The Senate Votes 60-28 to Pass Bush's Illegal Wiretapping

What the F*** were they thinking? The illegal wiretapping that has occurred without a court order, without a warrant will continue why? Because G. Bush said so? No. Because the Democrats capitulated and as Glenn Greenwald said even more than that they participated in authorizing an illegal program. No more can we sit here and say thank god the democrats were elected. This is a program that Russ Feingold sought to censure Bush regarding.

Feingold has been a vocal opponent of this program and here are some past statements on the NSA wiretapping Program to remind us just how bad this is:

This program is breaking the law, and this President is breaking the law. Not only that, he is misleading the American people in his efforts to justify this program...How is that worthy of applause? Since when do we celebrate our commander in chief for violating our most basic freedoms, and misleading the American people in the process? When did we start to stand up and cheer for breaking the law? In that moment at the State of the Union, I felt ashamed.

Defeating the terrorists should be our top national priority, and we all agree that we need to wiretap them to do it. In fact, it would be irresponsible not to wiretap terrorists. But we have yet to see any reason why we have to trample the laws of the United States to do it. The President’s decision that he can break the law says far more about his attitude toward the rule of law than it does about the laws themselves...

All of us in this body took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and bear true allegiance to the same. Fulfilling that oath requires us to speak clearly and forcefully when the President violates the law. This resolution allows us to send a clear message that the President’s conduct was wrong.

And we must do that. The President’s actions demand a formal judgment from Congress.
At moments in our history like this, we are reminded why the founders balanced the powers of the different branches of government so carefully in the Constitution. At the very heart of our system of government lies the recognition that some leaders will do wrong, and that others in the government will then bear the responsibility to do right.

This President has done wrong. This body can do right by condemning his conduct and showing the people of this nation that his actions will not be allowed to stand unchallenged.
To date, members of Congress have responded in very different ways to the President’s conduct. Some are responding by defending his conduct, ceding him the power he claims, and even seeking to grant him expanded statutory authorization powers to make his conduct legal. While we know he is breaking the law, we do not know the details of what the President has authorized or whether there is any need to change the law to allow it, yet some want to give him carte blanche to continue his illegal conduct. To approve the President’s actions now, without demanding a full inquiry into this program, a detailed explanation for why the President authorized it, and accountability for his illegal actions, would be irresponsible. It would be to abandon the duty of the legislative branch under our constitutional system of separation of powers while the President recklessly grabs for power and ignores the rule of law.

Below is a list of Senators who voted for the program. No Republican voted against it. Many believe this participation in the program is because of beltway consultants advising democrats not to look weak in the upcoming election. Poppycock. Take responsibility. The House passed the provision yesterday and it is now law. If the Democrats cannot stand up to a law so illegal and so in direct contravention to our Constitution what can we really ever expect from them? End the Iraq war? I have lost all faith in them.

Evan Bayh (Indiana); Tom Carper (Delaware); Bob Casey (Pennsylvania); Kent Conrad (North Dakota); Dianne Feinstein (California); Daniel Inouye (Hawai‘i); Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota); Mary Landrieu (Louisiana); Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas); Claire McCaskill (Missouri); Barbara Mikulski (Maryland); Bill Nelson (Florida); Ben Nelson (Nebraska); Mark Pryor (Arkansas); Ken Salazar (Colorado); Jim Webb (Virginia).

Bernie Sanders on Jim Nussle Confirmation

Bernie Sanders is my favorite Senator. He was my favorite Congressman before he won his Senate seat. No person in Congress today stands up for the average American like Bernie Sanders. Bernie for President in '12

The American Dream?

I have to start out this post by stating that I have a dog, which goes by the name Rebecca. I love my dog, and she is great for my son, Philip. My life is more enjoyable with the addition, three years ago, of this loving pet. But things in my America have gotten out of hand.

Business Week just published a cover piece on the burgeoning industry centered around pets. Americans spent, last year alone, about $40 billion on their pets. That is not my number, but the magazine's. And it seems insane, when we cannot find a way to rationalize universal health care, well-funded public schools, or an increase for ten years in the minimum wage. Congress has repeatedly said that Americans won't stand for a socialized health care system where everyone pays for everyone else's health problems. But, they sure as hell will pay for the best doghouse for Fido. They have money for dog psychologists.

