for almost 3 years. He collected donations to his blog and bought medical supplies for civilians in Iraq that have needed it thoughout the war. After his brother was arrested at his college and mistreated because they thought he was a traitor him and his brother Raed both became activists for detainee's rights. I'm not finished yet. Raed has moved to the United States since then and has become a human rights activist for us too. Also when first getting here he went straight down to Louisiana to volunteer for the Katrina efforts. This guy rocks and I want to meet him one day and shake his hand.

It's just a shame that only after a few months Raed had to go through this kind of thing.

Activists re-enact grisly lynching in search for justice

2007-07-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

The police were only about 50 yards down the road when the gun-wielding white mob stopped the car and dragged the two black men out, shoving them face first into the dirt.

The two women were next to be yanked from the burgundy Buick into the thick, sultry air of a Southern summer, one of them thrashing and flailing as she screamed and pleaded with the mob to spare her and her unborn child.

The lynch mob dragged the sharecroppers through the pine trees down a wagon trail to the Apalachee River and, on their leader's command, unleashed three torrents of gunfire. ...more

Here's a link the video with scenes and sounds from the reenactment.

Just last week I remembered myself as a kid in elementary school singing a song called "Tom Dooley" in the music class we attended once a week. Now, we never sang the entire version and it's clear why but it's not clear to me why we even sang it at all.

Elementary school version
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die
I met her on the mountain
There I took her life
Met her on the mountain
Stabbed her with my knife

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die

This time tomorrow
Reckon where I'll be
Hadn't a-been for Grayson
I'd a-been in Tennessee

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die

This time tomorrow
Reckon where I'll be
Down in some lonesome valley
Hangin' from a white oak tree

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die

Poor boy, you're bound to die
Poor boy you're bound to die
Poor boy, you're bound to die...

Not the Elementary school version
Chorus
Hang your head, Tom Dooley
Hang your head and cry
Killed poor Laura Foster
And you know you're bound to die

You took her on the hillside
And begged to be excused
You took her on the hillside
Then hid her clothes and shoes

You dug her grave four feet wide
Dug it three feet deep
Rolled the cold clay over her
And tromped it with your feet

[chorus]

Took her on the hillside
Stabbed with a knife
Took her on the hillside
And then you took her life

[chorus]
[chorus]

This time tomorrow morning
Where do you reckon I'll be
Down in some lonesome valley
Just swinging from a white oak tree

You can take down my old violin
And play it all you please
For at this time tomorrow morning
It'll be of no use to me

[chorus]
[chorus]

New Orleans Police Officer Aquitted of the Two Charges

2007-07-25T02:13:00.000-07:00

"I didn't even find this a close call," said District Judge Frank Marullo.

About 6 weeks after hurricane Katrina a group of cops beat up a retired elementary school teacher who was at the age of 64. He had approached the police officers (aka pigs, pricks, nazi's, etc) for a cigarette and some small talk and they ended up trying to arrest him for public drunkenness. The senior citizen tried to express that he in fact wasn't intoxicated and then received the beating of his lifetime.

The officers then noticed they were being video taped and turned on the cameraman.

Surprisingly, I can't find a embedded version of the video 2 years after all this happened but here's a
link to the video....

and here's the latest news story.

"Evangelist and Lance Schilling were fired after being accused of the beating, but Evangelist is appealing the dismissal. Schilling killed himself June 10."

"Davis was booked on suspicion of public intoxication but never charged."

Arkansas Cop Cleared of Choking Skateboarder

2007-07-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

FUCKING PIGS

A police officer who appeared to choke a skateboarder and put two others in a headlock in a video posted online used appropriate force when making his arrests, an internal police investigation found.

The Hot Springs Police Department Internal Affairs Board found the use of force was within the police department's policy on non-deadly force and recommended "no changes to this policy." The decision was released Monday.

Officer Joey Williams confronted a situation that "would have overwhelmed any single officer" when he stopped those breaking a Hot Springs city ordinance by skateboarding on a downtown sidewalk June 21, the report said.

