Thursday, November 30, 2006

Here's Why Bush Should Not Have Cut and Run from Afghanistan: Teacher of Girls Disembowelled





















Too bad that our boy Bubble Boy refused to concentrate on Afghanistan and finish the job.

But then, Toad-Exploder's always had a soft spot for the Afghan Taliban, has he not? He hosted them so very charmingly in Texas, while they were the world's acknowledged leaders in oppressing women.

Impelled by his overwhelming oedipal issues, George W. Bush cut and ran from Afghanistan, leaving our actual enemy Osama Bin Laden alive, and leaving the Taliban strong enough there to work over time to retake the country.

In service of that aim, the Taliban now are free to do this:


Disembowelled, then torn apart: The price of daring to teach girls
Ghazni, Afghanistan

The gunmen came at night to drag Mohammed Halim away from his home, in front of his crying children and his wife begging for mercy.

The 46-year-old schoolteacher tried to reassure his family that he would return safely. But his life was over, he was part-disembowelled and then torn apart with his arms and legs tied to motorbikes, the remains put on display as a warning to others against defying Taliban orders to stop educating girls.

Mr Halim was one of four teachers killed in rapid succession by the Islamists at Ghazni, a strategic point on the routes from Kabul to the south and east which has become the scene of fierce clashes between the Taliban and US and Afghan forces.

The day we arrived, an Afghan policemen and eight insurgents died during an ambush in an outlying village. Rockets were found, primed to be fired into Ghazni City during a visit by the American ambassador a few days previously.

But, as in the rest of Afghanistan, it is the civilians who are bearing the brunt of this conflict. At the village of Qara Bagh, the family of Mr Halim are distraught and terrified. His cousin, Ahmed Gul, shook his head: "They killed him like an animal. No, no. We do not kill animals like that, it would be haram. They took away a father and a husband, they had no pity. We are all very worried. Please go now, you see those men standing over there? They are watching. It is dangerous for you, and for us."

Fatima Mushtaq, the director of education at Ghazni, has had repeated death threats, the notorious "night letters". Her gender, as well as her refusal to send girls home from school, has made her a particular source of hatred for Islamist zealots.

"I think they killed him that way to frighten us, otherwise why make a man suffer so much? Mohammed Halim and his family were good friends of ours and we are very, very upset by what has happened. He came to me when the threats first began and asked what he should do. I told him to move somewhere safe. I think he was trying to arrange that when they came and took him," she said.

The threats against Ms Mushtaq also extend to her husband, Sayyid Abdul, and their eight children. "When the first letters arrived, I tried to hide them from my husband," she said. But then he found the next few. He said we must stand together. We talked, and we decided that we must tell the children. So that they can be prepared, but it is not a good way for them to grow up."

Ms Mushtaq is familiar with the ways of the Taliban. During their rule she and her sister ran secret schools for girls at their home. The Taliban beat them for teaching the girls algebra.




Link via The Independent here.




Monday, November 27, 2006

War On Christmas Peace Wreath




Peace?

Hah!

What a Satanic notion!

WOMAN FACES FINES FOR WREATH PEACE SIGN


DENVER - A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said.

"Somebody could put up signs that say drop bombs on Iraq. If you let one go up you have to let them all go up," he said in a telephone interview Sunday.

Lisa Jensen said she wasn't thinking of the war when she hung the wreath. She said, "Peace is way bigger than not being at war. This is a spiritual thing."

Jensen, a past association president, calculates the fines will cost her about $1,000, and doubts they will be able to make her pay. But she said she's not going to take it down until after Christmas.
Next thing you know, they'll be wanting Peace on Earth, or something!

Let's all sport flaming peace wreaths on our lawns. That's the way to celebrate the real spirit of Christmas, is it not?










Update: board members refuse to support ban on Christmas peace wreath, so they get fired. Don't we love Democracy in America, free speech, all those things people die for?
Later update, here: Silly wabbit, peace is for Satanists!' department--Oh dear. Satanic forces win, god-warriors resign. In disgrace (well, depending on whose side you're on).