What the hell is going on? We have pit bulls that are ripping strangers to shreds, and the dog gets put to sleep. This is ridiculous: we need to lock up the owner of the dog that trained it to kill. We have owners who sit in townhouses feeding their Maltese fresh salmon, and homeless guys dying on the streets of Hoboken. And then piece of shit techie yuppies complaining that their latte got curdled when they had to avert their gaze from the filth that is poverty.

I have to think that a country, a people, should be judged on what they prioritize...what they put their money toward. So, next time you think about paying $200 for a pumpkin costume for your poodle on Halloween, think about it.

la francaise adds: ... or when you are paying $600 for a dog tracking system -- see more at gundogsupply. the device at left ($200) can monitor how much exercise your fido gets each day.

Sports and Politics by Dave Zirin

No one combines sports and politics like Dave Zirin. See his information below.

Even in Minnesota:
When Domes Attack
By Dave Zirin

Minneapolis-Saint Paul is the last place on earth I would have expected a"structurally deficient bridge" to collapse, but it happened. As sure asthe levees broke in New Orleans, the bridge is no more. Now the state ofMinnesota is living a nightmare where people I speak with are alternatelydevastated and furious: two parts tears, one part rage, with the ratioshifting by the hour.

I went to college in the Twin Cities, a refugee from the scowling confines of New Yawk. Minnesota was like another planet, a place I almost bolted after the first day when I was carded for trying to buy a lighter. But the people easily won me over. How could you not love a place that gave us Prince, Hulk Hogan, and cheese curds? The combination of fried dairy products, pro wrestling, and funk was just too much to resist. It's the kind of place where my buddy John would choose to relocate and raise a family despite having roots in La Jolla, California. La Jolla is breathtaking: an oil painting come to life. But Minneapolis-St. Paul has something far more precious than sand and surf. The people of the Twin Cities always seem to have one eye on the greater good. It's a place where Democrats proudly call themselves the 'Democratic Farmer Labor Party',where Republicans go by the name 'Independent Republicans', and where coffee shop calls itself ‘Dunne Brothers’, in tribute to the leaders of the1934 strike that shut down the city.

It was also a place, with its social democratic traditions, that constantly frustrated the ambitions of a man named Carl Pohlad. Pohlad is the 92-year-old multi-billionaire owner of the Minnesota Twins. He has spent the last two decades of his life trying to get the taxpayers of his home state to give him 500 million dollars for a state of the art mega dome. The people in numerous referendums were polite and firm that the Pohlad way was not the Minnesota way. But Pohlad would not be deterred.

As Rudolph Giuliani once said, the problem with stadium referendums is that people won't vote for them. Pohlad took the Giuliani gospel to heart. He slunk behind the scenes, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to politicians in both parties - eventually making a mockery of the Labor label on the Democrats and the Independence of the Republicans.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has vetoed every effort to raise taxes to refurbish the state's infrastructure, became a born-again stadium supporter. Others as well "got religion" and began to worship at the altar of "revenue streams,” "naming rights," and "luxury boxes." As the Minnesota City Pages put it, "After a long string of public relations disasters that have entrenched his reputation as a miserly,something-for-nothing businessman, Carl Pohlad - the richest owner in major league baseball - has finally learned his political lesson. This time all the hardball haggling occurred behind closed doors."

Groundbreaking for the Pohlad's monument to corporate greed and political graft was supposed to be on Thursday, August 2nd, but the plans were hastily scuttled. The irony was simply too much for even these assorted scoundrels to bear. To celebrate the fleecing of the public to the tune of half a billion dollars - over 300 dollars out of the pockets of every man woman and child - while bodies have still yet to be recovered from the fallen bridge, would have been monstrous.

But this monster is already long loose and rampaging the countryside. It's difficult to not recall Hurricane Katrina and the way the Superdome became the homeless shelter from hell for 30,000 of the city's poorest residents.The Superdome, also funded by the public dime, became completely unfit for humanity in a few short hours. At the time, many - particularly in the Northern liberal media - cluck clucked at New Orleans and their"priorities." But even in Minnesota, the Pohlad Dome has been given mo rethought, planning, and consideration than the very bridges families assume will remain upright. Even in Minnesota, as Nick Coleman of the Star Tribune wrote, "Both political parties have tried to govern on the cheap, and both have dithered and dallied and spent public wealth on stadiums while scrimping on the basics." Even in Minnesota. That might be the most frightening epitaph of all. Even in Minnesota the Dome came first and the people last. Every community needs to take this to heart and tell politicians we will no longer worship false idols. It’s time to tear down the Domes.

