Western Oil Greed "Trump" Genocide Concerns

History repeats itself....

After four months of virtual silence and tens of thousands more deaths, the Jan. 31 release of the report of the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur has prodded U.S. spokespeople into repeating the charge that “genocide” is taking place in Sudan’s Darfur provinces.

However, if the recent past is any guide, Washington’s sudden rediscovery of the persecution of Darfur’s non-Arabic-speaking farmers will only last as long as it takes to pressure Khartoum to again tone down the worst aspects of its ethnic-cleansing campaign.

Very important read...entire story HERE.

Obviously

A South Carolina Federal Judge hands down a ruling against Bush and his Justice Department:

"A federal judge in Spartanburg has ordered that an American citizen held as an enemy combatant in a Navy brig in Charleston should be released.

U.S. District Judge Henry F. Floyd ruled Monday that the president of the United States does not have the authority to order Jose Padilla to be held.

"If the law in its current state is found by the president to be insufficient to protect this country from terrorist plots, such as the one alleged here, then the president should prevail upon Congress to remedy the problem," he wrote."

For the entire article click here.

Can you imagine the kind of left wing, commie-pinko, pacifist, pro-terrorist Judge this guy must really be!! See for yourself.

Nixon-Hughes Connection: Corruption

This evening's 60 Minutes had a most interesting segment on Howard Hughes, Richard Nixon, Watergate and the rest of the felons. For those of you that have any interest in politics, history, law, human nature, arrogance of power, and the rest that comes with being anointed, you should read this.

Uncle Sam Wants YOU!

An Uncle Sam balloon passes by a spectator as she watches from her appartment in Times Square during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade last November. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary / AFP-Getty Images)

You bet he does...of course it won't be called a draft, it will be through insidious little-known written-in provisions that allow recruiters access to names, ages, transcripts, etc. of every child in public school under the "No Child Left Behind" act. We have a war-loving president folks, fed by a base that wants world destruction so they can have their rapture...we are going to invade, and invade, and piss off this nation, and that nation...and thanks to our country and its weapon development, other nations now have - or will have - the ability to shoot a nuclear (not nu-KU-lar, GWB you dumba**) weapon at any major US city...

Excerpts from the article:

Recent American military campaigns have not needed the same kind of long-term commitment required in Iraq. Not since Vietnam, when a draft was necessary, has the military been so pressured to recruit new volunteers.

And:

The Boston Globe recently reported that military recruiters “target certain schools and students for heavy recruitment,” and determined that the most important variable used was class.

As the fighting in Iraq continues and everything points to the fact that this war will take at least several more years, there will be increasing pressure to replenish the troops in Iraq with new, well-trained recruits. As this develops further, there will be a deeper examination of the tactics used to bring new people into the military.

Representative Charles Rangel, Democrat of New York, has criticized military recruitment tactics by saying, “society places what should be a shared burden of defense only on those poor enough to be induced to risk their lives for a chance at college or signing bonus.”

Read the entire article, folks- it's important!

Nazi Concentration Camp for Jewish G.I.'s

The Lost Soldiers of Stalag IX-B
By ROGER COHEN

Published: February 27, 2005 in the NY Times Magazine

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/magazine/27PRISON.html?8hpib OR

http://tinyurl.com/4gzev

10 pp., very painful

The Dark Wraith Comments...

...on previously-posted "Where the Left Faltered." I concur, Mr. Dark Wraith.

Good evening, Ms. Julien.

I would submit to the author of that article that my first and exclusive work in the present day is to secure democracy in this country.

For me to praise some façade of representative government elsewhere given thin legitimacy despite having been marshalled by men in the shadows is to be willfully immune to what I know of this Administration and its "aims."

I give no quarter to elections at the barrel of a gun of occupation, nor do I give fealty to sovereigns who rise while wearing the yoke of blood money. In neither case is there democracy in any sense of the word that rings true in my heart.

When my leaders can show me a torch burning in our own land, then shall I believe that they can truly light candles in lands far away. Until that day, their words are not merely hollow.

Their words are lies.


The Dark Wraith has spoken.

