SO HERE I AM THIS A.M. AND WHAT DO I SEE ON THE NEWS???BUSH*T AND MRS. BUSH*T AND CHAINME AND MRS.CHAINME COMIN’ OUT THE DOOR TO LEAD PRAYERS AND CONDOLENCES FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE WAR BUSH*T AND CHAINME STARTED...THOSE COUNTRIES HAVE HAD THEIR WAY OF LIFE AND THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS[I am neither condoning it nor am I knocking it] SINCE WAY BEFORE TURTLE ISLAND WAS STOLEN FROM MY ANCESTORS. BUSH*T AND CHAINME HAVE FINALLY MET A FOE THAT HAS ACCESS TO MODERN WEAPONS AND WILL FIGHT TO KEEP WHOEVER THEY CONSIDER INVADERS OFF THEIR SOIL.UNFORTUNATLY-OUR SOLDIERS ARE PAYING THE PRICE FOR THE “BUSH*T BUNCHs” ARROGANCE...BRING THEM HOME.....

Neither of the Twin Towers collapsed “. . . in least [sic] than 10 seconds from an airplane strike . . . .” Otherwise, there would have been no time for the more than 300 brave NYCFD firefighters responding to the event to enter the buildings and die.  There would have been enormously more total casualties.

The South Tower (World Trade Center 2) collapsed at 9:59 a. m., which was less than an hour after the strike at 9:03 a. m., but clearly not “least than 10 seconds.” The North Tower (WTC 1) collapsed at 10:28 a. m. following its impact at 8:46 a. m., an hour and 42 minutes later.  A third tower, 7 World Trade Center, collapsed at 5:20 p. m. as a result of damage from the collapse of 1 and 2 WTC and fires, with no loss of life due to complete evacuation.

The collapse of the South Tower took 10 seconds, while the North Tower went down in 8 seconds.  Perhaps it is that 10 second elapsed time for the actual collapse that is referred to in a prior post.

If either of the towers had collapsed within 10 seconds of impact, there would have been a much larger casualty total.  While the firefighters and other first responders would not have been added to the total, since they wouldn’t yet have arrived on the scene, there would have been no time for the evacuations which took place.  Since many of the offices opened at 9:00 a. m., and the first strike occurred at 8:46 a. m., it can be assumed that full occupancy was not reached that morning, as at least some people would not have entered the buildings upon seeing the first impact.  Maximum occupancy of the towers was 50,000, or 25,000 each, and the buildings had reached 95% lease-out.  Subtracting 5% (1,200) and figuring on normal absenteeism (vacations, sick leave, late to work, etc.) plus some early arriving visitors, the number of people in a tower was probably around 19 to 20K, or less.  So, if one of the towers had collapsed within 10 seconds of impact, there would have been in the range of 10 to 15K casualties, virtually all deaths.  That clearly was not the case.

It is worth noting, one day before the sixth anniversary of that reprehensible atrocity, that it could have been much worse.  That being said, it seems to me that many of the theories regarding the cause of the destruction on that day tend to trivialize the tragic consequences of those who perished and their loved ones.  Sadly, apropos the piece about the smiling fool, the Bush administration used that loss to stoke its pre-existing plan to invade Iraq:  A huge charade and a costly side-show that caused over 3,700 U. S. troop deaths, and over 27,000 injuries, plus in excess of an estimated 655,000 Iraqi deaths attributable to the invasion.  I hope that President Bush realizes what he and his administration bear responsibility for at some point and wipes that smile off his face.

#99536 by Louise on 9/09 at 7:03 pm

Louise,

Thank you so much for sharing this story, and for waking me out of my own “whatever”.

I first heard of William Rodriguez (AND his very remarkable experience as a hero of 9-11) back in 2002, though I don’t remember exactly when. I had “happened upon” it, in my own search, just because I personally needed to understand what had taken place, and I knew it wasn’t what the PTB were proclaiming.

It’s hard to describe the feeling that I got listening to him, other than to say that I believed every single thing he was saying, and I was almost in awe of him. (for lack of a better term). That’s just how powerful his testimony is.

So, that’s how long it’s been, since I was sure that something was terribly amiss with the official story, and somehow, along the way...over the years, I’ve become so used to being the “weirdo” who never believed what they kept telling me my eyes had seen, that I stopped bringing up this very “real” testimony that William Rodriguez had to offer from day one, at ground zero, as he was right smack in eye of the unfolding. Nobody wanted to hear it back then, for whatever the reasons. Already victimized by the shock and awe I guess. Denial is a powerful thing. And, I actually heard a poster say, on this very site, (in defense of the “official” conspiracy), that it was FAR –easier- to believe!!! So, if that’s the criteria for understanding the events of 9-11, and the results that have us in such serious decline as a nation of 300 million people, then it would seem that I’d pretty much be wasting my time with these other very important facts, such as the testimony of William Rodriguez, who had more important things to say than anyone apparently cared to hear. Not “easy” enough to believe? The other stuff, like buildings disintegrating into powder in least than 10 seconds from an airplane strike is somehow “easier” to believe?