[Dave Zirin is the author of the new book "Welcome to the Terrordome:" with an intro by Chuck D (Haymarket). You can receive his column Edge of Sports,every week by going to http://zirin.com/edgeofsports/?p=subscribe&id=1.Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com]

Part II - Cornel West "To Be a Leftist"

For the first Part go here.

Fighting Crazy With Crazy

From Jake Novo in Bridgeport, CT.

In an apparent attempt to come up with something crazier than Mitt Romney's "we ought to double Guantanamo" statement, Republican Presidential (gulp!) candidate Tom Tancredo made a serious bid for an 'ass clown of the week' nomination by declaring (article below) that 'the only' solution for deterring a terrorist attack on U.S. soil was to threaten all Muslims that any terrorist attack would result in a U.S. assault on Islam's holiest sites, Mecca & Medina.

Let's forget for a moment that - that would be like blowing up the Vatican to punish Timothy McVeigh (I am not sure if he is Catholic, but you get the point). Let's also ignore for now, how such a statement by a US Presidential candidate threatening Islamic holy sites could be used by Al-Qaeda as a recruitment tool.

But this just goes to show you how low the Republican Presidential bar has been set. In a country begging for leadership; with a foreign policy starving for diplomacy, each of the Republican candidates is doing his best to appear crazier than the next guy (Ron Paul not withstanding).

But this just goes to show you how low the Republican Presidential bar has been set. In a country begging for leadership; with a foreign policy starving for diplomacy, each of the Republican candidates is doing his best to appear crazier than the next guy (Ron Paul not withstanding).

What none of them seem to grasp is the basic concept that two wrongs don't make a right. You cannot fight terror with terror. and you certainly cannot fight crazy with crazy.

Tancredo's comments and the story by the Associated Press are posted below.

Republican candidate advocates threat to bomb Islamic holy sites as response to terrorist attack on U.S.

The Associated Press

Thursday, August 2, 2007

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo says the best way he can think of to deter a nuclear terrorist attack on the U.S. is to threaten to retaliate by bombing Islamic holy sites.

The Colorado congressman on Tuesday told about 30 people at a town hall meeting in the state of Iowa that he believes such a terrorist attack could be imminent and that the U.S. needs to hurry up and think of a way to stop it.

"If it is up to me, we are going to explain that an attack on this homeland of that nature would be followed by an attack on the holy sites in Mecca and Medina," Tancredo said at the Family Table restaurant. "Because that's the only thing I can think of that might deter somebody from doing what they otherwise might do."

Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia, are Islam's holiest cities. All able-bodied Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage there at least once in their lives. Tancredo's comments were recorded and posted on the Web site iowapolitics.com.

A Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group responded in anger Thursday, calling Tancredo's statement "unworthy of anyone seeking public office in the United States."

"Perhaps it's evidence of a long-shot candidate grasping at straws and trying to create some kind of a controversy that might appeal to a niche audience of anti-Muslim bigots," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Campaign spokesman, Alan Moore, said Tancredo stands by his statement.

Experts say Tancredo has no hope of going to the White House. Opinion polls put him at the bottom of the Republican field with 1 percent.

This is not the first time Tancredo has suggested taking extreme action against Mecca and Medina.

In 2005, he drew international criticism after he told a radio talk show host that "you could take out" Islamic holy sites if terrorists ever launched a nuclear attack against the United States.