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving




Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a happy thanksgiving image. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

One would hardly want to celebrate thanksgiving by posting an image of Lord Jeffery Amherst handing out smallpox-infected blankets to the Indians, as part of our first efforts in genocide and biological warfare, would one?

Well, come to think of it, Dick Cheney would, but he may be in his last throes, or something. For one hears that this Dick is "profoundly disturbed" by Bubble Boy's treatment of Rummy. Hunh? All he did was fire him, he didn't waterboard him, an idea whose time as definitely come.

Oh my. One would SO prefer that Cheney be "profoundly disturbed" by having started a war over nothing which has killed 600K+ sentient beings, and having led his country down the road of moral and fiscal bankruptcy.

Happy Thanksgiving.


Saturday, November 18, 2006

Ego-Crazed Talibangelical Fundamentalist Loses State Senate Race, Concedes By Insulting Winner's Hindu Religion


Via RawStory:

After Minnesota State Senator Satveer Chaudhary defeated challenger Rae Hart Anderson, he received a rather unexpected congratulatory email, RAW STORY has learned.

Anderson, a Christian, spent most of the concession urging Chaudhary, a practicing Hindu, to convert to Christianity.


Dear Satveer:

Congratulations on winning the District 50 senate race.

Your phone is "busy" . . . no doubt with good wishes!

I've enjoyed much of this race, especially the people I've met . . . even you!

I see your deficits -- not all of them, and your potential -- but not all of it. Only your Creator knows the real potential He's put in you. Get to know Him and know yourself . . . you'll be more interesting even to you!

The race of your life is more important than this one -- and it is my sincere wish that you'll get to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He died for the sins of the world, yours and mine -- and especially for those who accept His forgiveness. His kingdom will come and His will be done -- on earth as it is in heaven. There's more . . . . I love belonging to the family of God. Jesus is the way, the truth and offers His life to you and each human being. Pay attention . . . this is very important, Satveer. Have you noticed Jesus for yourself . . . at some moment in time, yet??? . . .

Jesus Christ lives in His earth family by His Spirit. He said He'd be back, and He said it first. You could invite Him to make the race of your life 'eternal'. God waits to be gracious to each person that knows they need to be forgiven. Do you? I think you do. Just ask. Christ won eternal life for you and said so. Take Him at His Word. Take some time to get acquainted with this power-filled Jesus . . . God with us. You could be a temple of the living God, by invitation --- yours, TO GOD. :) There's nothing like belonging to Christ . . . not winning, not money, not degrees . . . it's the best.

Good wishes and better wishes . . . until you wish for the best!

Rae Hart Anderson

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Official No Blood for Hubris Mental Health Interlude No. 7a






"On Tuesday night, in an ironic turnaround, Iraq brought regime change to the U.S."
--Amy Poehler
"Germany is filing a war crimes lawsuit against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for allegedly allowing the torture of prisoners in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. Man, that's when you know you've crossed the line -- when Germans are accusing you of war crimes." --Jay Leno
"Yesterday, Bush had lunch with the new Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. I believe the main course was Rumsfeld's head on a platter."
--Jay Leno
"I don't want to say that George Bush is a lame duck, but this morning, Cheney shot him." --Bill Maher

"President Bush, on Wednesday, held a news conference where he vowed to work with the new Democratic majority. Which, if true, can only mean one thing -- the Democrats have a nuclear bomb." --Amy Poehler
"On Thursday, the Army launched its new recruitment slogan, 'Army Strong,' which replaces their previous slogan, 'Army of One.' Meanwhile, the Navy is sticking with their recruiting slogan, 'Iraq: It's Almost Entirely Landlocked.'" --Seth Meyers

"Today is Veteran's Day, so that won't affect anyone in the White House."
--Seth Meyers
"Next week, President Bush is going to Vietnam. So, it looks like he's finally going to finish up that National Guard duty."
--Jay Leno

"The only thing that really broke for conservatives on Tuesday was gay marriage. You know what state bucked the trend? Arizona. Conservative Arizona. I love Arizonans. They don't care if gays get married as along as they're not marrying a Mexican."
--Bill Maher
"Tomorrow President Bush is leaving for Vietnam. I guess this time his father couldn't get him out of it." --David Letterman

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the interstate. Nothing is moving. Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, "What's going on?"