And, it hasn’t helped at all, that the 9-11 Omissions Team, didn’t want to hear from him either. The same 9-11 Omissions team that took over two years to even set-up, because the Cabal was so dead-set against ANY investigation. Still, if memory serves me, William Rodriguez had to go through all sorts of changes to get someone from that committee to listen to him, and even then, none of it ever made it to the “official” report.

So, I said all of that to say, that I’m going to share this link that you’ve provided, to the same people who weren’t interested 3 years ago. Maybe they have more of the other pieces filled-in by now, to at least add this to the ever increasing evidence that 9-11 was not as advertised.

Besides that, we also have newer inquiring minds joining in now, some of whom may not have been aware of this information before. So, thanks.

Oh Windbag: You must be a glutton for punishment, coming back here and blowing your Zionist garbage repeatedly, knowing full well that your BS has been moot since your 1st post! Frankly, or franker than frankly, we just don’t give a hoot about your lame Zionist propaganda and mock outrage about 9/11 truth. (the Zionists did it!).

Just fold up your Windbag and get thee hence! You’ve been deflated. Any day now, the Whole Truth about 9/11 will be common knowledge (self-evident) and you’ll have to scramble for a seat on El Al to Palestine to escape the wrath of 294,000,000 VERY pissed off Americans (not counting the 6 million or so Jews). When you get to Israel, stay out of the melting heat, if you know what’s not good for you. Maybe you should try to get a passport to Outer Mongolia from the Mossad instead - they’re good at false-flag anything!

Dear friends,

Lets skip back to 9/11 for a minute. Visit: http://www.william911.com/
And check out the William Rodreguez site. He was a maintenance worker in the North Tower, and the last man out of the building before it collapsed. He rescued 15 people and through his efforts, the fire department hero’s were able to rescue hundreds of others. He heard the explosions. He lived through it. He knows the “official” story is not true and he has devoted the last five years of his life trying to activate people to demand a new investigation. I just watched a re-run of one of his appearances in August, on c-span. Mighty powerful!

Visit his site. He needs help!
And, if he’s coming to an area near you, you need to go listen to this mans story. He has traveled the world and the country working to get the truth of his experience out there. He was the man who helped get Felipe David to an ambulance, after he was severely burned in the explosion in the basement. An explosion that shook the building ... before the plane hit the tower.

There is so much more, but I can not do justice to his story, so I wont try. But from an article written by Zen Garcian, August 26, 2006, a few quotes:

The Ghosts of 9-11

“On that tragic morning Rodriguez found himself running 30 minutes behind for work. He called his boss, who told him to get there as soon as he could. Because he was late, he would have to go to an office in sub-basement 1 to clock in. At least 14 other people were in the office when suddenly a massive explosion occurred beneath their feet. “Seconds after the first massive explosion below in the basement, I hear another explosion from way above. Although I was unaware at the time, this was the airplane hitting the tower, it occurred moments after the first explosion.”

A co-worker Felipe David stormed into the basement office with severe burns, skin hanging from his face, hands, and arms; screaming “explosion! explosion! explosion!” David had been standing in front of a freight elevator close to the office when fire followed the elevator shaft up and leapt upon him causing terrible burns. “That day I was in the basement in sub-level 1 sometime after 8:30am. Everything happened so fast, everything moved so fast. The building started shaking after I heard the explosion below, dust was flying everywhere and all of a sudden it got real hot. I threw myself onto the floor, covered my face because I felt like I was burned. I sat there for a couple of seconds on the floor and felt like I was going to die, saying to myself ‘God, please give me strength,’” said David in a 2002 interview.

Rodriguez, who knew the complex very, very well, escorted David to an ambulance outside the underground facilities and then returned to show others the way out.”

***

William Rodreguez has a compelling story to tell. A story he feels obligated to tell, because he lived and needs to tell the truth for the thousands who have been silenced.

“Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.”
From the sign on the Holocaust Museum

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”
Albert Einstein

Comment #99268 by Ernest Canning on 9/07 at 10:08 PM

“#99268 by Ernest Canning on 9/07 at 10:08 pm
(776 comments total)

Louise, thanks for the link regarding the current “fake” Osama.  I recall another, and more extended presentation, regarding the video released by the U.S. government shortly after 9/11/01 purporting to be Osama telling his visitors how they carried out 9/11--the one shown shortly before the invasion.  I think it was part of a presentation by Prof. Steven E. Jones, a physicist who presents persuasive evidence that WTC 7 collapsed as part of a controlled demolition.  The post 9/11 video is broken down and compared to earlier photos of Osama.  They not only reveal mark discrepancies in facial features but in stature and in which upper extremity is the dominant hand.  Unfortunately, I cannot recall the link or I would provide it.  If you or another Truthdigger recalls it, please post it.”
================================================

Hi Ernest...its good to see your posts back on truthdig.

Here is the link to Professor Steven E. Jones lecture on “9/11-WTC” on 2/1/2006:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=964034652002408586

Bush is smiling because he is personally responsible for the suffering, torture, maiming and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people - including Americans! That’s what makes him a psychopath as well as sociopath and the worst president in history. The verdict of history is already in! The future millions of victims will just be icing on the cake - and accompanied by an even bigger smile!