Boost Women to Bust Poverty

Of course, other nations will most likely support this - our country, led by regressive and religious fundamentalists, would never support it.

After all, the administration has just withdrawn its support for UN women's rights agenda.

WASHINGTON -- Global policymakers scheduled to hold special U.N. talks starting next week must boost women's share of resources and political standing in the developing world if they hope to make a significant dent in world poverty, researchers say.

The Washington, D.C.-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on Wednesday urged policy makers ''to take action in three critical areas to advance women's status in developing countries: increase resources in the hands of women; reduce discrimination against women; and place women's issues at the forefront of policy action.''

Read the entire story...HERE.

Degenerate Art

British caricaturist showcases the Jewish artists most hated by Hitler
By Carolyn Slutsky
JTA, www.jta.org

http://tinyurl.com/4ryg3

He Just Has to be Right

Ever meet someone who thinks his idea is so great, that no matter what evidence is presented to the contrary, he just cannot let go of "his idea?"

He wants so badly to have an idea of his own making, of his own choosing, that he just cannot let go no matter how wrong or dangerous his idea.

"One Tuesday in the summer of 1978, in the heat of his unsuccessful race for a House seat from West Texas, Mr. [George W.] Bush went to Midland Country Club to give a campaign speech to local real estate agents and discussed the issue in terms not much different from those he uses now."

"Social Security 'will be bust in 10 years unless there are some changes,' he said. "

For the rest of the article click here.

Serial Killer Was Active in His Church

Dennis Rader, a Cub Scout leader who was active at his Lutheran church, lived with his wife, neighbors said.

Where the Left Faltered

"There has been no greater abdication of leadership by the left since 1945 than its failure in the past decade to articulate how we should transform tyranny into freedom. The progressives should own this issue, but today it is President Bush's New American Century vanguard who are shaping new democracies in their own image. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's most likely new prime minister, faces a forbidding set of challenges in constructing the world's newest democracy. The prospects for consolidation look mixed. Will Iraqis commit to democracy and reject the alternatives?

We cannot know the answer, but we do know that no significant left-of-centre voice, except perhaps Blair's at the margin, is influencing the debate.

When Bush first articulated his democratisation, the left sneered. After elections in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, progressives need to re-evaluate their view of Bush's aims, even if still opposed to his means. While not trusting the New American Century view that we can make these states democracies from above, we need to engage with the people forging these democracies from below."

The rest here.

Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945

A Traveling Exhibit of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Urban Culture Project:

Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945

Through reproductions of some 250 historic photographs and documents, Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945 examines the rationale, means, and impact of the Nazi regime's attempt to eradicate homosexuality that left thousands dead and shattered the lives of many more.This exhibition is the first in a series about the lesser–known victims of the Nazi era.

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/traveling/

January 21 – March 5, 2005, with
The Kansas City Jewish Museum
Kansas City, KS

April 11 – June 3, 2005
Broward County Library, with
The Stonewall Library and Archives
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

June 18 – August 19, 2005
The San Francisco Public Library,
San Francisco, CA

September 12 – October 24, 2005
Untitled [Art Space] Inc., with
Cimarron Alliance Foundation
Oklahoma City, OK

November 13, 2005 – January 6, 2006
Compass, Inc.
West Palm Beach, FL

January 23 – February 26, 2006
Ithaca College, Handwerker Gallery, Gannett Center
Ithaca, NY

April 1 – June 30, 2006
Breman Museum
Atlanta, GA

AN ONLINE VERSION OF THIS EXHIBIT:
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/hsx/

Material Breach of Contract

While Americans go homeless, neglected, and ignored, we give the likes of Bechtel, Halliburton, and faceless Iraqis billions to squander. It makes no sense. Can you think of any single historical piece of social legislation that the Republicans championed in the last four years? Does anyone know their history as to what names the proponents of Social Security were called back when it was proposed by FDR?

Many today are heard to denounce any law that seeks to protect and support those in need: the poor, the ill, the sick, the insane, the disabled - the way that those of true faith were taught by Jesus and Moses - under the guise of "we need to each go it alone."