Dispatches From Cascadia Vol. 3

News from the Subversive Sports Desk

Here in the Republic of Cascadia we like our sports a little on the subversive side, and as far as athletic competition goes, it doesn’t get much more deliciously subversive than Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby. Forget the Portland Trailblazers landing the #1 pick in the NBA draft, or the Seattle Mariners enjoying their best season in years, Portland and all of Cascadia is going crazy for our hometown girls the Rose City Rollers. Last Saturday the Rollers elite All-star squad, dubbed “The Wheels of Justice” took on the gritty girls from the mile high city, Denver’s “5280 Fight Club.” The last time these teams met it was an all out brawl on wheels, with the “Fight Club” edging the “Wheels” by a mere five points. But this time Portland was playing for more than just revenge and bragging rights. The Wheels are ranked 13th nationally in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and they were looking to put the big hurt on Denver (ranked 17th) in order to move up in the rankings. From the opening whistle it was clear whose night this was. Portland drummed up a ton of business for their team’s primary sponsor, the Portland Orthopedic and Fracture Clinic, by literally steamrolling the girls from Denver. The Wheels were running up the points faster than the team of referees could count. Portland was led by their all-star Jammers: Rhea DeRange, Sol Train and Goodie Two Skates, who were seemingly scoring points at will. The Jammers were backed up by a whole cast of hard hitting muscle, including November Pain, Mega Hurtz and Dora Doom. No team in a WFTDA Bout has broken 100 points this season but by the end of the first period the Wheels had run the score up so high that the chants of One-Hun-Dred were echoing through the rink from the rabid crowd. Although they slowed the pace down to take it easy on their opponent in the final two periods, the Wheels easily broke 100 points and the 111 to 74 final score seems a lot closer than this blowout bout really was. This overwhelming performance will surely catapult Portland into the top 10 WFTDA rankings and it also serves notice to any other teams who dare come to Portland to face the wrath of the Wheels of Justice. No one gets off easy in the Rollers House of Pain!!

For those of you in the New York City area, don’t forget to check out the Gotham Girls Roller Derby League. Next up on the schedule, the Manhattan Mayhem take on the Queens of Pain, August 11 at City College of NY. For more info on the Fabulous Rose City Rollers and their All-Star Squad, the Wheels of Justice, check out their excellent website at rosecityrollers.com

--submitted by cousin marc, the wandering road

Exploiting Mexican Kids for Profit

OUR VOLUNTEER PACKERS COLLECT NO SALARY, ONLY THE GRATUITY THAT YOU GIVE THEM. SUPERAMA THANKS YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.

Above is the sign that tells Walmart Shoppers what the Mexican "volunteers" are given (which is nothing) in Walmart stores in Mexico. Walmart does not hide the practice proudly displaying the sign to shoppers. "WalMart is Mexico’s largest private-sector employer in the nation today, with nearly 150,000 local residents on its payroll. An additional 19,000 youngsters between the ages of 14 and 16 work after school in hundreds of WalMart stores, mostly as grocery baggers, throughout Mexico-and none of them receives a red cent in wages or fringe benefits."

The use of unsalaried youths is legal in Mexico because the kids are said to be “volunteering” their services to WalMart and are therefore not subject to the requirements and regulations that would otherwise apply under the country’s labor laws. Nearly half the Mexican population scrapes by on less than $4 per day. This is why families are forced to send the teens to work for tips even if it depends on the goodwill of Walmart shoppers. Walmart is quick to point out it did not invent the "volunteering" but it dwarfs all other companies that use the policy. Although WalMart’s worldwide code of ethics expressly forbids any “associate” from working without compensation, the company’s Mexican subsidiary asserts that the grocery baggers “cannot be considered workers.”

WalMart’s bottom line is also very healthy. WalMart de Mexico reported net earnings of $1.148 billion in 2006 and $280 million in profits in the second quarter of this year, a 7 percent increase in real terms over the same period last year. Buoyed by the handsome bottom-line results of the preceding 12 months, WalMart de Mexico Chief Executive Eduardo Solórzano announced plans in February to add 125 new stores and restaurants to its existing network of 893 retail establishments during the course of 2007. That ambitious expansion plan will represent new investment totaling nearly a billion dollars, according to company spokesmen.

Walmart also says it is fully within the International Labor Organization's guidelines. It cites a study conducted by the Mexican government and a U.N. agency that found that teenagers participating in the baggers’ program were less likely to use illegal drugs than peers who panhandled or hawked merchandise on city streets. Oh would that not happen if you paid them a living wage? Minimum wage? Any wage?

A study conducted by three student researchers at the Autonomous University of Mexico documented violations of the 1999 agreement at a WalMart Supercenter store in southern Mexico City. These included inadequate training and forcing youngsters to work a double shift, thereby exceeding the six-hour limit per day established by the accord. Then again, things could be a lot worse. In February 2005, WalMart agreed to pay the U.S. Labor Department $135,540 in civil money penalties to settle charges of 24 child-labor violations. Some of the accusations involved minors who operated forklifts, chain saws and other potentially dangerous equipment. Stuffing groceries into plastic bags would seem considerably less hazardous.