‘Smiling cobra’ comes to mind.

#99342 by shinypeter on 9/08 at 10:56 am

• Lefty is like one of those intellectually chalenged kids in the playground who likes playing with excrement. He can only string two lines together without going off subject and even then what he says is superfluous to the blog.

Shinypeter,

This is an excellent observation, and you picked up on it right away. (it takes some bloggers longer than others, once they first become “introduced” to our resident truthdig lefty. He may appear on other blogs as well, since it seems like I remember reading an accusation of such from another poster. I’ve never run across him/her myself anywhere else, but we’re all sure used to having him or her pop-up around this site. It seems to be sort of cyclical, and sometimes he’s more belligerent than other times. So, I don’t know how intentional that is. But, the comparison to a kid who likes playing with excrement on the playground seems really appropriate, as well as descriptive.

And, if you ponder that comparison just a bit further, you’ll find it equally appropriate for folks like Dick Bush.

Therein lies the problem of course, for the rest of us, and the world. The lefties of the blogosphere can be ignored easily enough, and left to their own devises, (as long as it doesn’t get any further than playing with excrement on the playground). But, ignoring this same behavior from those who have the power to destroy the world, and have so far proven that to be their likely intent, has rendered some really serious consequences for the rest of us.

Without a time share in Paraguay or Dubai, and no real means of escape, I think we could wind up really exterminated here, and I’m seriously not ready for that.

And, as Murphy’s Law will have it, the lefties will still be left undisturbed in the playgrounds, still playing with their excrement.

Some things just aren’t fair. Where’s the justice?

Hmmm...I just posted, but was not published; does anyone have a clue as to what is going on?

Love,

Robert Scheer, as usual, provides us with an enlightening analysis. Alas, as usual, he also skips the fact that 9/11 was not a box-cutting marvel, but a complex operation in which the U.S. government was the senior partner.

Could the best explanation for staying the course in Iraq be from Michael Moore in “Fahrenheit 9/11?” The war is not meant to be won, but to be permanent. The poorest U.S. citizens, through some magic, are the ones who will volunteer to go lose their limbs to IEDs instead of demonstrating for better lodging, food or education.

Or could the best explanation come from Robert Greenwald in “Iraq for Sale?” The war serves to siphon public money to the coffers of military contractors armed with good political connections and generous campaign contributions.

Love,

People who express themselves in blogs like this lefty character should not be let out alone off the leash. The blog he slams makes a very good point, that the latest Bin Laden tape is probably a scam stunted by the usual suspects. Lefty is like one of those intellectually chalenged kids in the playground who likes playing with excrement. He can only string two lines together without going off subject and even then what he says is superfluous to the blog.

People who express themselves in blogs like this lefty character should not be let out alone off the leash. The blog he slams makes a very good point, that the latest Bin Laden tape is probably a scam stunted by the usual suspects. Lefty is like one of those intellectually challenged kids in the playground who likes playing with excrement. He can only string two lines together without going off subject and even then what he says is superfluous to the blog.

BUSH*T-TURD BLOSSOM-SCOOTER-is it just me ????OR....

ANY WAY-WE ARE BEING FED[again}A REASON TO KEEP THIS B***S*** GOING.[just like NAM]...AND WHEN IT IS NO LONGER POPULAR FOR THE P.T.Bs TO KEEP THIS GOING???WE WILL BE FED A BUNCHA B***S*** SO AS TO DISCREDIT OUR WARRIORS.THE P.T.Bs DON’T TAKE CARE OF OUR RETURNING TROOPS MEDICALS NOW.LET’S SEE WHAT MORE THEY WON’T DO IF THE RETURNEES DO NOT COME HOME AS HEROES.THEY ARE ALREADY TRYING TO DISCREDIT MANY OF THEM BY SAYING THEY HAVE COMMITED ATROCITIES,[just like MAM]AND THEY ARE COURT MARTIALING PEOPLE WHO JUST DEFENDED THEMSELVES[That’s what you do in a firefight-just like NAM]

Louise, thanks for the link regarding the current “fake” Osama.  I recall another, and more extended presentation, regarding the video released by the U.S. government shortly after 9/11/01 purporting to be Osama telling his visitors how they carried out 9/11--the one shown shortly before the invasion.  I think it was part of a presentation by Prof. Steven E. Jones, a physicist who presents persuasive evidence that WTC 7 collapsed as part of a controlled demolition.  The post 9/11 video is broken down and compared to earlier photos of Osama.  They not only reveal mark discrepancies in facial features but in stature and in which upper extremity is the dominant hand.  Unfortunately, I cannot recall the link or I would provide it.  If you or another Truthdigger recalls it, please post it.

