News -- October 4, 2005

The Reality of the Iraq War -- Pictures taken by US soldiers and used as currency for access to an amateur porn site. You will never, I repeat, never, going to see these pictures in the paper or on the nightly news, but this is the reality of war. If you think war is such a great thing, then stop waving that damn flag and get your ass over there and experience it first hand. Otherwise, do what you must to stand up against these atrocities.
http://www.nowthatsfuckedup.com/bbs/forum23.html

'Worse things took place at Abu Ghraib' - "A US soldier convicted of humiliating and abusing Iraqi prisoners has said she knew of "worse things" happening at Abu Ghraib and insisted military commanders were fully aware of what was going on in Iraq’s infamous jail. The comments, made by private first class Lynndie England in her first post-court marshal interview, contradicted assertions by top Pentagon officials that a small group of out-of-control soldiers were responsible for abuse at Abu Ghraib, and that however repulsive that mistreatment was, it did not amount to torture."
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=55802

Iraq; "a right rollicking cock-up" - "The recent alleged "suicide bombing" outside Baghdad illustrates the problem with America's credibility on this issue. 60 people were killed when "three suicide attackers detonated car bombs nearly simultaneously." No one from al Qaida or any other terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the bombings. So, we must ask ourselves; 'who benefits' by the random murder of innocent civilians? Certainly, not al Qaida who must curry support from the local population to carry out operations while remaining concealed from the occupying forces. Or, is it possible that the same people who brought us Abu Ghraib, "Shock and Awe", Falluja, and myriad other atrocities, are now engaged in a massive black-ops program to incite civil war?"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10505.htm

Ike Was Right About War Machine - "Another way the government is planning to pay for the war and the hurricane damage is by cutting spending for things like Medicare prescriptions, highway construction, farm payments, AMTRAK, National Public Radio and loans to graduate students. Do these sound like the things you'd like to cut back on to pay for Iraq? I'll tell you where we ought to start saving: on our bloated military establishment. ... No other Country spends the kind of money we spend on our military. Last year Japan spent $42 billion. Italy spent $28 billion, Russia spent only $19 billion. The United States spent $455 billion. ... We have 1,155,000 enlisted men and women and 225,000 officers. One officer to tell every five enlisted soldier what to do. We have 40,000 colonels alone and 870 generals. We had a great commander in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower. He became President and on leaving the White House in 1961, he said this: “We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. …" Well, Ike was right. That's just what’s happened."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/30/60minutes/main892398.shtml

Reid told Cheney to pick Miers; Relished fact she was never a judge -"Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) urged President Bush to pick White House counsel Harriet Miers as his nominee to the Supreme Court."
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Reid_told_Cheney_to_pick_Miers_1003.html

Bush's Stay out of Jail Card - "In the high stakes game of Supreme Court Hold 'Em, Dubya has made a decisive and bold, yet defensive move. Has has gone "all in" and nominated his former personal lawyer, Harriet Miers, for the Supreme Court. What better way to avoid jail for war crimes, profiteering and conspiracy. Appoint your own lawyer to the bench. A truly brilliant maneouver even if Alberto's really disappointed. Bush's cronies can stop sweating now."
http://polunatic.blogspot.com/2005/10/bushs-stay-out-of-jail-card.html

Bloomington native reports the news - ""With the change of administration in Washington, I wanted to do the same kind of reporting, holding the (Bush) administration accountable, and that was not something that Fox was interested in doing," he said. "Editorially, I had issues with story selection," Shuster went on. "But the bigger issue was that there wasn't a tradition or track record of honoring journalistic integrity. I found some reporters at Fox would cut corners or steal information from other sources or in some cases, just make things up. Management would either look the other way or just wouldn't care to take a closer look. I had serious issues with that." The Bloomington native encountered a markedly different culture when he jumped to NBC/MSNBC in June 2002. "One of the first things that happens is you're given a 50-page manual of standards and practices … and you immediately sense this is an organization that cares very deeply about journalistic integrity.""
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2005/10/02/column.1002-SH-A3_CMK35541.sto

Quote of the Day
"Well now they're planning the crime of the century."
~ Supertramp