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August 18, 2006
Turkey, Iran Team up to Attack the "Other" Iraq
As if there weren't enough going on in the Middle East already, the other, other, other war in the region may be heating up.
Who knew?
The Northern, Kurdish-controlled section Iraq, a region so relatively stable that it bills itself to tourists as "The Other Iraq", has been bombed by Turkey and Iran for at least four days without so much as a peep from the American press.
"Scores of Kurds have fled their homes in the northern frontier region after four days of shelling by the Iranian army. Local officials said Turkey had also fired a number of shells into Iraqi territory," writes the the UK's Guardian newspaper today.
Turkey, ostensibly United States's greatest ally in the Middle East, and Iran, ostensibly the United States's greatest enemy, have teamed up to shell the country that the United States is ostensibly trying to build and stabilize. Of more concern is that Turkey and Iran appear poised to cross the Iraqi border to attack the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) , according to reports filed by the Turkish Daily News.
"Citing a statement released on the official Web site of President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the [private Doğan News Agency (DHA)] agency said that Turkish and Iranian artillery units have been firing on the mountainous area since Saturday. The statement said the Turkish and Iranian units have been firing simultaneously, alleging that both Turkish and Iranian troops might cross the Iraqi border -- an apparent reference to a cross-border operation on the PKK camps."
In an unrelated(?) event, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Hilmi Güler and Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, met in Ankara Tuesday to discuss expanding natural gas exports and other energy contracts. (See The New Anatolian)
Posted by MJuhre at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
Airline Outsources Jobs; Advises Employees to Dumpster Dive
Northwest Airlines today announced that it is seeking approval for daily service between Detroit and Shanghai, likely for the purpose of ferrying American auto executives to their new, outsourced plants in China.
The announcement on the same day it offered an apology (see the LA Times to baggage handlers and other ground workers, who will soon lose their jobs after their union agreed to allow the airline to outsource their work, for advising them to eat food out of the garbage as a way to save money.
Northwest recently gave out a four-page booklet entitled "Preparing for a Financial Setback" to workers who face impending layoffs and pay cuts amid a corporate restructuring. The company's tips to soon-to-be former employees include shopping in thrift stores, taking "a date for a walk along the beach or in the woods" and not being "shy about pulling something you like out of the trash."
Not surprisingly, Northwest is in full damage-control mode, is no longer handing out the booklet, and has been removed it the corporate Web site. PLEASE somebody send one to me!
Stories
Reuters
CTV.CA (Canada)
LA Times
Posted by MJuhre at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2006
Bush Administration Said to be "Considering Alternatives Other Than Democracy"
...[and at the end of page 2]
Well there's a buried lead if I ever saw one. Okay, maybe it's not a classic buried lead because, on its own, it doesn't have much to stand on. But putting this quote in the second-to-last paragraph of a front page story? Boy howdy. Half the readers of this story won't get past the fold (or, online, click to see the second page), let alone get to the last two paragraphs.
"Senior administration officials have acknowledged to me that they are considering alternatives other than democracy," said one military affairs expert who received an Iraq briefing at the White House last month and agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity.
Posted by MJuhre at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2006
Elmo is an Evildoer
I just can't agree with this commentary more:
..."I am not the only one who hates Elmo. Vernon Chatman and John Lee, the creators of MTV2's dark 'Sesame Street' parody, 'Wonder Showzen,' think the evil red one is destroying the show.
'Elmo doesn't grow. People show him something and he laughs. He doesn't learn a lesson,' says Lee. 'It's the exact opposite of what old Sesame Street used to do. Elmo has been learning the same lesson his whole life, which is that Elmo likes Elmo.' " ...
-- Joel Stein in the LA Times
Posted by MJuhre at 03:29 PM | Comments (0)
Bill Clinton Bitch-slaps Lieberman, As Key Republicans Cozy Up
After supporting Joe Lieberman (though not very visibly) in the Connecticut Democratic senatorial primary, Bill Clinton gave JoeMentum a good bitch slapping on ABC's Good Morning America yesterday, saying he is in League with Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld.
Trancript:
JAKE TAPPER (ABC): Joe Lieberman said that this was basically liberals in the party purging moderates such as him and you out of the party, and that there needs to be a voice for more moderate national security voices.
CLINTON: Well, if I were Joe and I were running as an independent that’s what I’d say, too. But that’s not quite right. That is, there were almost no Democrats who agreed with his position, which was I want to attack Iraq whether or not they have weapons of mass destruction. And his position was the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld position.