I am looking at side by side stills of the latest bin Laden tape and the one from October, 2004, as I write this, and if it’s not the same guy, they’ve done a masterful makeup job.  The facial structure is virtually identical, and, while the latest image shows a somewhat more robust individual, by no means is that person 20 pounds heavier if one is just going by the face and shoulders.  There is no way to assert that, because the beard is obviously dyed, it therefor can’t be bin Laden.  The man is not going to let a little thing like other people’s customs stop him from dying his beard if he and/or his handlers think there is something to be gained by doing so.  For instance, applying some swarthy makeup and dye to give him a more vigorous appearance is probably considered likely to play well with the young, disaffected muslims they are trying to recruit and motivate.

Furthermore, the video has ostensibly been subjected to voice print analysis, leading to the conclusion that, whatever his appearance, it is indeed Osama bin Laden speaking.  Voice printing is supposed to be even better than finger print identification; right up there with iris scans.

As for President Bush, let’s stop wringing our hands about him, shall we?  He’s history in 16 months.  There’s not enough time to impeach either him or Darth Cheney.  So let’s focus on getting a Democrat into the White House and strengthening the Democratic majorities in Congress, rather than gnashing our teeth about impeaching the current incumbents.  With the Republicans self-immolating, thanks to their scandal-of-the-month club, that shouldn’t be too hard.

Well,

Fooey, fooey. I wrote a nice response to this wealth of information from Louise and Ernest, (99093 and 99130 respectively) and it didn’t post. (which happens to me a lot these days).

But, it’s OK. By now, we already know why the Boy is smiling, and why the selected troops are smiling as well. And, we know that none of it is real.

And, they’ve removed ALL DOUBT, that any portion of this could have ever been real, (except all the death and destruction) when they came up with this latest video. Because you know what? Even if Osama really is alive somewhere...THAT AIN’T HIM, in the video!!! And, it’s not even CLOSE!!!Never mind that Muslims don’t dye their beards with anything except henna, and it’s highly unlikely that Osama’s crowd would even use that) and never mind that this guy is 20 pounds heavier, it’s just NOT HIM. This guy has an entirely different facial structure.

And, what’s with the Noam Chomsky reference, supposedly from the real OBL? Why do I not believe that Amazon delivers to the caves of Afghanistan? That doesn’t mean OBL couldn’t have gained access to any one or more of Noam Chomsky’s books, but it doesn’t quite fit the image that has been developed of him, by the producers of this whole scheme.

So, it’s all BS. Just another staged event, like “Mission Accomplished”, which most folks thought was taking place in Iraq. Except that it was really in San Diego.

Disney and the others have simply had far too much influence on our society, if we can be that easily fooled, and for so long.

Meantime, I did get around to the very excellent piece from Scott Ritter, that Louise had suggested in an earlier post. And, he pretty much spells it all out, so it’s another opportunity for those who are still fooled, to maybe take a few more steps toward embracing the truth, as opposed to embracing denial. I do feel confident in suggesting that the truth really DOES set us free, but I understand that it can be hard accepting some of these realities.

Anyway, his piece is linked to another excellent and related piece at this link:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090707D.shtml

It’s definitely worth the read.

God Bless Australia!

http://www.bumsnotbombs.org/

Reference # 99093 Louise & # 99055 cyrena:

The expected Osama movie you both correctly commented on in advance has been released today… and boy what a fictitious movie done in bad taste it is! And they want us to believe that Osama who died some time ago is still alive, getting healthier, and more so twenty years younger.

Whether this movie was done at the Pentagon studios, the CIA studios, Hollywood studios or Aljazeera studios, it is a proof that Osama’s fictitious videoes will continue to become a profitable, news, money and fear generating industry not unlike the Holocaust-money and blackmailing industry.

My prediction is that before Bush’s term is over, they will release another bad fiction where Osama is depicted as being captured or killed. And in this one Bush and gang will finally declare their glorious victory on their so-called “war on terror”!

It seems that a lot of this thread is being jacked to go after Winghunter, some blogger whose few words seem almost a charicature of blind jingoism, but who regardless is entitled to express his or her opinions, misspellings, and vitriol here without making the thread about him or her.
I think this is about George W Bush being a coward. And a pathological liar. And a war criminal. And a mentally disturbed and disabled man in need of removal from office. He sneaks into a country he is willing to ship into, for two or sometime three tours, our sons and daughters. A woman that works in my office has a daughter with a young child who has been in Iraq for 10 months. When she returns to her daughter it will be for only three weeks, and then back to duty and very strong likelihood of another tour as soon as six months after that since most of the troops in her regiment are being ‘redeployed’. The coward? He’s having a White House wedding after spending his draft obligation dodging while cranked up on coke and booze at the height of Vietnam-because he had a rich daddy. But now that he has his very own Vietnam, he’s dodging the real fighting again, but there for the fake pictures with the happy troops, obviously under command orders to smile or go on report, before he leaves them to die. Be easy on Winghunter. It’s not his fault his hero is a sniveling coward.

Ernest Canning [#99130]

Of course you are correct.

I screwed up, when I wrote:
“To many high rollers have too much invested in this profit making enterprise called the Global War On Terror [GWOT] to allow us to see a victory!”

I should have ended the sentence with, “a victory in Iraq!” Perhaps then my contempt for their use of a bogus “global war on terror” to line their pockets with our treasury would have been more apparent.