"Terrorists down the road have kidnapped George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. They're asking for a $100 million ransom. Otherwise they're going to douse them with gasoline and set them on fire. We're going from car to car, taking up a collection."

The driver asks, "How much is everyone giving, on an average?"

"Most people are giving about a gallon."



Hmm.


.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

More On The Mysterious Mr. Gates: Nuke-War Averter?





Some say that the mysterious Mr. Gates averted nuclear war between India and Pakistan in 1990.

When Robert M. Gates came calling

Siddharth Varadarajan

New Delhi : Robert M. Gates, the man named by President George W. Bush as his nominee for the next U.S. Secretary of Defence, is a consummate Beltway insider with an extensive record of service within the American intelligence establishment going back at least three decades. . . .

In South Asia, however, he is perhaps best remembered for the `mission' he undertook to Pakistan and India in May 1990 during a time of military tension between the two neighbours. In a subsequent retelling by Seymour Hersh in New Yorker magazine, the U.S. envoy is said to have helped avert a nuclear war between Pakistan and India . . .

In the spring of 1990, the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir was in full flow. Concerned by Pakistan's decision to maintain the forward deployment of troops deployed near the border for the Zarb-e-Momin military exercises conducted at the end of 1989, India decided to send two tank units to the Mahajan range in Rajasthan for "training" purposes.

Although none of these military deployments on either side were of any real offensive significance, the situation began to deteriorate after a series of fiery declarations by Benazir Bhutto, who was Prime Minister of Pakistan at the time, and V.P. Singh, who was Prime Minister of India. Ms. Bhutto spoke of a "thousand year war" to "liberate" Kashmir, while Mr. Singh told the country to be psychologically prepared for military conflict and warned Pakistan that it would not last "even thousand hours of war".

It was in this context that the Bush (Sr.) administration decided to despatch Mr. Gates on a peace mission. Travelling first to Islamabad on May 20, 1990, he met President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Army Chief Mirza Aslam Beg and counselled restraint. In New Delhi, he met Mr. Singh, the External Affairs Minister, I.K. Gujral, as well as Raja Ramanna, who was Minister of State for Defence. Two week after his return to Washington, the crisis de-escalated.

According to Hersh, the U.S. had picked up evidence that Pakistan was on verge of deploying its nuclear weapons during the crisis and it was this fact which made the Gates mission all the more urgent.


Wednesday, November 08, 2006

"Daddy's Friends" Come to the Rescue to Clean Up After Junior's Vile Iraq Mess: Featuring The Mysterious Robert Gates



We are glad that pro-torture, pro-war-over-non-existent WMDs guy, megalomaniacal/delusional Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, is, well, history.

Bubble Boy's Daddy's friends have now been called up to clean up all of Bubble Boy's mess. (As Daddy's friends were once called upon to get Bubble Boy into Harvard, and to get Bubble Boy out of having to serve in Vietnam, and then to get Bubble Boy out of the National Guard early).

Calling on former CIA director, Robert M. Gates.

And, while one was fully prepared to begin to dump on Robert M. Gates about Iran-Contra, whilst Googling him this evening one stumbled on some interesting reality-based stuff that one thought to bring to your attention.

GATES: JIMMY CARTER BRINGS DOWN SOVIET UNION
Robert Gates, the subsequently director of the CIA, and at that time a member of my staff, reveals in his book that as early as 1978, President Carter approved proposals prepared by my staff to undertake, for example, a comprehensive, covert action program designed to help the non-Russian nations in the Soviet Union pursue more actively their desire for independence - a program, in effect, to destabilize the Soviet Union.

We called it, more delicately, a program for the "delegitimization of the Soviet Union". But that was a rather unusual decision. He took some others along these lines, too. So his public image to some extent was the product of his great emphasis on arms reductions and a desire to reach an agreement on that score with the Russians. But it didn't quite correspond to the reality, and it certainly didn't correspond even to the public reality in the second half of the Carter Administration. [Reagan got false credit for Carter's decisions]
Full interview with Zbigniew Brzeszkinski, here.