However, Williams was faulted for leaving a handcuffed suspect unattended while chasing another youth in the resort town's historic Bathhouse Row.

Williams has been on administrative leave since the video hit YouTube on June 25. Police said he would return to active duty Thursday in the city's downtown.

"I think it was fair," City Manager Kent Myers said. Witnesses "consistently supported the actions of the officer and his efforts to control the situation."

Video from a business' security cameras shows 10 skateboarders rolling down the city sidewalk at a good clip, followed by Williams, who sprints past the last skater.

A video taken by skateboarders and later posted on YouTube shows Williams on top of one of the skaters, apparently choking him. The video also showed Williams putting another two skateboarders in a headlock, and the officer can later be heard threatening to use pepper spray on a skateboarder lying on the ground.

Police said they arrested Matthew Jon McCormack, 21, and Skylar Nalls, 19, both of Hot Springs, and four juveniles. McCormack faces a misdemeanor battery charge accusing him of pushing or striking a 67-year-old city employee during the melee. Nalls was cited for skateboarding and faces misdemeanor charges of fleeing and obstructing governmental operations.

McCormack has previously disputed many of the police allegations, especially his battery charge. He has said he pulled on the city employee's arm after the man lifted a girl off her feet in a choke-hold.

Hot Springs is a resort town about 50 miles west of Little Rock.

Police Brutality on Skateboarders

2007-06-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

A despicable act of police brutality was committed on Go Skateboarding Day by the Hot Springs, Arkansas Police Department. Video of the incident is below. After you watch it, we ask ALL of you to flood their phone lines and email address (below) with complaints regarding the main policeman involved, Officer Joey Williams. You should also contact your local news organizations to help spread the word. The more attention this officer gets, the better for us.

Hot Springs Arkansas Police Department
Phone: (501) 321-6789
Fax: (501) 321-6708
Chief of Police, Bobby Southard
Email: bsouthard@cityhs.net
641 Malvern Avenue

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EH6AYVn2yw4

I just called that number (yes, from Holland) and the dispatcher said it was under investigation. I also said I'd be calling back in a few weeks for a follow up if I don't find anything else online being done about the matter. The heat is on.

Bill O'Reilly interviews Richard Dawkins

2007-04-25T00:54:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry Bill, but you can't blame the acts of past dictators on Atheism. Think about it. He names the percentages of atheists around the globe, (most of them being everywhere else but in the United States) but I'm sorry, which country is the country with most of its' shit out of whack?

I'm drunk

2007-04-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

Artist: Rob Dougan
Album: Furious Angels
Year: 2003
Title: Left Me For Dead

You didn't stop to look round
You were gone before I hit the ground
You went on you're way
And no prayer was said
You left me for dead
You didn't cover my face
I didn't merit a communal grave
You set me aside
And no tears were shed
You left me for dead
And I say I won't stop no 'til hell is your home
There's no where to hide (no nowhere)
You'll feel the cold of my gun at you're head
Ah you left me for dead
And it's not like you stayed by my side or you called me a priest

You searched through my mouth to check for gold teeth
you were pawning my shoes as i bled

You left me for, left me for, left me, for
Dead

You kept on taking your time
Until it was certain i couldn't survive
Judas remained, you turned and fled

You left me for dead
And it didn't trouble your mind
It did not disturb you to see me decline
You turned out my lights
You put me to bed
You left me for dead
(And i say) that I won't rest my head until hell is your home
You'll think that you're safe but oh no
You'll feel the cold of my gun hit your head
Ah you left me for dead
And you didn't stay close to me didn't stay by my side
I was choking in blood as delight filled your eyes
You're gonna burn for each word that you said
Cause you
Left me for, left me for, left me me for
Dead
But I don't want to search no more
There's nowhere to hide
So why don't you come quietly my love
I wanted to say, to say that you sure proved the death of me
Now i've reached a dead end, and i can't go back
But if i'm going down you'll come with me...