But I do like to use GWOT. Do it in my letters to my congressaurs. Do it in my conversation with others. It always throws people off, because they have to ask what GWOT means, which gives me the opportunity to tell them how phony the Global War On Terror really is, as you so eloquently pointed out.

And sometimes it’s fun, like, “Does congress really have any idea what they have GWOT us into?” Or, “When we GWOT this guy George in the White House, we also GWOT that higher father that rattles around in his head, and look where that has GWOT us!”

And of course, “Dubya hasn’t GWOT a clue what he’s doing.” And my favorite, “Main stream media hasn’t GWOT a clue what he’s doing either!”

Anyway, thanks for so clearly reminding us how phony GWOT, the Global War On Terror really is!
Clearly as phony as that beard on the newly incarnated, latest and greatest [CIA creation?] Osama!

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/osama_newfake.html

Osama Bin Distractin, once again.

http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2006/05/osama-bin -distractin.html

Update: They did it again. Hours after a new poll showed the majority of Americans want Congress to investigate Bush and Cheney in connection with 9/11, a “new” Bin Laden video appears.

About Winghunter--does anybody remember the rectum known as Hardnose that got bounced from this site?
Sure sounds the same. Guess he got a new email address and handle.

Excellent post Louise, but keep in mind the Orwellian nature of the phrase Global War on Terror.  As General William Odom (U.S. Army--Retired) has observed, from a practical point of view the phrase is a meaningless oxymoron.  Terror is a tactic, not a target.  “It would make as much sense to declare war on night attacks and expect that we are going to win that war.”

The Orwellian utility of the phrase lies in the fact that it involves an endless war against a phantom menace who is everywhere and anywhere at all times. 

America put Orwellian terminology to use long before “1984” was committed to print in 1949.  The end of World War II portended to bring every war profiteer’s nightmare, peace!  The answer was a simple change in nomenclature.  The War Department became the Department of Defense.  No matter how many countries an imperial America has invaded over the past sixty years, no matter how many countries suffer the indignity of permanently stationed U.S. troops--the latest official count is 737 in 130 countries--no matter the offensive nature of our weaponry, an ever-expanding military budget has been devoted to “military preparedness” as a matter of “defense.”

With the collapse of the Soviet Union came the removal of the only credible threat--though throughout the Cold War Soviet strength was consistently overstated.  Terrorism (aka guerrilla warfare) makes for the perfect replacement.  Its amorphous and elusive existence, the fact that it can never be wiped out and, in fact, can only be expected to increase as the peoples oppressed by U.S. imperalism are deprived of a democratic means to resist, makes it the ideal Orwellian enemy--one that can be used as an ongoing excuse to continue to irrationally fund the overblown U.S. military establishment.

Another theory-- sometimes when a baby is smiling, it’s just gas.

Wingnut and Tyler may be on the RIGHT side,but come election time, excuse me for borrowing the verbalism of your idiot Commander in Chief, but the Independants and Democrats are gonna be “Kicking Ass.”

It’s a photo op. That is why he is smiling. There is no focus on anything else of substance. Supposedly he is an engaging person when interacting in popular settings. And his staged appearances reinforce his own self-deception - the belief he is righteous. Even though he believes, it is the most heinous part of his mantra, using religion, destroying faith to further his agenda

Generally his stubborn “stay-the-course” mentality ignores the chaos, the suffering, the deadly toll of lives, and the utter dismantling of an Iraqi society. In effect, play-acting an Old Testament patriarch, he is destroying Iraq to save it.

Thus Bush is twisting the cross of Christianity to suit his own needs. It has been done before: as an icon with the swastika, in war with the Crusades, to save orthodoxy with the Inquisition.

So the worst of it is using the young and the vulnerable for his deadly imperialistic ways.

cyrena (#99055)

“Al-Qaida leader to address U.S. in first video in nearly 3 years, group says”

“OK, what’s up with this?”

“The upcoming video seems like more rabbit hole stuff.”

***

I think you’re correct, it probably is.

Maybe MSM and US operatives who put together the “terror” drivel we are expected to daily consume have finally realized a lot of us are refusing to swallow the crap anymore! Because this time they have given Osama’s upcoming appearance advance billing. Using old pictures to prepare us to accept their crap as being more palatable.

Osama is likely dead. Even the dumbest of dumb will clearly see that person identified as Osama in post-9/11 videos, is not the same man we see in photos and videos pre-9/11. http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/osama_newfake.html

How on earth a nation of leaders who have everything that could possibly kill and capture at their disposal, could not track down and capture this man called Osama, is a puzzle. Yet these same leaders are able to predict what he will say and do with precision. And that is the real key to the puzzle. They control the PR about Osama, the leader of international terrorism, because Osama, the leader of international terrorism is a fiction they created! They can not capture the bad guy, because in his present incarnation he is a fantasy.

In short, if Osama ceased to exist, if “al Qaida” ceased to exist, who would they hold up as the object we are supposed to hate? The danger of course is we would, well everybody else would turn their rage and frustration to the administration. The real culprits who are responsible for this mess! That would never do. To many high rollers have too much invested in this profit making enterprise called the Global War On Terror [GWOT] to allow us to see a victory!