Yet, this ignores the agreement Americans made when they proclaimed,

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

It was a social contract entered into to achieve for all Americans what is highlighted in bold, and for those detailed items put forth in the Constitution. Today, those in power seek to do away with the duties imposed upon us all by the Constitution in order to do for themselves only, while disregarding other Americans.

More Trouble Caused by the Banning of Gay Marriage

This one really stinks because a sister decided to throw gay marriage and gay adoption to the wind and act like a hetero parent, using a precious child to "get back" at her ex. It sucks - but thanks to the anti-gay marriage law, she will be allowed to do it - and once again, a child suffers...

Holly sent this one in - read it all here.

More trouble caused by the banning gay marriage

Saturday, February 26, 2005
Marriage ban cited in Ohio custody case
The Associated Press


COLUMBUS - The constitutional ban on gay marriage in Ohio should prevent a woman from seeing her former partner's 8-year-old son, the boy's mother argues in domestic relations court.

Denise Marie Fairchild's lawsuit asks the court to cancel Therese Marie Leach's visitation rights. The boy, conceived through artificial insemination, was born while the women were still a couple...

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050226/NEWS01/502260426/1056/news01

People Are Listening

For evidence as to how this happened, go here and here.

So proud of you, Melissa! You are beautiful!

The True Stories of H.B. 1212

Folks, great story by Molly Ivins, about the required parental consent for abortions, and the nearly impossible"judicial bypass" option...

Please believe that you do not know what "dysfunctional family" means until you have studied applications for judicial bypass. These cases are from the files of Jane's Due Process, a Texas organization that provides lawyers for pregnant minors seeking a bypass.

Social worker for a 13-year-old: "She ran away from her foster home and was gone for eight weeks. Now she's in an emergency shelter and is pregnant. Her mother is deceased. Her father raped her when she was 8 years old and is still in prison for it. I knew her when she had to testify against him. I don't know if I can convince her to go back to court, but she definitely wants an abortion."

Boyfriend of a 15-year-old: "She can't report anything to the police about what her stepfather does to the family. He works for the department. And this is a very small town. The family seems to live in fear of him."

"My older sister got pregnant when she was 17. My mother pushed her against the wall, slapped her across the face and then grabbed her by the hair, pulled her through the living room, out the front door and threw her off the porch. We don't know where she is now." — pregnant 16-year-old.

"My little sister was raped. Our parents are somewhere in Mexico, but I don't know if I can find them." — older sister.

Grandmother of a 15-year-old: "She just told us that she was raped. We had no idea that she was pregnant. Her mother is dead, and her father is being transferred to (another prison). Is there any way we can get this done?"

Seventeen-year-old: "I called my older sister to see if she knew where my mother was. She hasn't heard from her in over six months. I've never known my father. So I went to the courthouse to file my application (for judicial bypass), and the judge came out of his office and told me that he would give me a hearing but that he didn't believe in abortion and that he would never give me the OK to have one. And he knows me. He knows my family. He already knows I'm raising a 5-month-old."

"My mother's boyfriend used to hit her and sometimes I would try to stop him, but then he'd start hitting me. I left home to live with my boyfriend when I found out I was pregnant the first time. My mother wouldn't let me have an abortion, so I knew a baby would be safer living away from her and her boyfriend. But my boyfriend started hitting me as soon as I moved in. So I got my own place, a car and two jobs. I'm pregnant again, but I can't tell my mom because she would stop me from getting an abortion." — 17-year-old high school graduate, mother of a 2-year-old daughter, father deceased.

Never Forget, Never Again

"One attempt by the Nazis to purify German society was their condemnation of male homosexuals as "socially aberrant." Early in the Nazi regime, male homosexual organizations were banned. In 1934, a special Gestapo division was established to create lists ("pink lists") of homosexuals throughout Germany. In 1936, Heinrich Himmler created a "Reich Central Office for the Combatting of Homosexuality and Abortion." The prosecution of homosexuals reached its peak in the years 1937-1939. The police conducted raids on meeting places, seized address books from arrested men to identify and locate other homosexuals, and set up networks or informers to compile names leading to more arrests.

