Prez Flip-Flops Over War Win
President Bush seems to have changed his mind about whether the war on terrorism will be won. He now agrees with John Kerry and says
"we will win". It's still not clear whether the President knows terrorism is a
noun, and not a country. Developing...
George Soros, Drug Kingpin?!?
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has apparently been tossing around the idea that
George Soros is a drug dealer. He does a quick CYA by adding he "doesn't know" if this is true or not. Well, I don't know if Mr. Hastert is a
pedophile, but I wouldn't accuse him on network T.V. unless I had some evidence. Apparently the speaker prefers to be unencumbered by facts.
Prez sez: This War Can't Be Won
During an interview on NBC's The Today Show, President Bush was asked if we can win his war on terror. The President's answer?
"I don’t think you can win it."
Our Secret Delegates
The FBI and Secret Service have obtained a
subpoena against Calyx Internet Access, the ISP for IndyMedia in New York. This is
regarding the publishing of the names of delegates to the Republican convention currently going on in New York. It seems the feds feel publishing these names amounts to Intimidation or interference of voters and thus violates
U.S. Code Title 18, Section 594.
"New York City is a fortress, and I love it"
...so says Joseph Kyrillos, the New Jersey state Republican chairman.
The NY Times is reporting that
small, organized protest groups are harassing delegates enjoying the NYC nightlife, though it's unclear who is behind these incidents. The Times seems to be associating them with
"anarchists and other radicals", but the only anarchist they mention is a man shouting
"These people are in a bubble" during Sunday's demonstration.
Does the Right-Wing Wants Protesters?
Chris Thompson has a rather cogent piece about how protesters at the upcoming RNC convention
may be playing into the conservative's hands. Remember the WTO protests in Seattle, where a relatively few violent protesters wrecked havoc, while the
majority were peacful? Well, the broken windows
got most of the press, the peaceniks were mostly (
though not completely) ignored and now the WTO gets to meet in isolation, unchallenged in the assertion that
protesters will bring violence.
Such is the fate which awaits the Left in NYC if the Right Wing press gets its way. "We have every intention of making the protests a big part of the convention coverage" Fox News assignment editor Sarah Courtney is quoted as saying.
Unbelievably Offensive Toy
I'm waiting to find out that this is just a horrible joke, but it seems L and M Imports of Miami sold a toy to
Lisy Corporation, which in turn packaged the toy into bags of candy. Why is this noteworthy? Because
the "toy" depicts a plane flying into the Twin Towers! Just in case there was any doubt, the maker of this thing included the number "9011" right under the towers. It takes pretty much to offend my cynical sensibilities, but this one takes it over the top. A U.S. based company selling a
toy depicting one of our worst national tragedies?!? When contacted by reporters, the L and M Imports representative apparently didn't see it as offensive at all.
Judge Alan C. Todd, "Disgrace to Society"
The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commision
has found Judge Alan C. Todd to be unfit "to hold the office of judge" because of numerous, extremely offensive remarks he has made in court, including calling a deputy sheriff who is a single mother a "disgrace to society", saying the child was a "bastard" and would grow up to become a "loser". This pathetic small-minded man repeatedly made racist, sexist and generally idiotic statements including such comments as Baptists "think there is no sin in the world and have no morals". The judge has 20 days to appeal the
decision.
School's Out
Golfer and occasional chicken lover
Alice Cooper thinks
musicians who oppose President Bush are "treasonous morons". He (apparently sincerely) believes that "Rock should never be in bed with politics" and that rock stars are all "Morons". Well, at least he's right about one of them.
Number of Poor, Uninsured Rises
For the third straight year,
the number of Americans living in poverty increased last year, as did the number of uninsured. More important, the number of children living in poverty rose at an even faster rate. Now a stunning 17.6% of the Americans under the age of 18 live in poverty.
Scooter Saves the Day
Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper
has had contempt of court orders against him and his employer vacated after Vice President Cheney's chief of staff "Scooter" Libby personally released Mr. Cooper from a promise of confidentiality. Apparently Scooter had previously released Tim Russert (Meet The Press) and Glenn Kessler (Washington Post) of their promises as well.
All three reporters have been questioned regarding Robert Novak's outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame after her husband Joseph Wilson pointed out that President Bush made unfounded claims about Iraq in his 2003 State of the Union address. And now it seems the three reporters are each saying their confidential source was Scooter, the Vice President's chief of staff.
The last time I checked, it was
still a felony to leak the name of an undercover CIA officer. No evidence has yet been made public to indicate Mr. Libby is the person who actually exposed Ms. Plame as a CIA officer.
No word yet on when Mr. Novak may be called to testify.
The Swift Arm of Justice
Robert Carroll Coney was released
after spending 40 years in prison. This happened after Texas State District Judge David Wilson discovered that Sheriff Leon Jones and his deputies had a history of
crushing prisoners' fingers between jail cell bars in order to gain confessions. "I remember the sheriff well," Coney said while holding up his twisted fingers before the judge. He left the jail accompanied by his wife of nearly 50 years.
NYC Authorities Confiscating Books!?!
According to
this live journal entry, it seems that New York authorities are not only searching the bags of people traveling on public transportation, but they are also attempting to confiscate books they don't approve of! We're not talking terror manuals or anything like that. According to the above post, the officer tried to confiscate a copy of
Exalted: The Abyssals because he felt it was somehow "inappropriate". Only after the book's owner threatened to call the ACLU did the officer allow the person to board the ferry
with his book.