Of course this is fully on the backs of the U.S. government, Republicans and Democrats. Maybe even Clinton is more to blame for passing NAFTA and all the free trade agreements with nothing in the agreements for labor standards, minimum wages or human rights. Companies will not come into line because it is the right thing to do. It will only happen if we push them.

There used to be a saying at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut where I worked with teens and youth in foster care:

"People rarely do things because they see the light, the do them because they feel the heat."

That is doubly true for the amorphous conglomeration called Walmart.

Iraq and Afghanistan: A Different Perspective

This morning I woke up with a different perspective on the wars. NPR reported this morning about a bombing of the Taliban in Afghanistan, but the residents are disputing this claim - that they were civilians. Welcome to another day in Afghanistan. But, is it?

This morning I also have family going to the region of Afghanistan. Two parents, a husband, a wife, a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, etc. They have a little girl who since hearing the news is physically shaken, unable to stop shivering. The news is different when you know someone there, when they will be placed in harm's way, defending liberty? freedom? What? They will be searching for mines and training police in the region, but in harm's way. Will they come home safely? Those reports of suicide bombers, is that in their region? Every day is a struggle.

I have been against this war from the beginning, but what happens when someone doesn't come home? A widow, a widower, an orphaned little girl, parents that will miss their sons and daughters. These are unspeakable thoughts that must be spoken. The stories are tragic and harrowing. These boys and girls must come home to their families. All of them. Every time another casualty, is another death for what? I don't understand it. Will someone please explain it to me.

"In Praise of Tap Water"

NYT editorial, August 1, 2007

"On the streets of New York or Denver or San Mateo this summer, it seems the telltale cap of a water bottle is sticking out of every other satchel. Americans are increasingly thirsty for what is billed as the healthiest, and often most expensive, water on the grocery shelf. But this country has some of the best public water supplies in the world. Instead of consuming four billion gallons of water a year in individual-sized bottles, we need to start thinking about what all those bottles are doing to the planet’s health.

Here are the hard, dry facts: Yes, drinking water is a good thing, far better than buying soft drinks, or liquid candy, as nutritionists like to call it. And almost all municipal water in America is so good that nobody needs to import a single bottle from Italy or France or the Fiji Islands. Meanwhile, if you choose to get your recommended eight glasses a day from bottled water, you could spend up to $1,400 annually. The same amount of tap water would cost about 49 cents.
Next, there’s the environment. Water bottles, like other containers, are made from natural gas and petroleum. The Earth Policy Institute in Washington has estimated that it takes about 1.5 million barrels of oil to make the water bottles Americans use each year. That could fuel 100,000 cars a year instead. And, only about 23 percent of those bottles are recycled, in part because water bottles are often not included in local redemption plans that accept beer and soda cans. Add in the substantial amount of fuel used in transporting water, which is extremely heavy, and the impact on the environment is anything but refreshing.

Tap water may now be the equal of bottled water, but that could change. The more the wealthy opt out of drinking tap water, the less political support there will be for investing in maintaining America’s public water supply. That would be a serious loss. Access to cheap, clean water is basic to the nation’s health.

Some local governments have begun to fight back. Earlier this summer, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom prohibited his city’s departments and agencies from buying bottled water, noting that San Francisco water is “some of the most pristine on the planet.” Salt Lake City has issued a similar decree, and New York City recently began an advertising campaign that touted its water as “clean,” “zero sugar” and even “stain free.”

The real change, though, will come when millions of ordinary consumers realize that they can save money, and save the planet, by turning in their water bottles and turning on the tap."

p.s. for photo above, read about aquafina source defined as tap water.

freethought of the day

“Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.”

--Philanthropist/Microsoft entrepreneur Bill Gates, TIME Magazine, Jan. 13, 1997

To check out other Freethought of the Day entries, including by name and by topic, scroll down to the calendar and other links at http://ffrf.org/day

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor. Freedom From Religion Foundation 2004. All rights reserved.

Chris Dodd Smacks Down O'Reilly

O'Reilly shows his true colors here. Unbelievable.

Cornel West: To Be a Leftist in the 21st Century (1/3)

Ahhhhhhh...and there is always Cornel West. I feel like I go home when I listen to Mr. West speak. Thanks to Margaret C. for turning me on to brother West today.

