John Aschcroft and the Politics of Fear

David Neiwert at Orincus and pessimist at The Leftcoaster have great coverage and links on John Aschcroft's political BS terror warning.
Even MSNBC picked up on it.

Friday, Ashcroft's spokesman blamed the FBI, and the FBI admitted claims that terrorists were 90 percent ready to attack came not from al-Qaida, but from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades’ statements.

That the FBI apparently took the group seriously also troubles experts.

“To give this group any type of credibility is reckless,” said terrorism expert and NBC analyst Steve Emerson, “because it simply doesn't represent anything but one person claiming credit for attacks that has no control or not connected to, but simply trying to jump on the publicity bandwagon.”

He believes it reflects a larger failing on the part of the FBI.

“Portraying this group seriously is simply a reflection of the FBI's continued failures since 9/11 to basically develop an analytic capability at headquarters in assessing terrorist intelligence,” Emerson said.

So it appears the incompetence of the FBI is playing right into the political hands of Aschcroft.
Check out the above links and the links within the links for a good rundown.

Memorial Day

This Memorial Day I will remember many but especially my Dad. He died 2 years ago a few months short of his 87th birthday. He was a veteran and yes a hero of WWII. He spent 3 years in India and Burma going behind the Japanese lines to repair and fly our downed planes receiving a Bronze Star for his efforts. He always treated people fairly. That I imagine is why he did well in life but never got rich. He opposed the Viet Nam War long before it became popular to do so and I’m sure he would have opposed the War in Iraq had he been alive. He was a good man and as I look around I don’t see too many of those around these days. I remember my dad and I smile.

My Dad, Bud Beasley in Burma during WWII (on the right) 

Fafnir interviews Rummy

Don't miss this one. Classic Rummy and classic fafblog all in one.

Neo-Cons Loyalty

Everyone is questioning Chalabi's loyalties these days and rightly so. Brad DeLong quotes a piece from Taegan Goddard's Political Wire that may give some perspective as to how history will view the Iraq debacle:

"When the story ultimately comes out we'll see that Iran has run one of the most masterful intelligence operations in history. They persuaded the US and Britain to dispose of its greatest enemy."

-- Former State Department counter-terrorism official Larry Johnson, quoted in The Guardian. According to the article: "Some intelligence officials now believe that Iran used the hawks in the Pentagon and the White House to get rid of a hostile neighbor, and pave the way for a Shia-ruled Iraq."

This is only part of the story. What impact did the neo-cons loyalty to Israel impact the decision making at the expense of what was really in the best interests of the US.

IRAQ:
War Launched to Protect Israel - Bush Adviser

Emad Mekay

Iraq under Saddam Hussein did not pose a threat to the United States but it did to Israel, which is one reason why Washington invaded the Arab country, according to a speech made by a member of a top-level White House intelligence group.

WASHINGTON, Mar 29 (IPS) - IPS uncovered the remarks by Philip Zelikow, who is now the executive director of the body set up to investigate the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001 -- the 9/11 commission -- in which he suggests a prime motive for the invasion just over one year ago was to eliminate a threat to Israel, a staunch U.S. ally in the Middle East.

Zelikow's casting of the attack on Iraq as one launched to protect Israel appears at odds with the public position of President George W. Bush and his administration, which has never overtly drawn the link between its war on the regime of former president Hussein and its concern for Israel's security.

Entire article here link thanks to DeLong commentor, Mike.

Bad Vibes

A good post on The Leftcoaster and one really bad comment:

We have to hope that Iraq gets worse news daily so Bush's numbers will go even further down.

I am as anti dubya as anyone but I find this offensive. If things get worse in Iraq it means young Americans and Iraqi's die. In addition to being immoral, comments like this are fodder for the wingnuts and they will feast on it.
Cut this shit out folks

Oops, Rons been eating mushrooms again. 

The Fall of a Power Broker

In and out of politics and public life over the last 30 plus years, Neil Goldschmidt will leave his mark on the Portland area and the NW in general. He was a politician but even more a power broker. His recent fall came at a time when Neil, the power broker, was the major driving force in an effort to hand the assets of our once local electric company, PGE, to yet another Texas company. Hopefully Neil's fall will kill that effort.

Steve Duin has a good commentary in the May 23, 2004 Oregonian. His point, I think, is that although Goldschmidt may have had some positive impact on Oregon and the Portland area he remained a power broker looking out for himself while ruining the life of a young woman.

Goldschmidt begged for that much when he dragged Yom Kippur into his calculated, self-serving official statement, suggesting that he spends the days of atonement "searching for personal peace" while listening for the Book of Life to once again slam shut.

If, in fact, a part of Goldschmidt remains cornered in his private hell, allow me to join those who wish him relief from his recklessness, his arrogance and his shame.

But Neil -- and his trusty PR team -- need to understand that public redemption is untenable. He had sex with a 14-year-old girl. Confronted with a damaged young woman, Goldschmidt used her. Such malicious infamy disqualifies you from public trust and the public arena.

