The worst of

the worst of the worst.
=====================================

How Uyghurs got to Guantanamo

This is most of it.
Plus money paid to finger suspicious characters.

The second rhetorical war

RW1: The War on Poverty
RW2: The War on Terror
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas [wikipedia]

Maybe this is the Second War on Poverty.

WMD is probably a lie

Nuclear explosions could kill millions.
Biological and chemical weapons, not so.
Commercial decisions are more dangerous:
antibiotics in feed, medical errors.

Are these islands part of Cuba

Some argue no. [here]

Tom Perez, Asst Attorney General for Civil Rights

On Social Justice Sunday, Tom met with a group after the 10:30 mass at St Aloysius in DC. He opened by saying that when he took the oath of office in October 2009, he placed his hand on the bible and swore to uphold the Constitution; he did not swear to uphold the bible. This is a deft way of making the distinction between legality and morality, with the implication that when laws are thought to be moral, it makes compliance more general, and his job of enforcement somewhat easier, but that's mostly it.

His presentation was an uplifting and heart warming recollection of the dreams of his youth, and the achievements of the department in the recent past; among which, the program to reduce playgound bullying and the recent conviction of the Chicago officer who long obtained confessions through torture.

At the question period, the talk shifted to the bullying and torture committed by the previous administration, and would they ever be arrested. He said that after some discussion at the highest levels, it was decided not to pursue that course, an example of the principle of prosecutorial discretion.

He listened, without objection, to the notions that
1. international treaties, once ratified by the Senate, are law
2. the Attorney General recognizes that waterboarding is torture,
3. Bush admitted establishing a program of waterboarding.
It was discreetly not mentioned that the convention against torture, article 4, puts that crime beyond reach of the application of prosecutorial discretion.

He refused to reveal his opinion on the decision to not proescute, most likely because he took part in the dicussions, and it is impolite to reveal one's own contributions. But doubtless there is considerable cognitive dissonance at the highest levels of the DoJ, which may constitute a workplace hazard.

To avoid this risk, the current president should issue a blanket pardon for all white collar crimes committed during the last administration within the White House or at the DoJ. This would bring our actions into a nice conformity with our obligations, although it would raise two troubling thoughts:
1. what is the effect of a national pardon on an international crime
2. might this not suggest that people in power can be expected, in the absence of a pardon, to explain their actions.
On the positive side, it would eliminate the embarrassing possibility that a judge would issue a writ of mandamus to require the Attorney General to uphold the law.

If you see something

say something.

Close the SOA

[story] ¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!

Hal Lindsey's Two State Solution

Show=179

Vlast

Power in Russia

Hippies Say

and Free Tommy Chong.
See the promo here. It's pro-democracy. Yea.

Annual Estate Tax + End the War Mongers

Chris Matthews on Salon, happy as ever.

History Lesson - First President

Presided over the Continental Congress
during the Declaration of Independence.
Probably why his signature is so large.
Big man on campus.

Hear the one about Julie Sirrs?

I didn't think so

The Stones

Esther and Izzy

Hope I dont die

too late

Is it a violent religion?

Islam? Christianity?

Actionable intelligence gathering

Actionable means "able to be prosecuted", criminal.

Coptics in Egypt

Been there a long time. [something]
Protest in DC, Dec 15th. Be there.

Not Guilty

Charged with violating the "ten yards" regulation, which is
36 CFR 7.96 (g)(5)(viii) sentence 6:
No signs ... shall be held ... or set down on the center portion of the White House sidewalk, comprising ten yards on either side of the center point on the sidewalk ...

Chinese Water Torture

without the water.
Raising the question: is Chinese water torture torture?
How about pulling out fingernails?

Paul Farmer

He weren't always handsome.

See me

2010 Dec 16th, Washington

Quote from Chris hedges:
"American workers, as they are repeatedly told, will have to become competitive with prison labor in China," he said. "That's where we're headed, and all the pillars of the liberal establishment are complicit in this." [rawstory]

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

[video]
Don't miss it.
And Mark Levine.

End the war

Chris Hedges, on where we are.
It's not good.

Arrest at the Circle K

November 20th at the School of the Americas demonstration.

News story from Atlanta Progressive News.

Location of the Spectrum Circle-K on Google Maps,
quite a distance from Victory Highway.

View Larger Map
The crime?
The city charges were
- failure to disperse and
- demonstrating without a permit
The state charge was
- unlawful assembly
The question is
a. Disperse from ... what?
b. What assemblies require a permit?
c. Why did the judge accept the testimony of the police, without any video evidence. The police had surveilance cameras, plus helicopters.

Ladies and gentlemen

Miss America? Yes, yes I do.

Charlie Rangle

Censured

Dallas, November 22nd

Front exit wound.
If Oswald had help, ... with what?
Yes, he got a ride to work that morning.
----
Why did Kennedy's head snap backwards?
Possibly, terribly, he got hit with a piece of his own skull,
a piece that broke off
but pivoted around its bottom edge by the intact skin.

We will vote for the Obama Tax Cuts

when they are an extension of the Bush Tax Cuts.

Wikileaks IP address

http://213.251.145.96/
See the movie.

We are going to get Assange

We are going to get Assange, even if we have to go
ex post facto on his ass. We are not joking.
Assange is wanted in Sweden for unsafe sex.

Where the oil is coming from

There are a few remaining questions.

Another Day in Paradise

Lake effect snow, in Cheektowaga.
Instant winter.

Every government is run by liars

And nothing they say
should be believed.

I F Stone

Highlands

Above the flood.

Truth, Justice vs the American Way

Vancouver Media Coop story

Leaf Harvest

So many leaves, so little time

2010 Thanksgiving

With the Seneca Indians

The Green School

Architecture Gallery.
See a presentation by John Hardy, the capitalist.

Closing the School of the Americas

Slideshow

Who is worse

Not even close.
Wendy participated in humiliation, not killing.
The killers, and their bosses, got away.

Our life style is not negotiable

Now what prompted him to say that?
Did somebody in the meeting say it was?

Try me

Maybe there is.

How the war ended: with a bang

The bombing of Osaka, the day the Japanese surrendered.
The bombs were accompanied by papers saying あなたが失わ.
The Bomb,(c)2010, H Zinn, p.55

I drink your milkshake

December 14, 2009
Opening day for the pipeline from Turkmenistan to Xinjiang.
[Article]

Kolontar, Hungary

click for context
Toxic sludge pond at the aluminum factory in Hungary.
Aljazeera video report.

Why The Farm needs the internet

click to enlarge
Can you find
1. Clear cut
2. An electric transmission line
3. Highways and roads
Where is this?

The King is Good

As are all powerful people.
The Tsar, they believed, would see their miseries and help.

Dmitry Orlov

Shoots off his mouth.

Collateral Damage

Hiroshima

Nice

Secure your own mask

before assisting those around you.