Watch the video at Think Progress. (If link goes dead, hear an archived audio clip (sourced from the Rachel Maddow Show).
Bill must have felt some pleasure letting Lieberman hang out to dry. In the six years since Bush's black ops team kept him from the Vice President's office, Lieberman has not once criticized the Bush administration for its deceptions that led to the Iraq War, but back in 1998, he chastised Clinton, saying he was immoral and abused his office. Back then, Lieberman took Clinton to task over the Monica Lewinsky scandal, saying "such behavior is not just inappropriate. It is immoral."
With a wink to Lieberman, Bush and RNC Chair refuse to endorse GOP candidate.
Clinton's cold shoulder to Lieberman comes as Republicans warm up to the senator by refusing to support the Republican challenger.
This week, White House Tony Snow tripped over himself attempting to explain why Bush is not endorsing the Republican Connecticut senatorial candidate, Alan Schlesinger, leading some to speculate that Lieberman might actually make a switch to the Republican party. (Audio clip sourced from the Rachel Maddow Show.
Last week on Chris Matthews's "Hardball" (MSNBC), Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mellman also refused to endorse the GOP candidate. (Audio clip sourced from the Rachel Maddow Show.
Posted by MJuhre at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2006
Surprise Suprise -- NYC’s only GOP Congressman is as Corrupt as the Rest
Vito Fossella Rep. (R- Bay Ridge and Staten Island) may picture himself as a kindly friend of children and Muppets.
But in reality, Fossello increasingly resembles so many of his Republican Congressional peers as multiple corruption scandals gain steam.
Yesterday, the Daily News reported Fossello changed his story regarding accusations he violated House rules by using more than $160,000 in taxpayer money for his reelection campaign. The "Muppetgate" allegations center around Fossella's using pictures of himself sitting with Sesame Street’s Elmo in conjunction with a direct-mail campaign promotion.
If misusing taxpayer money for a political campaign isn’t bad enough, The Brooklyn Papers recently reported that Fossella misused more than $52,000 of his campaign money for pleasure trips to Las Vegas and a skiing trip to Colorado, took $16,000 in gifts from political consultants and corporate sponsors for “fact-finding missions” to such places as the Turnberry Isle Resort in Florida.
One such political consultant, the now disgraced Jack Abramoff, hosted a $1000 per-ticket fundraiser for Fossella.
Democratic candidate Stephen Harrison hopes this fall to unseat Fossella, who thus far has refused to debate the challenger. I don’t know much about Harrison, but here’s hoping he is part of a 2006 Democratic Revolution that takes back the House and leaves New York City with 100% Democratic Congressional representation.
(Additional links to the above stories and more can be found at Harrison’s website).
More reading reading:
"Target the Corrupt Republican Campaign" blog
"Challenger wants 4 debates with Fossella" (Staten Island Advance)
Posted by MJuhre at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)
Warrior Souls
I debated momentarily on whether to categorize this nod to Gawker.com as a "Light Hearted Crap" or "Crazy New Order" post. Its connotations a la The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire led me to choose the latter.
Posted by MJuhre at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2006
Lieberman's Phone Call From the 'Architect' of Bush's 2004 Reelection
Yesterday, I began a post with "If Connecticut voters needed any more evidence that Joe Lieberman is not a 'true Democrat'..." Well, we didn't need more but we got it anyway.
Reuters reports that Chief GOP strategist Karl Rove (I know that's not his title anymore, but let's get real) called Lieberman on election day to "wish him well," though he denied offering Lieberman help from the White House.
Yesterday, ABC News's George Stephanopoulos wrote on his blog that source told him Rove called Lieberman and said "The boss wants to help. Whatever we can do, we will do."
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On the lighter side, Liebermania knows where it's at.
Posted by MJuhre at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)
Cheap Lieberman Website Not Hacked
Joe Lieberman’s accusation that Lamont supporters "hacked his site" may have been more than just a disingenuous, if ill-fated ploy to garner last-minute voter sympathy.
While no evidence has been produced to support the accusation, which still appears on Lieberman’s site as of today, Joe Lieberman might really believe his site fell victim to a vicious denial-of-service (DoS) attack.
But only because he doesn’t know anything about managing a website, bandwidth limitations or, for that matter, the difference between bloggers and hackers (the latter of whom, of course, should really be referred to as crackers -- and I ain’t talking about Pat Robertson -- but I digress ).