This needs to be said because Goldschmidt's mea culpa boasts more stagecraft than sincerity. It was hustled out only when exposure was inevitable. He cast the statutory rape as "an affair," and conveniently misremembered his victim's age, just like the frazzled coach in an old Cheech and Chong routine ("Thirteen? How the heck did I know she was 13? She looked 14 to me.")

I hope you find some peace Neil, but don't ask for forgiveness, the time for that has long passed.

Flashback; Berkley, 1972 

Fascism in America

Creeping fascism in the US is something I have been concerned with for some time. Although it has been close to the surface since the civil war its surfacing I think began with the Republican attempt to capture the southern Democratic vote by subtly playing the race card. This was very successful, giving the Reagan Republicans the power to advance their fascist agenda and has broken the surface under the Bush regime.
David Neiwert has addressed this topic like only he can and much better than I can. No cut and paste blockquotes here, just go to the source.

He mentions an incident I discussed here a couple of days ago.

Update
A comment I placed on the Orincus site can be found here
My Daily KOS diary with comments is here

Chalabi group was front for Iran

Talk about being had, it appears that Cheney and the Defense Department were being taken in and paying Iranian spies as in Chalabi and his slimy group.
Agency: Chalabi group was front for Iran

WASHINGTON -- The Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded that a U.S.-funded arm of Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress has been used for years by Iranian intelligence to pass disinformation to the United States and to collect highly sensitive American secrets, according to intelligence sources.

"Iranian intelligence has been manipulating the United States through Chalabi by furnishing through his Information Collection Program information to provoke the United States into getting rid of Saddam Hussein," said an intelligence source Friday who was briefed on the Defense Intelligence Agency's conclusions, which were based on a review of thousands of internal documents.

In other words we attacked one country part of the Axis of Evil, Iraq, for another, Iran.
Will the incompetence ever end.
Josh Marshall also has some thoughts on this

Why do the Republicans Hate America?

Via Better Angels of our Nature:
What are the troops fighting for? It sure aint freedom.
From The Daytona Beach News Journal:
Hard lessons from poetry class: Speech is free unless it's critical

Bill Nevins, a New Mexico high school teacher and personal friend, was fired last year and classes in poetry and the poetry club at Rio Rancho High School were permanently terminated. It had nothing to do with obscenity, but it had everything to do with extremist politics.

The "Slam Team" was a group of teenage poets who asked Nevins to serve as faculty adviser to their club. The teens, mostly shy youngsters, were taught to read their poetry aloud and before audiences. Rio Rancho High School gave the Slam Team access to the school's closed-circuit television once a week and the poets thrived.

In March 2003, a teenage girl named Courtney presented one of her poems before an audience at Barnes & Noble bookstore in Albuquerque, then read the poem live on the school's closed-circuit television channel.

A school military liaison and the high school principal accused the girl of being "un-American" because she criticized the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's failure to give substance to its "No child left behind" education policy.

The girl's mother, also a teacher, was ordered by the principal to destroy the child's poetry. The mother refused and may lose her job.

Welcome to the New American Theocracy. The end of Democracy as we know it.
Have a nice day

Just A Picture

The picture below was taken on the Oregon Coast.

On The Beach 

24 Years Ago

It was 24 years ago that Fuji-like Mt. St. Helens blew her top. Not even mentioned on the local news here in P-Town tonight. I remember the the ash, I remember the views, the July 22 eruption is memorable because it occured on a beautiful cloudless day.
Mostly I remember my friend Bob Kaseweter who had a cabin at Spirit Lake. He went up to the lake on that day to get his stuff out of the cabin. That was the end of the life of a person who was full of life and loved to live it on the edge. He died on the edge and I am sure that he was thrilled the last few seconds of his life.

In 1980 Mt.St.Helens was not an advantage of living in Portland. The 7/22/1980 Eruption 

One of the advantages of living in Portland, Mt.Hood at sunset 

Return to "Sanity"

KOS says

"How about a non-conspiracy theory open thread? I don't buy all that shit. There's enough real crazy stuff happening with this administration to talk about."

Well I agree with him in spite of some inconsistencies in the Berg video.

Josh Marshall has an e-mail from a contractor friend in Iraq that is well worth the read. I think the most striking thing he talks about is the fact that the US troops are in the process of slowly going uncontrollably ballistic, that's kinda new news. He also mentions that the Iraqis hate our guts but I think we had figured that out already.

Have a nice evening.

15 Anomalies Surrounding Death Of Nick Berg

15 Anomalies Surrounding Death Of Nick Berg
More on Nick Berg here. A good summary of all of the Anamalies surrounding the video.

Dubya Action Figure

I created the picture below about a year ago. It seemed absurd then and has continued to get more absurd over the last year.

George W. Bush Action Figure 

Iris Picture

The picture below is a digital photograph. In Photoshop the background was removed. Further processing was done to give it the appearance of a detailed painting.