Osama must live, and Osama must continue to be the enemy!

But for the sane and observant, “I don’t believe this crap!” should be the automatic reply.

Like you, I don’t believe this crap!

If you haven’t yet, read Scott Ritters latest post, “Reporting from Baghdad”
He pretty well nails the “disease” that afflicts the citizenry when he said;
“Instead of going to Iraq to report on why Americans keep dying, Katie could just stay here, in America.  There are any number of corporations whose board rooms she could visit.  Or she could smooth talk her way into a number of country clubs, to interview the human face of the “military industrial complex” that President Eisenhower warned us about a half-century ago.  She might take a look at congressional campaign financing, where the profits from these corporations fund the campaigns of the politicians who continue to do nothing about Iraq.”

***

“In a way, Iraq is a manifestation of all that ails America today.  A complete breakdown of fundamental societal checks and balances brought on by greed and hubris.  From General Petraeus who will give it, to the mindless corporate-owned minions who populate much of Congress who will receive it, to the entertainment-as-news media which will report on it, and to the American people who will consume it with no foundation upon which to evaluate it ... “

***

So “news” as entertainment, and Osama’s latest movie as entertainment, and the hype about Iran as entertainment, will continue and escalate. Because the “military industrial complex” that serves [or controls] the “divine” Bush believe the citizenry watches, not to be informed, but to be entertained.

I SEE THOSE “PRETTY YOUNG LADIES"-"hugging up” to BUSH*T{I wonder what he promised them?HOPEFULLY AN EARLY OUT}.......WHY AREN’T ONE OF THOSE YOUNG LADIES EITHER OF THE BUSH*T DAUGHTERS?AT LEAST ONE OF HIS DAUGHTERS?????AFTER ALL......IT’S SO SAFE FOR THOSE “PRETTY YOUNG LADIES”....SHOULDN’T HE HAVE TO SACRIFICE A CHILD OF HIS ON THE ALTER OF HIS OWN FOLLIE FOR HIS OWN “CAUSE”???SHOULDN’T HE HAVE TO DEPEND ON A ROLL OF THE DICE???I THOUGHT THE WORD “LEADER” MEANT ONE WHO WALKS IN FRONT-ONE WHO LEADS THE WAY-EITHER IN PERSON OR BY EXAMPLE…

Louise, 98995

As usual, I’m always so energized by your posts. Are you a Professor by any chance? I always feel like I’ve had a little mini lecture session when I read your posts, without having to leave my cubby hole to go to class. (no I’m not trying to substitute your posts for required stuff, but I can always count on you for a lead or a tip, so I almost feel like I should be paying you, instead of the UC Regents).

Anyway, on your last post, we’re back to the very urgent question of why Congress has not removed this delusional man from power, and that’s just the devil of it all. Because for 7 years now, we’ve lived this existence of UNPRECEDENTEDS, and everything is so incredibly surreal, that we now have to question the obvious. In any other decade, and in any other century, there is no way this would happen.(a retarded president) It just wouldn’t. And yet….it has. So, what does this say about the majority of US, that we have gone along with the program, for THAT long?

Of course there are a now a million pundit and scholarly explanations for this phenomenon, but at this point, we don’t even have time to discuss them all, because the fuse is burning. We have to do something now, IF it’s not too late.

Because, just a few hours ago, I came across yet another of these “unprecedenteds”, (and they come in all form and fashion, but for me, it’s generally in a feed headline).
This time, it’s the one that some of you may have seen, that says:

“bin Laden to Release Video by 9/11”

Now, is it just me, or does this sound similar to “Warner Bros. and John Doe to release the stunning remake of blah, blah, blah, coming soon to theaters near you…premiers at whatever on blah day….and so on. I mean, this is the alleged baddest dude on the planet, and we’ve been told for 6 years, that we are to live in extreme fear of this guy, and…ya KNOW?

Then, the sort of subtitle, (if that’s what it’s called) says this:

“Al-Qaida leader to address U.S. in first video in nearly 3 years, group says”

OK, what’s up with this? How did this guy get to be this important, really? I mean, he’s important enough for the main stream news media to post the details of some upcoming presentation from him, and it would appear to be very popular information, (it’s in the “most viewed” category) and somehow it just sort of makes me feel like this guy somehow has managed to gain this incredible control over all of our lives, and most folks don’t have a clue to who the hell he even IS!!!

I mean, if ever there was a counterpart to georgies man behind the curtain Oz character, it would be this dude. I mean, here is says that he’s about to “address the US”, and I’m reading it the same way that I would read a headline about Bush preparing for his SOU or something similar. You know how they always build that stuff up, and then the Shrub proceeds to send “messages” to the people of multiple nations, such as, “….And my message to the Iranian people is…blah, blah, blah, and you’re also in the axis of evil, so you better get rid of those leaders you’ve got, or we’re gonna blast you to smithereens, and steal your oil too!