Investigators of the story point to evidence suggesting that the number of Internet requests to Joe2006.com simply exceeded the bandwidth allotted to the site, which was hosted on a $14.95/mo account at “myhostcamp.com.”
I suspect Joe and some members of his team have also made a fallacious mental connection between the buzz over their campaign being "blogged down" and activities performed by black hat hackers.
See: "Lieberman's 'hack' was no such thing"
"Joe Lieberman Website May Not Have Been Hacked - Report"
Posted by MJuhre at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
August 09, 2006
Shia Leaders Propose Dismantling of Iraq
Civil war? What civil war?
The Bush administration’s blind insistence that Iraq will not erupt in civil war received two major blows this week.
A political bloc of Shia Muslim leaders say that a plan to secede from the new Iraqi government and divide the country along religious lines is the only way to avert sustained sectarian violence. See article in the Los Angeles Times.
Meanwhile, on August 7, General George Casey admitted to ABC news that Iraq is poised for civil war, saying “A countrywide, a threat of a countrywide civil war, I think that, I would say, that probably is the most significant threat right now.”
Posted by MJuhre at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)
Joe Lieberman Needs to Step Aside
If Connecticut voters needed any more evidence that Joe Lieberman is not a "true Democrat," as many have exclaimed, or, at the very least, is not loyal to his party or his constituents, they got it when JoeMentum confirmed last night that he would run as an "Independent Democrat," against Ned Lamont and the Republican nominee to hold onto his Senate seat.
"For the sake of our state, our country, and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand," said Lieberman about his failed primary bid (emphasis mine).
Conventional wisdom says that Lieberman's move will split the Democratic vote and ensure a Republican victory. While the November election could prove the exception to the rule (since many Connecticut Republicans support Lieberman and, so far, the likely GOP nominee for the seat, Alan Schlesinger, isn't gathering much steam), Lieberman's willingness to risk a GOP victory in Connecticut and retention of the Senate in 2006 just proves that he cares more about himself than his party or his constituents.
Lieberman is calling himself an "Independent Democrat." There is no such thing.
Sadly, the political reality on the ground in the modern United States is that a candidate either represents a party or is an "Independent." Lieberman's "Independent Democrat" nomenclature is window dressing for the kicking and screaming child within.
Add this childishness to Lieberman's decision to support Bush's Iraq policy and you get what Lieberman himself ironically dubbed "JoeMentum" -- a downward spiral to political loss.
Many politicians cross party lines on an issue here and there, and are not tarred and feathered for it. Much has been made of Lieberman's unwavering support for Bush's Iraq policy and it is true that his support for a policy that is acutely unpopular with Democrats and, increasingly, with voters of all parties was, in the end, beyond the bounds of political safety.
But his real death knell, of course, came from the venom Dems felt over Joe Lieberman's complacent willingness to offer a reacharound to the same man who, in 2000, unapologetically reamed him out of his just claim to the vice presidency.
There's the rub. To many Democrats, Lieberman simply looks like a lapdog to the GOP. To appear as Bush's little Dem bitch in a time when the GOP's lockstep unity has marginalized anyone left of Dick Cheney, is unacceptable. The majority of Connecticut Democrats last night made it clear that they want their party and their representative to face the GOP head on, not prone. That the newcomer Ned Lamont better reflects their ideals, values, and interests than does Joe Lieberman.
But Lieberman just doesn't care. He is thinking not of his constituents, but of himself. He just wants to keep his Senate seat, probably to foster his delusion that one day he can still win the presidency, or at least the vice presidency.
Joe, if you want to prove to your accusers that they're wrong -- take one for the team. Bow out gracefully, go out with some dignity and complete your corrupt bargain with Bush to replace Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense.
Posted by MJuhre at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2006
Goodbye US Bill of Rights -- Hello Sinclair Lewis
It can't happen here. "Or can it?" wondered writer Sinclair Lewis in 1935.
A Bush administration plan for special military courts would give Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld the power to make ANY crime committed by a US citizen fall under military jurisdiction.
Goodbye Amendments 5 and 6 to the US Constitution, which of course are two of the ten Amendments we call the Bill of Rights.
See the Washington Post article, "White House Proposal Would Expand Authority of Military Courts."
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Amendment 5
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment 6
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Posted by MJuhre at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
Hummer Humping
Posted by MJuhre at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)