Iris 

More on Nick Berg

I watched the Nick Berg video. With all the conflicting opinions I had to see for myself. As for was he dead or alive when decapitated? I don't know or can't tell. Was it actually Nick Berg? He appears much thinner than the other picture that is shown of him but that wouldn't be too surprising. Facial features could be a match. The quality of the video is very poor and there has been a great deal of editing. I will agree that the guy speaking was not reading off of the papers in his hand.
To sum it up; again the video quality was so poor that it was only gruesome if you knew in advance what it was. I really can't draw too many conclusions, I'm not any wiser now than I was before I watched it.

Update
A good piece by Prof. Sam Hamod at Leftcoaster

Berg Death Video Phony?

From Pacific Views: Oddities in Snuff Film

Aljazeera has an article about the Berg beheading that purports to find some anomalies courtesy of the doubts of unnamed bloggers:


Even at first glance, internet bloggers were asking on Thursday why Nick Berg was wearing an orange jumpsuit – just like US prisoners wear.

...There are plenty of questions raised concerning the video too. The body is completely motionless even as the knife is brought to bear – not so much as an instinctive wriggle.

More graphically, some claim that cutting the throat's artery would cause a significant amount of blood to gush out. But little emerges and when the head was raised – not a drop of blood is seen to fall. ...


I haven't seen the video, and if I can help it, I won't. But if anyone cares to comment further, the floor is yours.

Here is the Aljazeera Link
It would appear that at the very least Berg was already dead when he was beheaded on the video. There is no other way to explain the lack of involuntary body movement and the lack of blood. From the Aljazeera Article:

However, the circumstances of the video release are also strange. A Reuters journalist in Dubai first named the Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami website as the source for the video – at www.al-ansar.biz.

Although the site has now been shut down, Aljazeera.net looked at the site within 90 minutes of the story breaking – and could find no such video footage.

But Fox News, CNN and the BBC were all able to download the footage from the Arabic-only website and report the story within the hour.

The timing is also questioned. Many questions here.

Spirituality and Atheism, a Question

Some discussion of religion as promised, or I guess it's just a question.

What does being an “atheist” mean. It means I don’t believe in a superior being who created the universe and continues to meddle and sit in judgement, the Abrahamic God model. It means that the forces created the universe should be the subject of physics and cosmology.

Does this mean I can’t be spiritual or does this mean I can in fact be truly spiritual?

Fun and Politics

This is supposed to be a place for fun and politics but it will never be able to compete with my favorite place, Fafblog. I don't know who these people are and I am far to lazy to make any serious attempt to find out but they are educational and fun. In a recent post on seniors and medicare the satire is infectious, at least I hope it is satire:

Awwwwww! Poor old seniors! Do you know what this is, seniors? (Please imagine Giblets miming a violin-playing motion with his fingers) It is Giblets playing the world's smallest violin just for the seniors who are too stupid to figure out how their obscenely expensive new Medicare drug benefit works. In a proper honest Gibletsian society you would all be released into the jungle to be eaten by giant insects upon retirement, or perhaps forced to run through a televised master gauntlet policed by extravagantly costumed killer police cyborgs, instead of plodding on into old age and becoming part of a immensely potent voting block. We have given you massive and deeply flawed entitlement programs that won't survive your children. We have bloated those programs with sops to pharmaceutical companies and the AARP. We have given you Florida, a once barely-habitable swampland now dereference into a hellish biodome of rest homes and tourist traps. And now you want the ability to see, too?

and then there is this fun nonsense, at least I think that's what it is:

roadblogging!

Things of note seen on the road:

A car on fire - which did note explode! "It must explode eventually," says Giblets. "TV has not lied to me."

A Wendy's with a giant inflatable girl out in front of it. We figured that must in fact have been Wendy. "Wendy is enormous, and terrifyingly bloated" read my notes.

A truck full of corn tipped over in a ditch, with much spilled corn. "Air thick with the howl of zombified yokels lost in the throes of corn-lust" read my notes. I am pretty sure I did not write that, complain to Giblets instead.

A good place to go when you need a smile.

Saudi Justice and the Bush Mind

CBS's 60 Minutes had a segment on the Saudis framing 7 westerners for a terrorist attack. Saudi Justice?.

(CBS) Why did the Government of Saudi Arabia frame seven westerners for a series of car bombings they didn't commit?

Those car bombings, which began in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in November 2000, killed three members of the expatriate community and severely injured several others. To western observers, they were clearly the work of Islamic fundamentalists.

But the Saudis were not about to admit that. So five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian found themselves arrested, systematically tortured into false confessions and eventually convicted of those bombings.

Since the release of the men from a Saudi Arabian jail last summer, it's emerged that the Saudis were secretly using them as pawns in a bigger game - a game that for two of the men almost ended in a terrible death.

Much has been made of the long time connection of the Bush family and the House of Saud. How dose the Bush family ties to this horrible regime explain this administration disregard for our own Democratic institutions.

Open Thread

I am working on a long post on religion or lack there of here in Middle Earth. For some good background reading try Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism : A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture by John Shelby Spong. A good discussion on the absudity of considering the Bible inerrant.
If you have found this place feel free to discuss anything you want.

Welcome

Welcome to Middle Earth. This can be a place to get away or a place to rant.