They need to pull out of our asses

2007-04-17T00:50:00.000-07:00

Bush: Democrats need to drop Iraq pullout demand

"Have you tried our new cup of bullshit?"

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, prodding Congress to extend the Iraq war without calling troops home, said Monday that Democratic leaders owe it to veterans and their families to pass the war-spending bill he wants.

"Listen, I understand Republicans and Democrats in Washington have differences over the best course in Iraq," Bush said from the White House. "That's healthy. That's normal, and we should debate those differences. But our troops should not be caught in the middle."

Surrounded by families of veterans, Bush sought to set expectations for his meeting Wednesday with congressional leaders of both parties. In particular, he aimed to pressure Democratic lawmakers to fund the war without trying to limit or wind down the military mission.

"That's what we're supposed to do -- we're supposed to talk out our differences," Bush said. "I'm looking forward to the meeting. I hope the Democratic leadership will drop their unreasonable demands for a precipitous withdrawal."

Both the House and Senate have passed bills to both fund the war and start drawing troops home. They are expected this to week to begin negotiating a final version to send to Bush. He has pledged to veto it if it is not stripped of the provisions he opposes.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid responded that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney "refuse to listen or acknowledge the other voices. They are isolated in their thinking, and are failing our troops and our country."
Reid, D-Nevada, indicated he would be just as stubborn during Wednesday's meeting with the president.

"The offer is that the president sign the bill," he said.

Bush spoke in the ornate East Room surrounded by mothers and fathers, husbands and wives and sons and daughters of U.S. troops who have been killed in Iraq. Members of military service support organizations filled out the crowd.

The president said he would deliver their message to Congress -- as he put it, U.S. troops "want to finish the job."

"The families gathered here understand that we are a nation at war," Bush said. "Like me, they wish we weren't at war, but we are. They know that the enemies who attacked us on September the 11th, 2001, want to bring further destruction to our country."

Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, responded that Bush and Republican congressional leaders have abandoned efforts to hold the Iraqi people and government accountable.

"As they rush to embrace the Bush plan for more of the same in Iraq, the Republican policy is to make U.S troops bear the full burden of the war on their shoulders," Emanuel said.

The Senate bill would require a U.S. troop exit in Iraq to begin within 120 days, with a completion goal of March 31, 2008. The House bill would order all combat troops out by September 1, 2008. Most Republicans stand with Bush on grounds that a timetable is a dangerous war policy.

In the same breath, Bush offered to discuss "any way forward" with Congress and declared what he would not accept -- restrictions on his military commanders, timetables for troops to come home, or billions of dollars in emergency spending unrelated to the war.

He said Democrats are the ones who should put partisanship on hold. "We should not legislate defeat in this vital war," Bush said.

Bush told the military families that he had just spoken with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "He said, 'Please thank the people in the White House for their sacrifices, and we will continue to work hard to be an ally in this war on terror,' " Bush said.

Cheney, meanwhile, predicted that Democrats will be forced to cave.

In an interview broadcast Sunday, Cheney said Congress will end up passing a "clean" bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without any troop withdrawal timetables. Democrats do not appear to have the votes to override a presidential veto.

"They will not leave the troops in the field without the resources they need," Cheney said of the Democrats.

Asked what would happen if they don't back down, Cheney said, "I'm willing to bet the other way -- that, in fact, they will."

Sen. Carl Levin, a Democrat and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told reporters in Michigan Monday that Democrats would go with a "second-best approach" to dealing with security issues in Iraq if Bush vetoes their original bill.

He said the second bill would tie U.S. economic and military support to the Iraqi government's ability to meet performance benchmarks.

Iraq's leadership is struggling to make the progress it has promised on political reconciliation, distribution of the country's oil wealth and other vital goals.

USA Supports Terroists In Iran

2007-04-05T04:31:00.001-07:00

A Pakistani tribal militant group responsible for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News.

The group, called Jundullah, is made up of members of the Baluchi tribe and operates out of the Baluchistan province in Pakistan, just across the border from Iran.