Thanks also to Democracy Now! for their enduring passion for the struggle.

Rove Blocked From Testifying. Leahy asks, is Bush Responsible?

Executive Privilege - yet again. President Bush on Wednesday ordered White House adviser Karl Rove and a senior political aide to refuse on grounds of executive privilege to testify before the Senate on the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leaders, White House counsel Fred Fielding declared that Rove, "as an immediate presidential advisor, is immune from compelled congressional testimony" about matters involving his service to the president.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called it "a shame that this White House continues to act as if it is above the law." The Senators are asking and I think rightly, what is Rove hiding that he cannot testify? "We are quickly reaching the point where, given the claim of executive privilege, the logical question is what did the President know and when did he know it?" asked Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in his opening remarks. "By his claim of executive privilege, is President Bush now taking responsibility for the firing of such well-regarded and well-performing U.S. attorneys?"

"How can communications with the Justice Department, the RNC and others outside the White House be subject to any claim of 'executive privilege?'" he asked, further pointing out that Rove had spoken in public about the US Attorneys firings on several occasions.

The Senators at the hearing next criticized Alberto Gonzalez for his confusing testimony. Arlen Specter went on the offensive: He is playing a cat and mouse game with Congressional oversight," the Ranking Republican on the committee said.

Here is an excerpt from the beginning of the hearing today regarding the Senior aide Scott Jennings who appeared, but refused to answer certain questions. This shows the ridiculousness of executive privilege and it is as Specter says "a cat and mouse" game.

Senator Leahy started his questioning on Jennings' use of a 'gwb43.com' e-mail account supplied by the Republican National Committee. Jennings at first noted that he had stopped using that particular e-mail address because it had been filled with spam and 'hate mail' after it first emerged in documents turned over to Congressional investigators.

Ironically, the Vermont Democrat had just asked the White House aide if he was still using an RNC e-mail account. Jennings confirmed he was, and then said the new address out loud.
Leahy then asked Jennings when he chose to use the RNC e-mail account in place of his White House account.

"I must respectfully decline to answer your question at this time," he responded.

"It sounds like the American taxpayers are paying you to stonewall," Leahy said at the end of his time. That says it all.

Bridge Collapse in Minnesota

Here is offering hope and comfort to the people of the twin cities' region that the tragedy does not become worse in at least the human toll. The collapse is quite a sight and one wonders how such a thing could happen. Maybe the question should be how come it does not happen more often?

Assclown(s) of the Week.

This week's Assclown of the week is the runaway winner Hoboken 411. Below is a post that appeared on the website early in the week. Go to our post and read la Francaise summary. I have excerpted the post below.

--A reader chimes in about his feelings about the state of homelessness in Hoboken. He thinks it’s getting worse. We have a great shelter, but is the situation really falling apart?

“Dear Hoboken 411,What is up with the increase in the number of homeless people in Hoboken? Its feels like they are growing in number. I see the same homeless people walking Washington Street everyday. I don’t think they are dangerous but at the same time I am sure they make us hardworking residents uncomfortable, to say the least. (As well as decrease the value of our homes). And where do they come from? What is so appealing about Hoboken to the homeless? Is this a growing problem in our town? Is there anyway to help alleviate it? Something has to be done in my opinion. This town is better than what I am seeing. Obviously Hoboken has made great strides over the past 10 - 15 years, but why can’t we clean up the streets?-Anonymous”--

The post is bad enough in its clear misunderstanding of the plight of homelessness and that the operator of the site actually included it in a post. What is worse, however is the readers chime in: The hateful remarks that occur are mind boggling in light of the state of affairs of our world. The vacuum of people that visit this site is astounding, the lack of compassion, humanity and overall misunderstanding of the plight of homeless is not uncommon in today's society, however to make comments that insinuate the extermination of homeless people was breathtaking and shocking. Still, as I write I am shaken by the comments. Visit and see for yourself.

This week's Assclown(s) is the website of Hoboken 411 and its readers. Shame on you.

Iraq: A Never Ending Subject

Only Seventy-Eight troops were killed this month and the administration is trying to spin this as a positive sign. But, to put things in perspective - at the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003 an average of 48.6 soldiers were dying per month. In 2007 an average of 93 soldiers are dying per month. The Iraq body count continues to rise, 74,435 Iraqi civilians have perished as a result of this war. That is twenty-five 9/11's for the people of Iraq, and I remind you a very conservative number.