So, we’re used to that. But, since when did we start giving this bin Laden guy advance billing for his productions? It just seems pretty bizaare, but maybe it’s just me. How does an alleged terrorist get the same billing as any other head of state, and when he speaks, we somehow all now feel compelled to listen? (actually, I’ve always thought that the administration might be wise to actually listen to him, if they really wanted to “solve terror” or reduce these episodes of such). So is this like a follow-up now, to Chertoff’s early summer gut?

Meantime, the Saudis think the guy has been dead for at least a year, and I’ve been inclined to think the same thing, just from reading independent sources.

The upcoming video seems like more rabbit hole stuff.

Why is this guy smiling? The answer can be found at:
http://www.filmstripinternational.com. It takes a few minutes to download. Put on your speakers,Version 1 pertains the the Iraq mess,Version 2 is about Katrina, same song some of the same pictures. Check out the other related filmstrips.
It works wonders as a stress reliever.

I wouldn’t categorize all the Right Wingers in one cubby hole.  Let’s break it down into what I’d call Con Men and Suckers.  The first group (Bush-Cheney, Rummy, Wolfy, Condi (a Con Chick), Perle, Lieberman, Rupert Murdoch (he’s big on Hillary, if you didn’t know), Fox and to a lesser degree CNN-- they sound off the war drums and say “you just hate Amurrica” if you question goose-stepping into nations that had nothing to do with 9/11.  The second group is comprised of the religious rubes who rarely read and are easily snookered into extremely simple-minded points of view: Osama and Saddam were really the same person, if you don’t invade them there they’ll follow you home, gays are the bogeyman, a woman has no business deciding about her reproduction, the founding document of America?  The Bible, of course.

I cannot imagine folks like War Hawks/Social
Conservative Queens Larry Craig and Bitch, oops,
Mitch McConnell not privately giggling at the voters who empowered them, thinking, “Suckers!” (And not suckers in a good way either!)

Why is this man smiling?

Because he’s not only comfortable with the destruction, mayhem, chaos and human sacrifice being performed at his request ... he’s actually quite proud of it!

This visit is “the great I am’s” gift to the lowly grunts. Blessing “his” cannon fodder with his glorious presence prior to their possible sacrifice on his alter of self important conceit. More charred corpses for him to shed crocodile tears over.

Oh my, that’s too harsh! He really wants to bring them home! Right?

Right ... then why doesn’t he?

I remember back before 9/11 when Bush’s blunders were becoming the laughing stock of ALL major media, he was asked how he felt about the criticism and ridicule. He responded, [paraphrasing] “I don’t care, my dog loves me, my family loves me and MY military is protecting MY borders.” And that about sums up this mans incredible conceit. He is after all not a man. He is divine, and we all belong to him.

It’s not that he hasn’t told us so. He has so many times. We simply found it amusing. Didn’t take him seriously. But his reality goes far beyond any humor. This man wrote his script. He plays his part. And he will control how his script ends in his great production. He celebrates the day when he will go to the great beyond in a blaze of glory! His blaze of glory could very well be our final war. A world consumed by nuclear holocaust. What so many choose not to see is that between his reality and the reality his “subjects” live in, there’s a growing fascism that seems hell-bent and determined to help him self-destruct.

[Insert scream]

Unfortunately money and power do not necessarily go hand in hand with smarts. Our mirror images of Hitler’s supporters, Kings and Potentates, Corporate moguls and Financers have not yet realized how close they are coming to assisting their hand-picked nut into leading us to total destruction.

Hitler actually did fight in a war, was actually wounded ... for the homeland. So he bore a hint of credibility for a while.

But when he went round the bend ... moguls and financers jumped ship! What on earth is keeping them on board this time around?

Back to the future and our latest version of the savior of the world.

How does he get away with it? I suspect in his mind he isn’t getting away with anything. He is simply following direction from the higher father rattling ‘round in his head, working his way to that enviable position of being on the right-hand side.

[Forgetting I suppose, that position has already been promised to a man called Christ]

A better question is why on earth do his followers accept insanity as divine guidance? And a better question still is why on earth does the congress not remove this seriously delusional man from the White House?

… those who most proudly and passionately recite the Pledge, (to our flag) seem to have totally lost the meaning of those last words..."and liberty and justice for ALL”.

This, unfortnately, describes the Right Wing of this country. Part ignorance, part lack of education, but part, perhaps mostly, having utter contempt of peoples not like themselves.

The Right Wing, as morons such as ‘winghunter’ show us everytime they choose to post a comment here, has utter contempt of all people not like themselves. The Right Wing think themselves vastly superior than everyone else.

The Right Wing believes that it is entirely okay that millions of Iraqis are suffering right now. Millions dead and dying and suffering.

Think about that…

There are Jihadists that think the U.S. is evil and should be destroyed. And if U.S. civilians die, so what.

The RIGHT WING of America that thinks that Saddam’s Iraq was evil and should have been destroyed. And if Iraqi civilians die, so what.

If A = B and C = B then A = C.