It has taken responsibility for the deaths and kidnappings of more than a dozen Iranian soldiers and officials.

U.S. officials say the U.S. relationship with Jundullah is arranged so that the U.S. provides no funding to the group, which would require an official presidential order or "finding" as well as congressional oversight.

Tribal sources tell ABC News that money for Jundullah is funneled to its youthful leader, Abd el Malik Regi, through Iranian exiles who have connections with European and Gulf states.

Jundullah has produced its own videos showing Iranian soldiers and border guards it says it has captured and brought back to Pakistan.

The leader, Regi, claims to have personally executed some of the Iranians.

"He used to fight with the Taliban. He's part drug smuggler, part Taliban, part Sunni activist," said Alexis Debat, a senior fellow on counterterrorism at the Nixon Center and an ABC News consultant who recently met with Pakistani officials and tribal members.

"Regi is essentially commanding a force of several hundred guerrilla fighters that stage attacks across the border into Iran on Iranian military officers, Iranian intelligence officers, kidnapping them, executing them on camera," Debat said.

Most recently, Jundullah took credit for an attack in February that killed at least 11 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard riding on a bus in the Iranian city of Zahedan.

Last month, Iranian state television broadcast what it said were confessions by those responsible for the bus attack.

They reportedly admitted to being members of Jundullah and said they had been trained for the mission at a secret location in Pakistan.

The Iranian TV broadcast is interspersed with the logo of the CIA, which the broadcast blamed for the plot.

A CIA spokesperson said "the account of alleged CIA action is false" and reiterated that the U.S. provides no funding of the Jundullah group.

Pakistani government sources say the secret campaign against Iran by Jundullah was on the agenda when Vice President Dick Cheney met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in February.

A senior U.S. government official said groups such as Jundullah have been helpful in tracking al Qaeda figures and that it was appropriate for the U.S. to deal with such groups in that context, ABC News reports.

As Pravda.ru previously reported the White House denied the speculations that the US was preparing for the strike against Iran.

'We reject any notion that suggests that we are ratcheting up the language in terms of trying to prepare to go to war with Iran. That is certainly not the case,' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said at a news briefing, Monday.

The reiteration by the White House occurred at the time when US aircraft carrier Nimitz and its support ships are leaving for the Persian Gulf to join another aircraft carrier strike group already in that region.

Last week, Perino said the US is not escalating tensions with Iran and insisted that its naval exercises in the Gulf has been long planned, Indo-Asian News Service reports.

The USS Nimitz and several other American warships left San Diego today for the Persian Gulf to join another locally based aircraft carrier strike group already in the region.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will join the San Diego-based John C. Stennis Strike Group and relieve the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, according to Naval Air Forces Public Affairs.

Military officials said in a statement that the two-carrier presence in the Persian Gulf area is intended to demonstrate U.S. "resolve to build regional security and bring long-term stability to the region."

The Nimitz's departure comes amid heightened tensions in the region following the detention of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran. Iran maintains the detainees were operating in its territorial waters, a charge the British government denies.

Link

Most Outrageous Quote by G.W. Bush...yet

2007-01-15T00:32:00.000-08:00

"We liberated that country (Iraq) from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude. That's the problem here in America: They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that's significant enough in Iraq."
-60 Minutes Interview on January 14, 2007

That said after a 650,000 death toll of civilians since March 2003? After Guantanamo? After elections in an occupied country? After little girls are raped and shot in the face? After families are shot dead in their car because they're out a few minutes past curfew and yelled at to stop but they don't stop because they're too scared to? After so many things Americans won't ever see or hear about. Things only seen by an Iraqi family and heard by their neighbors.

Yes, WHERE'S MY GRATITUDE?!

Transformers Trailer

2006-12-22T04:24:00.000-08:00

The United States: A Democratic Federal Republic LOL!

