FBI wiretap cut off for unpaid bill

This is just like that time the CIA had to stop using waterboard torture because someone forgot to pay the water utility...

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Mystery Underwear Stymies Guantanamo Investigators

I bet it turns out the illicit undergarments were brought in by the same guys who bring in the waterboard and the car battery with the testicle clamps. 'Cause I'm sure none of the guys there thought they'd need a change of undies.

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"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts' desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." -- H.L. Mencken, 1920.

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"Do not... regard the critics as questionable patriots. What were Washington and Jefferson and Adams but profound critics of the colonial status quo?"
-Adlai Stevenson

"Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may."
-Mark Twain

"Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong."
-James Bryce

All these quotes pinched from QuoteGarden. There are more on that page that I liked, but these three strike closest to my views on this day.

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If you are a dedicated go-getter with a proven track record of attendance, the White House has an exciting new career in war management for you! We are looking for a dynamic, self-starting, Saved individual with extensive wartime experience (time spent playing "Risk" will be favorably considered) and a willingness to manage war activities in accordance with accepted White House foreign policy source material (see King James Bible: Book of Revelations). Benefits include four weeks of paid vacation per year, 401(k), Halliburton stock options, and an advance reservation to be included in the Rapture. Uniform and Bible (as censored to conform to National Security Directives) included; applicant must provide own shovel and hip waders. Interested parties should send resume, cover letter, 3x5 photo, DNA profile, and list of Secret Society memberships to K. Rove in Human Resources. Deadline for application has been indefinitely extended.

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This morning I was reading about VP Cheney's remarks on how we're going to finish our mission in Iraq and "return with honor," and I get that feeling of deja vu. And I understood why once I read this analysis, written about two and a half weeks ago, on CommonDreams.org.

I know the old saw about history repeating itself, but I would'a thought our Fearless Leaders would at least get a new script.

Though I voted Green whereever possible on the ballot I got on Tuesday (and Democratic where not possible), I was nevertheless pleased to see such a vigorous rejection of Republican excesses in this year's election. And while I know that neither major party will take away the lesson they ought to take away ("don't be corrupt") in favor of the more cynical variant ("don't get caught"), it was still viscerally satisfying.

There's some good commentary here on how the recent election set to rights some myths about the 'invincible machine' that Karl Rove built and how Diebold voting machines were supposed to be the cornerstone of eternal Republican hegemony. While I would have to kibbitz about #5, about how our democratic system, for all its fallibility, 'works' (certainly the system works -- the question is, is it really democracy in anything but its outer forms and rituals?), overall it has some pithy things to say about what the election was and was not.

So... if you're inclined to, enjoy the afterglow while it lasts. We've got two years of gridlock and extremely gradual disengagement from Iraq to look forward to. Woop.

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I'm going off to vote as soon as I finish this post. Not sure if it will make much difference which group of rascals gets into office, but there's at least one proposal on the statewide ballot in Michigan that I'd like to see go down to defeat (the anti-affirmative-action proposal, only on there in the first place because of the outright deception and fraud used by proponents to pass it off as having enough signatures).

In 'celebration' of two years on LJ, I have a new icon. Woo.

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I would like to take this opportunity to do something I have never done before: congratulate our War Time Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush, for his outstanding work in fighting the outsourcing of more American labor overseas. Thanks to his diligent efforts, we no longer have to outsource the torture of uncharged suspects in the War on Some Terror (tm) -- we can keep these detainees in the United States, where we can give these torture jobs to fully-qualified American torture experts.

No longer must we rely on cheap foreign torturers with their cut rate blowtorches and creepy knife-like things... when we put out the order that some guy we imprisoned based on faulty intelligence is going to get his nuts hooked up to a car battery unless he confesses to whatever bizarre stuff we dreamed up for him to confess to, we can take pride in the fact that it is American hands hooking him up to a quality American product! And it is our illustrious President Bush who we have to thank for finally stemming the flow of jobs overseas with this legislation he is so looking forward to signing.

Now I'm just waiting for Sally Struthers to offer a course in how to learn how to torture the shit out of people in the privacy of my own home. Because I'm all about the job security, man.

Meme pinched from mrbankies and freakfest and flemco:

Bush has now publicly noted that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

Which makes me wonder one thing that I'd love to hear the president explain.

MR. PRESIDENT, WHY DID WE GO TO IRAQ?

If you would like to have that answer as well, post these words in your blog. We're not gonna get an answer from the head dickcheese himself, but it would be interesting to see how many of you would like to hear that answer. Note: You will probably be bombarded by posts from neo-con right-wing asshats.

Somewhere, a village wants its idiot back.

So. The Internet. Save it, won't you?

Freakin' corporate asshats.

... wasn't FEMA supposed to be the Shadow Government that was going to take over the country after some kind of national emergency destroyed the Federal Government?

If that's so, then it's time to worry, because these guys couldn't Shadow Govern a puppet show if their lives depended on it.

So. It's been a while. I've been good, as things go. Busy and such. And I know I ought to do a life update sort of post soon, but for now...

I think I'm at the point a lot of others are at right now. While the news from New Orleans and the surrounding area in the wake of Hurricane Katarina is still depressing, the numbness it engendered is lifting. In its wake comes the anger, most of it squarely directed at the pathetic Federal Government response and the part that President Bush's criminally inept and negligent administration played in making the disaster worse.

If you're reading this, you've probably already read Eric's essay over on Websnark. It says a lot of things that can't be stressed enough, and if by some chance you haven't read it, I commend it to your attention.

Also worthy of attention is today's message from Michael Moore. While he promises to get into the graphic detail of how much Bush is to blame for exacerbating this situation throughout his disgraceful Presidential tenure, today he's talking about how to make a practical difference now in the relief effort. And that is by donating to Veterans for Peace.

You know, Cindy Sheehan's bunch. They've set up camp in Covington, Louisiana, and are accepting donations of materials and are directly distributing them. Their web site details the things that are in greatest need right now and where to send them. It's also possible to make a monetary donation through PayPal, which will in turn be used to purchase some of said supplies from Louisiana stores. I'm going to be doing both.

(And no, I'm not dissing the Red Cross. They're doing a hell of a job. I've kicked them some funds, and I'll be giving some blood tomorrow (the blood stays local, but it's still needed. It always is). VFP is just another way to get the things that are needed most through.)

Ok, it was funnier when you could go to Google, type in "weapons of mass destruction" and click the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button to find this page (it will take you to some official gubbermint page if you do this now, but this was not the case a few months ago), but this is still fun: Iraqi Explorer.

I read this this morning. I find myself wondering if Condoleezza Rice thinks irony is that thing that presses her suits.

As pinched from ashears...

Your Political Career by amitiel
Username
Political Party	DemocratRepublicanGreenLiberatarianIndependantReform
Date of Election:	February 13, 2024
Your Vice President:	frobozz
First Lady:	rabbi_thor
Attorney General:	evilbeej
Secretary of State:	masonk
Chief of Staff:	mechaman
Intern:	wrd
Scandal:	You start another war in Iraq, this time because you swear their leader looked at you funny.
Americans will...	critisize you at every turn.
Chance for Re-election:: 25%
Quiz created with MemeGen!

Red Cross: Guantanamo Tactics 'Tantamount to Torture'

I would really like to know what sort of morality was (and presumably still is) going on with the so-called 'morals voters' who voted to keep the Monkey King in office another four years. I really would. First Abu Ghraib, now this.

As far as I can tell, they're so obsessed with 'good vs. evil' that they've lost sight of 'right vs. wrong.' Or perhaps winged monkeys are gnawing at their intestines, and they lashed out the only way they could.