Frontline:

GATES: MILITARY UNDERSTANDS THE TRUE COSTS OF WAR
Gates: One of my experiences over the years, in Washington, as I have watched different Presidents deal with the military and I worked in the White House for four Presidents and attended decision meetings under five, is that contrary to mythology, the biggest doves in Washington wear uniforms. And I think that particularly after Vietnam they are very leery of feather-merchants of civilians, greying notions of using military force to accomplish a range of objectives however sensible or justified they may be.

And I think that they try, perhaps even un-consciously, not only to exaggerate the level of forces that will be required to accomplish a specific objective but the casualties as well, in the hope of forcing a sanity check on the politicians or on the civilian experts who have no concept of what it is like to sit there and watch a young soldier bleed and die. And I think that these guys also think that war in the situation room is too clinical. And that we don't have an appreciation for what it is really like, and that they would prefer to avoid the use of military force at all cost.

GATES: OBJECTIVES IN GULF WAR LIMITED: QUAGMIRE IN IRAQ TO BE AVOIDED
Q: If you gave yourself a luxury of hindsight is there anything you would do that you didn't do to try and alter that ending of the [Gulf] war?

Gates: I do not believe I would have made decisions or recommendations differently in terms of how we dealt with the end of the war. All of the alternatives to the way things turned out in my judgement would have resulted in the American troops still being in Iraq today. And I believe that the American people would not tolerate that.

We accomplished the objectives we set for ourselves. Our objectives do not include the total destruction of Iraq; it did not include the total destruction of the Iraqi Army. We wanted to maintain the territorial integrity of Iraq, we didn't want Syria taking a piece here and the Iranians taking a piece here and somebody else taking a piece there.

We wanted the territorial integrity of Iraq. We believe that enough army divisions were left for the regular army to be able to protect Iraq from intrusions into its territory. But its ability to invade its neighbours have been destroyed--the Republican Guards. So I think you have to keep coming back to what the objectives were in this war.

Why we were there in the first place and not over time began to expand those objectives in retrospect, and those of expansion would have resulted in, in what I believe would have been a quagmire.

One is pleased to note some sense in Gates that there is inherent virtue in both planning and in quagmire avoidance.

'Ray.





For Dems: New Dawn; For Bushist Fascists: Last Throes








One loves the sweet smell of subpoenas in the morning, does one not?

WaPo here. World reaction here.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

DON'T MAKE GEORGE ORWELL SPIN IN HIS GRAVE. VOTE OUT BIG BROTHER.



War is NOT Peace.

Slavery is NOT Freedom.

Up is NOT down.

Right is NOT wrong.

Torture is NOT mandatory. Habeas Corpus is NOT optional.

Bushist Fascism is NOT healthy for children and other living things.



During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
George Orwell




WaPo here.




Sunday, November 05, 2006

CIA: Keep Our Torture Secret














C.I.A. Wants Prison Tactics Secret

They want their torture kept secret?

Hmm. Why would that be?

There's no transparency for torture?

Can you say, "consciousness of guilt"?
The Central Intelligence Agency has told a federal court that Qaeda suspects should not be permitted to describe publicly the "alternative interrogation methods" used in secret C.I.A. prisons overseas.

In papers filed in the case of Majid Khan, a Pakistani who is among 14 so-called "high-value detainees" recently transferred to the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, Justice Department and C.I.A. officials argued that allowing Mr. Khan to disclose details of his treatment could cause "extremely grave damage to the national security."

"Many terrorist operatives are specifically trained in counter-interrogation techniques," says a declaration by Marilyn A. Dorn, an official at the National Clandestine Service, a part of the C.IA. "If specific alternative techniques were disclosed, it would permit terrorist organizations to adapt their training to counter the tactics that C.I.A. can employ in interrogations."

Hey, Marilyn, I think they've already figured out about the hold-your-breath-till-you-turn-blue thing, don't you?
. . Lawyers for Mr. Khan, who lived in Maryland for several years and is accused of researching how to blow up gasoline stations and poison reservoirs, have alleged that he was tortured while in American custody and falsely confessed to crimes.