2006-12-21T23:48:00.000-08:00

Ellison: Lawmaker has 'a lot to learn about Islam'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Virginia lawmaker criticized for writing an "Islamophobic" letter to his constituents would be wise to learn more about Islam, the first Muslim elected to Congress said Thursday.

Minnesota Rep.-elect Keith Ellison told CNN that he is not angry about a letter Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode wrote that said Ellison should not be allowed to place his hand on the Quran during his unofficial swearing in ceremony.

"I think the diversity of our country is a great strength," Ellison told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "It's a good thing that we have people from all faiths and all cultures to come here."

Goode wrote that to "preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States," an immigration overhaul was necessary to avoid "many more Muslims elected to office demanding the use of the Quran."

Defending his statements Thursday, Goode, a Republican, told Fox News he wants to limit legal immigration.

He also said he wants to do away with "diversity visas," which he said allowed people into America "not from European countries" and "some terrorist states."

Ellison responded to Goode's sentiments by saying that he would like to meet with Goode to talk about Islam and find some "common ground."

"We all support one Constitution, one Constitution that upholds our right to equal protection, one Constitution that guarantees us due process under the law, one Constitution which says there is no religious test for elective office in America," Ellison said.

Blitzer asked the new lawmaker-elect directly if thought Goode is a "bigot."

But Ellison refused to partake in what he characterized as "name calling."

"I don't know the fellow and I'd rather just say he has a lot to learn about Islam," Ellison said.

The congressman-elect said he looks forward to meeting Goode.

"What I'd tell him is that there might be a few things about Muslims that he might want to know," said Ellison. "He might want to know that Muslims -- there are about 5 million in the country -- that they are here to support and strengthen America.

"They are nurses, doctors, husbands, wives, kids, who just want to live and prosper in the American way and that there's really nothing to fear," the new lawmaker said. "And that all of us are steadfastly opposed to the same people he is opposed to, which is the terrorists, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

"And, that what we should do is to tell our constituents -- we should reach to each other and not be against each other and we should find ways for common ground."

Ellison then said he'd like Goode to reach out to leaders at mosques and synagogues to encourage understanding and tolerance of the country's variety of religions.

Goode told FoxNews in an interview last night:

"One lady told me she thinks I'm doing the right thing on this," he told Fox News. "I wish more people would take a stand and stand up for the principles on which this country was founded."

Malik Shabazz Embarrasses Dennis "The Bigot" Prager
(FoxNews is so racists)

I spilled my coffee on the floor again >: O

2006-12-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

Lawmaker won't apologize for 'Islamophobic' letter

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Virginia congressman will not apologize for writing that without immigration reform "there will be many more Muslims elected to office demanding the use of the Quran," his spokesman said.

Republican Rep. Virgil Goode's letter to constituents also warns that without immigration reform "we will have many more Muslims in the United States."

Spokesman Linwood Duncan said Goode's letter was written in response to complaints his office received about Minnesota Rep.-elect Keith Ellison's request to be sworn in using the Quran.

Ellison is the first Muslim to be elected to Congress.

Goode's office released the letter to CNN Wednesday.

In it, Goode wrote, "When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Quran in any way.

"The Muslim representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Quran.

"We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country.

"I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped."

He added, "The Ten Commandments and 'In God We Trust' are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Quran.

"My response was clear, 'As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, the Quran is not going to be on the wall of my office.' "

The Council on American-Islamic Relations asked Goode to apologize.

"Rep. Goode's Islamophobic remarks send a message of intolerance that is unworthy of anyone elected to public office," the council's Corey Saylor said in a statement. "There can be no reasonable defense for such bigotry."

Duncan told CNN that Goode stands by his comments.

On another note. . .okay, not really.

Lawyer: U.S. student hit by stun gun thought officer was racial profiling

Barack Obama's Special Announcement

2006-12-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

"I went there for a massage"

2006-11-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

And for what? Don't answer, I know. Absoluelty nothing.

2006-10-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

I wish I never watched this clip today. I bet Bush saw it. Well, probably not. He's to busy right? For instance today he was busy flapping his gums...