But, the cost of Iraq is surely rising. The cost could reach $40 Billion

More importantly, however two stories today report a maelstrom in the region. On a particularly blood day in Iraq the Sunni Bloc pulled form the government. As the explosions rumbled across the city, ministers from the Concord Front, Iraq's largest Sunni bloc, resigned from the ruling coalition and effectively ended its claim to be a government of national unity.

Even more troublesome is the the Kurdish city of Kirkuk. Kurdish leaders are warning of a coming civil war. The leader of Iraq's Kurdish region warned Tuesday of a "real civil war" if the government in Baghdad does not allow a referendum on the future of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Nationally, the dispute over Kirkuk pits the Kurds, who want to annex the city to their largely autonomous region in northern Iraq, against the country's Arab majority and its small minority of Turks, known locally as Turkmen.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has called Kirkuk "our Jerusalem." Like Jerusalem, it has a patchwork of rival sects, there are competing claims over who should control it, and it's important to the nation's future. The area around the city accounts for about 40% of Iraq's oil production. A clause in the Iraqi constitution calls for a referendum on Kirkuk to decide its future status in Iraq. If no referendum, then Barzani the Kurdish leader is calling for civil war.

Are we really supposed to believe Iraq is going well? Sure, soldier deaths are down this month, but we are not stupid. Meanwhile, Adm. Michael G. Mullen, President Bush's nominee to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate panel yesterday that the war in Iraq is taking a heavy toll on the U.S. military, warning that American forces are "not unbreakable" and stressing the need to "plan for an eventual drawdown" of troops.

I guess Bush will have to pull his nomination.

Go Further: How We Can Become the Change We Wish to See in the World

I was flipping through the channels last night and came upon a documentary on the Sundance Channel called, "Go Further," wherein cameras follow Woody Harrelson and some of his friends for 2 months in 2001 on what they call the SOLTour - the Simple Organic Living Tour. Woody and a couple of his traveling companions take a bike trip together down the Pacific Coast Highway, from the northwest corner of Washington down to Santa Barbara, California, stopping at college campuses along the way to give talks about the environmental crisis that is upon us. Following the bicyclists is an eco-sustainable bus that runs on hemp oil instead of petroleum, uses solar panels as its power source, and is interior designed with sustainable materials. On board "the Mothership" are a yoga instructor, a raw food chef, and a junk food addict who's trying to go organic, to mention just a few.

The premise of Woody's message is that the world will change if we can change the way we all live personally. He discusses 5 ways to leave a lighter footprint on the Earth: reuse, recycle, reduce paper consumption; demand organic; reduce vehicle emissions; conserve indoor water use; and reuse shopping bags. These are simple things that everyone can do to become part of the solution in this fight for our home. A very good plot summary states, "We meet an entrepreneur who runs a paper company that does not harm trees; an organic farmer who believes Nature is his partner; a man who teaches environmental activists to use humor as a strategic weapon. And throughout, we see Harrelson test his belief that the transformation of our planet begins with the small personal transformations that are within the grasp of each and every one of us."

Read more about Woody's cause, which is a "communication hub that promotes simple organic living through conscious consumerism, the sharing of ideas and information, as well as encouraging peaceful civil disobedience." The website contains a lot of useful information on how we can achieve eco-friendly and simple organic living. I encourage you all to check it out. One golden nugget from the site, and the movie, is a poem by Woody, which is set forth below in its entirety.