Do you suppose that the guy may have falsely confessed because of the, you know, torture?
Intelligence officials have acknowledged that some terrorism suspects were subjected to harsh [sic]interrogation techniques, including sleep deprivation, exposure to heat and cold and a simulated drowning technique. Human rights advocates believe the methods amount to torture, which is banned by international law, but United States officials deny the charge."
Well, see, according to Bushist fascism, if you don't actually call it torture, then it's not torture, right?

WaPo here. NY Times here.


Friday, November 03, 2006

Talibangelical Minister John Compares Self to Botched Joke








American Crappy-Christian Talibangelicals?

Ya gotta love 'em.

There's James "Dog-beater" Dobson, who proudly belt-beats his own Dachshund, Sigmund Freud (I'm not kidding), and advocates grown men showering naked with little boys and comparing penis sizes in order to avoid the boys growing up to be homosexual. Chuck Colson, the reformed Nixon crook. Wellington Boone, proud user of the "faggot"-word. Pro-abusive marriage, anti-no-fault divorce Talibangical Tony Perkins.

Now, the spotlight's on toothy Talibangelical Minister Ted Haggard, one reluctant foot out of the closet, a guy who does similes like NO ONE else does!

Haggard says he's like Kerry's recent Bush joke, here.

Yes, Virginia, just ask Jesus!

Being an openly anti-gay secretly very gay meth-mad fundamentalist minister who commits adultery with a handsome male prostitute (Mr. Mike Jones, inset below) during a three-year paid affair, is SO like Kerry making jokes about Bush being stupid!! Is it not?

Hoo-AH!



"Pastor Sacked For Sexually Immoral Conduct," here and here.



Thursday, November 02, 2006

Talibangelical Quits Over Gay Sex Scandal: Won't Make Male Lover An Honest Man










On and on it goes, round and round it goes. In a spin. Lovin' the spin they're in. That ol' black magic called -- Bushist fascist family values!

Protecting pedophiles, killing 600,000 people, establishing a state of permanent lies, morally and fiscally bankrupting America, promoting civil vitriol, poisoning the air and water and civil discourse. Scooter "What Kind of a Name is That for a Grown Man" Libby promoting bestiality.

George Bush attacking John Kerry for attacking George Bush's stupidity, only Boy George is so stupid he fails to notice who John Kerry was attacking. Oh well.

Bushist fascist wife-beating, contempt for the rule of law, corruption, kidnapping, torture, sadism.

Really, what's left?

GOP -- 24/7, manifesting every one of the Seven Deadly Sins -- and THEN some.

Evangelical leader quits after gay sex allegation
Ted Haggard, accused of affair with gay man, resigns from national post
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The leader of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man in monthly trysts over the past three years.

The Rev. Ted Haggard, a married father of five who has been called one of the most influential evangelical Christians in the nation, denied the allegations. His accuser refused to share voice mails that he said backed up his claim.

Haggard also stepped aside as head of his 14,000-member New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations. . . .

The allegations come as voters in Colorado and seven other states get ready to decide Tuesday on amendments banning gay marriage. Besides the proposed ban on the Colorado ballot, a separate measure would establish the legality of domestic partnerships providing same-sex couples with many of the rights of married couples.

Accuser cites hypocrisy

Mike Jones, 49, of Denver told The Associated Press he decided to go public with his allegations because of the political fight. Jones, who said he is gay, said he was upset when he discovered Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex marriage.

"It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex," said Jones, who added that he isn't working for any political group.

Jones, whose allegations were first aired on KHOW-AM radio in Denver, claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three years. Jones also said Haggard snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his experience.

Haggard and his attorney, Martin Nussbaum, did not return calls Thursday night from the AP.

Jones said that he had advertised himself as an escort on the Internet and that a man who called himself Art contacted him. Jones said he later saw the man on television identified as Haggard.
All the pretty little Bushist fascists.

"Blacks and bays, dapples and greys . . "

All the pretty little . . .

Bushist fascists.