Being Right Wing means:

It is evil that U.S. citizens die. It is okay that other nation’s civilians die.
It is evil when U.S. soldiers get tortured. It is okay that other nation’s soldiers get tortured.
It is evil when Iran meddles in Iraq. It is okay everytime that the U.S. meddles in wars between other nations.
It is evil when other nations sell weapons to our “enemies.” It is okay that the U.S. is the largest supplier of weapons on the planet.

The list goes on…

Bush is smiling because he is surrounded by well-trained troops who, to survive amid fear, chaos and death, fall into the “I am playing the hero among heros,” role and are therefore cheering and supporting their Commander-In-Chief. For or againt this war, soldiers and soldiering have been part of our make-up since the beginning of History—one cannot fault a soldier for that.

But…

In order to live with the pain of war we have notions of honor; that we meet the enemy as enemy in battle, and meet the enemy as fellow men when the fighting has subsided or stopped. We meet honorably on and off the battlefield, so that we retain, in the end, our humanity.

Today, although most of our culture—and the heroes of our most acclaimed novels and movies—have this notion honor in war, most of our pundits in the media, and most of our leaders in Washington, talk of anything but this kind of honor. Indeed, they often decry and deride even hints at even discussing discussion with our “enemies” (applying that label to some countries with whom we are not at war).

We are told, by our media and by our government, that no actions by our enemies in the Middle East are honorable.

And we do have a notion that our enemy is not honorable. Flying a plane into a building is not honorable. A bomb on a bus is not honorable. Fighting among civilians is not honorable.

Our fields of battle, though, have changed. No longer do men line up to face each other on level ground. No longer do rows of tanks bear down upon rows of tanks. No longer do jets dogfight other jets.

In cities is where our wars are fought now. Among buildings is where we face each other now. Tanks roll unopposed down streets now. Jets drop five thousand pound bombs from high in the sky now.

Without doubt, causing the deaths of civilian men, women and children is without honor. We learned of the pain of civilian deaths on September 11, 2001. Shall we discount, though, without discussion—as many in the media suggest—Iraqi and Afghani civilian deaths? If we were to discuss enemy civilian deaths, should we discuss the decades of conflict in the Middle East? Have all the deaths of “enemy” civilians been honorable?

If a measure of honor is in civilian deaths, how do we fare?

If a measure of honor is in prisoner treatment, how do we fare?

If a measure of honor is in due process, equal justice and fair hearings, how do we fare?

Upon the fields of battle in the 21st century which America must stand and face her enemies, with sword or with pen, we must remember that among who we face is our own reflection.

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right,” Lincoln began the end of his second inaugural. Today, how shall we begin to bind this nation’s wounds? We should, and shall, care for those who have borne the battle. To achieve, though, a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations, we must recall the meaning, the measure, of honor. Malice toward none, and charity for all must be extended to all nations, including our enemies, real or imagined. If not, we risk extending war into the rest of the 21st century. We cannot wait for others to extend charity to us first.

Purplewolf, “Hacking Democracy” is an excellent documentary but it merely scratches the surface. 

In 2002, Diebold acquired Global Election Systems, renamed Diebold Election Systems, Inc.  The good folks at Global needed someone trustworthy to put in charge of developing the GEMS central tabulator, the software responsible for tabulating the votes stored in the memory cards of Diebold’s optical scan machine.  They found the right guy in Jeffrey Dean, a man who had been convicted in the 1980s for embezzling more than $465,000 from a Seattle law firm which had hired him to automate and maintain its computer system.

In Leon County, FL, security experts Harry Hursti & Herb Thompson tested Diebold’s optical scan machines and a central tabulator.  Penetrating the system in “less than a minute,” Hursti & Thompson “showed that votes could be changed on an individual voting machine, in groups of machines or en masse through a central tabulator.” According to Bev Harris of Black Box Voting, “Hursti was able to take just one memory card from one voting machine in a precinct and infect the whole system.” Prior to that, “Harris had videotaped a trained chimpanzee hacking into a Diebold system and deleting votes.”

If an optical scanner that can be hacked by a chimp is disconcerting, consider that, at the least, the optical scanners produce a paper trail where none exists on the E-voting DREs.  Computer Scientist Ted Selker of the Cal Tech/MIT Voting Technology Project notes that some vote-altering codes, called “Easter eggs,” are undetectable.  “...such code could be loaded into a voting machine in many ways: in the software itself, in the tools that assemble the software (compiler, liner and loader), or in the tools the program depends on (database, operating system scheduler, memory management and graphical-user interface controller).” The Easter egg is timed so that it does not activate until Election Day--the only day when it would be revealed by testing.

The concern is more than academic.  In a 10/19/05 “San Diego City Beat” article, Miriam Raftery reported:  “Clint Curtis, a computer programmer...testified under oath that he was hired by Florida Congressman Tom Feeney...to create vote-rigging software that could ‘flip’ votes from one candidate to another.” Raftery noted that per Bev Harris and other experts, “vote-flipping software could be designed to erase itself after election night, making it vitually untraceable.”

Some observations: Gagging is a natural reflex when you see or smell something extremely repugnant.

Is it always the same video on the news that shows a waving, smiling Bush in transit from one location to another. Is that location mama’s house? And who is he waving at? His mother?