"Our troops are fighting a war that will set the course for this new century. The outcome will determine the destiny of millions across the world. Defeating the terrorists and extremists is the challenge of our time and the calling of this generation. I'm confident this generation will answer that call and defeat an ideology that is bent on destroying America and all that we stand for."

"I know the American people understand the stakes in Iraq. They want to win. They will support the war as long as they see a path to victory. Americans can have confidence that we will prevail because thousands of smart, dedicated military and civilian personnel are risking their lives and are working around the clock to ensure our success. A distinguished independent panel of Republicans and Democrats, led by former Secretary of State Jim Baker and former Congressman Lee Hamilton, is taking a fresh look at the situation in Iraq and will make recommendations to help achieve our goals. I welcome all these efforts. My administration will carefully consider any proposal that will help us achieve victory."

Thanks for that shocking and emotional "masterpeace" Mr. Bush. You're never afraid to show the truth. That brought a tear to my eye. Bravo!

::sigh::

Anyway, the clip is of two US soldiers that were kidnapped some months ago. They were tied to a truck and then dragged for a few minutes before being set on fire and burned. According to Mujahideen Shura Council, the two soldiers were part of the brigade that raped and burned Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and killed her family in al-Mahmoudiya back in June.

After watching that I really hope...OH FUCK IT!! We're going to have to think of a new name for our species. We're evolving past our "human" state.

Michael J. Fox Political Ad

2006-10-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Now it's just sad the conroversy this is getting. I think Rush Limbaugh is just pissed that no matter what prescription drugs he became dependent on, they never helped solve his problems.

Ammo Storage Site Explosion

2006-10-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Did you see the video? It was on October 11. No? Get outta here. Really? Ok here it is.

Wonder why you didn't see it or why it didn't even get attention until on October 18 exactly 7days later? You forgot what FoxNews was calling October 11 all day? "10/11" You forgot about "10/11" already? Wow. That was the day the baseball player crashed his plane into a NYC apartment building.

Now are you wondering what the casualties were from those explosions on that military base with exploding bombs and mushroom clouds?

When the flames had been brought under control on the morning of the 11th of October, primarily because the entire camp had been gutted, nine large American military transports with prominent Red Cross markings were observed by members of the foreign media taking off, laded with the dead and the wounded.

Over 300 American troops, including U.S. Army and Marines, CIA agents and U.S. translators were casualties and there also were 165 seriously injured requiring major medical attention and 39 suffering lesser injuries 122 members of the Iraqi armed forces were killed and 90 seriously injured members of same, were also evacuated to the U.S. military hospital at al-Habbaniyah located some 70km west of Baghdad.

Although official U.S. DoD statements indicated that there were no deaths; that only a hundred men were inside the base guarding billions of dollars of vital military equipment and that there were “only two minor injuries to personnel,” passes belief and certainly reality is more painful than propaganda.

Georgia Law and The Greedy Nurse

2006-10-17T05:08:00.000-07:00

Nurse sues over ticket for anti-Bush bumper sticker

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A woman who was ticketed for having an obscene anti-Bush bumper sticker filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday against a county in the state of Georgia and its officials.

Denise Grier, 47, of Athens, Georgia, got a $100 ticket in March after a DeKalb County police officer spotted the bumper sticker, which read "I'm Tired Of All The BUSH**."

A DeKalb judge threw out the ticket in April because the state's lewd decal law that formed the basis for the ticket was ruled unconstitutional in 1990.

Grier is seeking damages from the county for "emotional distress," according to the lawsuit.

Grier also seeks a declaration in federal court that her bumper sticker is considered constitutionally protected speech because she is "uncertain and insecure regarding her right to display her bumper sticker in DeKalb County," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

Grier, a nurse who works at Emory University and other hospitals, also is seeking punitive damages against the DeKalb police officer who gave her the ticket because he "acted with reckless disregard" of her rights, the lawsuit said.

The state law prohibited lewd or profane stickers and decals on vehicles.