THOUGHTS FROM WITHIN
I sometimes feel like an alien creature for which there is no earthly explanation
Sure I have human form
walking erect and opposing digits,
but my mind is upside down.
I feel like a run-on sentence
in a punctuation crazy world.
and I see the world around me
like a mad collective dream.
An endless stream of people
move like ants from the freeway
cell phones, pc's, and digital displays
"In Money We Trust,"
we'll find happiness
the prevailing attitude;
like a genetically modified irradiated Big Mac
is somehow symbolic of food.
Morality is legislated
prisons over-populated
religion is incorporated
the profit-motive has permeated all activity
we pay our government to let us park on the street
And war is the biggest money-maker of all
we all know missile envy only comes from being small.
Politicians and prostitutes
are comfortable together
I wonder if they talk about the strange change in the weather.
This government was founded by, of, and for the people
but everybody feels it
like a giant open sore
they don't represent us anymore
And blaming the President for the country's woes
is like yelling at a puppet
for the way it sings
Who's the man behind the curtain pulling the strings?
A billion people sitting watching their TV
in the room that they call living
but as for me
I see living as loving
and since there is no loving room
I sit on the grass under a tree
dreaming of the way things used to be
Pre-Industrial Revolution
which of course is before the rivers and oceans, and skies were polluted
before Parkinson's, and mad cows
and all the convoluted cacophony of bad ideas
like skyscrapers, and tree paper, and earth rapers
like Monsanto and Dupont had their way
as they continue to today.
This was Pre-us
back when the buffalo roamed
and the Indian's home
was the forest, and God was nature
and heaven was here and now
Can you imagine clean water, food, and air
living in community with animals and people who care?
Do you dare to feel responsible for every dollar you lay down
are you going to make the rich man richer
or are you going to stand your ground
You say you want a revolution
a communal evolution
to be a part of the solution
maybe I'll be seeing you around.

NSA Wiretapping Program Only Part of the Surveillance Program

When will we find out the full extent of the Bush administration's encroachment into our civil liberties? When will it be important to ask these questions? In response to Arlen Specter's call to explain the perjury by Alberto Gonzalez Mike McConnell, the director of National Intelligence revealed that the NSA wiretapping and data mining programs are only part of a series of surveillance programs issued under one executive order by the President.

Rawstory reported on the story this morning:

Bush's executive order authorized "a number" of intelligence activities. The name created by the Bush team -- 'Terrorist Surveillance Program' -- applied only to "one particular aspect of these activities," McConnell wrote.

"This is the only aspect of the NSA activities that can be discussed publicly, because it is the only aspect of those various activities whose existence has been officially acknowledged," McConnell said.

The Post did not say that the only reason warrantless wiretapping was acknowledged in the first place was due to a groundbreaking article by James Risen, that exposed the program in the New York Times.

"News reports over the past 20 months have detailed a range of activities linked to the program, including the use of data mining to identify surveillance targets and the participation of telecommunication companies in turning over millions of phone records," Eggen adds. "The administration has not publicly confirmed such reports."

When is illegal illegal with these guys? To try and clear Gonzalez from Perjury, the administration offers up more illegal programs. And the press just blinks like robots.

Hoping The Brilliant Boondocks Returns

I am reading A Right to Be Hostile by Aaron McGruder, the creator of the Boondocks. He is one of the most searing writers of his generation, bar none. The comic strip depicts Huey Freeman and his younger brother Riley, two black children who have been moved out of Chicago by their grandfather to live with him in the predominantly white suburb of Woodcrest. It is supposedly Maryland.

The title word "boondocks" alludes to the isolation from primarily African-American urban life that the characters feel, and permits McGruder some philosophical distance. Huey is a politically perceptive devotee of black radical ideas of the past few decades (as explained in the May 4, 1999, strip, Huey is in fact named after Black Panther Huey P. Newton) and is harshly critical of many aspects of modern black culture. For example, he is at least as hard on Vivica Fox and Cuba Gooding, Jr. at times as he is on the Bush administration. Riley, on the other hand, is enamored of gangsta rap culture and the "thug"/bling-bling lifestyle. Their grandfather is a firm disciplinarian who is offended by both their values and ideas.

The comic strip is simultaneously hilarious, thought provoking and challenges the reader with stereotypes and never lets anyone off the hook. I cannot put the compilation down often reading strips out loud to my partner.

I also read Birth of a Nation by McGruder and two other authors (Reginald Hudlin and Kyle Baker) which is a play on the 2000 election and takes place in East St. Louis. After the disenfranchisement of the voters there the city secedes from the union.

The Boondocks has suspended any new publications, however and this is tremendously sad. He adds a wisdom, grit and intelligence to comics not seen in generations as well as adding to the popular culture something truly unique. However, there are several compilations one can enjoy. If you never read the Boondocks you are doing yourself a disservice by not running to obtain any of the compilations or other books. McGruder was said to be sick of the strip. Well, I am sick of not having it. Here is hoping he comes back or writes again - anything. I have never viewed the series, cartoons are just not my cup of tea.