Between 1933 and 1945, an estimated 100,000 men were arrested, and of these, some 50,000 officially-defined homosexuals were sentenced. Most of these men spent time in regular prisons, and an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. Those defined as homosexuals were designated by a pink triangle. We do not know how many of these men died in the camps. (Jews who were homosexuals were killed because they were Jews.)

Lesbians were not subjected to systematic persecution. Few women are believed to have been arrested."

See here for more on this issue.

See more here.

Can You Make Out These Characters??

Image by billmon

Hint: Dubya has the beard...

Lesbian's Picture in Tux Banned from Clay County School Yearbook

Get ready for a slippery slope - first they use the "gay" wedge issue to tell a girl she is not capable of dressing herself...next they will be further into our closets (pun not intended), telling EVERYONE what they can and cannot wear....

Get a load of this crap:

Associated Press

GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. - The picture of a lesbian student dressed in a tuxedo will not be permitted in her school's yearbook, the Clay County school officials decided.

Principal Sam Ward of Fleming Island High School made the initial decision to pull Kelli Davis's picture from the yearbook, saying he did so because Davis, who is openly gay, was dressed in boy's clothes.

The county school board and its superintendent backed the decision, which was debated at a Thursday night School Board meeting attended by about 200 people.

Fifteen of the 24 people who spoke at the meeting were in favor of Davis and nine supported the principal's decision.

Kelli's mother, Cindi Davis, asked the board to reverse Ward's decision.

"This is not to be treated as a gay right's issue," her mother said. "Rather it's a human rights issue."

Some applauded Ward's decision, including Karen Gordon, who said, "When uniformity is compromised, then authority no longer holds."

School officials have maintained that sexual preference is not the issue, it is gender. They said since Davis did not follow the rules on dress, she will not be in the yearbook.

Bruce Bickner, an attorney representing the School Board, said there is no written dress code for senior pictures, but also said the district gives principals the authority to set standards.

The board took no action to reverse Ward's decision and Superintendent David Owens said the decision will stand.

---

Read the story....HERE

The United States and Iran: Questions That Still Need to be Answered

In a Feb. 6 interview on the Fox News Sunday program Vice President Dick Cheney said the United States supports a European effort to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear program but has not eliminated any alternative. (Photo: HO / AFP-Getty Images)

Yep - like Chimpy said in his "fence mending" trip to Europe (where he didn't even have the class to take his gloves off to shake hands with the Russians - a SERIOUS breech of that country's protocols...) an invasion of Iran is "ridiculous" - but then again "all options are on the table."

Recently, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in the New Yorker that the ush Administration had authorized the Pentagon to send commando forces to the Middle East with a special focus on Iran in order to carry out reconnaissance missions on potential military targets. Hersh alleged that the Bush Administration had chosen this route to carry out these activities rather than the C.I.A. for the purposes of shielding the operation and to stop it from being brought before Congress.

Read the rest of the story...HERE.

Bush Administration Considering NOT Reaffirming Historic Women's Human Rights Agreement

This is the kind of s**t that is going on while we are more worried as a nation about Sponge Bob, Shrek, Janet Jackson's boob, or who is going to win in this season's Survivor, Apprentice, or American Idol.

And the dumbasses who voted for Bush will continue to support him while women globally get their clitorises forcibly removed, are sold into sexual slavery, are forced into marriages at age 12, are raped by militant invaders of their tribes, are denied access to condoms when their AIDS-infested sleep-around husbands come home for a little domestic piece...

Another U.S. Withdrawal at the United Nations? Leaders to Bush Admin.: U.S. Must Reaffirm Historic Women's Human Rights Agreement

---

To: National Desk

Contact: Nancy Bennett, 800-834-1110, or Ketayoun Darvich-Kodjouri, 202-326-8720

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Leaders from human rights and women's development organizations are sounding the alarm about the possible U.S. withdrawal from a historic women's human rights agreement currently under review at the United Nations.

Governments are gathering in New York City over the next two weeks to revisit women's progress since the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women met in Beijing in 1995. The U.S. was a leading architect of the Beijing Platform for Action, where 189 countries committed to advancing universal education for girls, ending violence against women, and ensuring access to lifesaving reproductive health care, among other critical issues.

Late yesterday, in quiet negotiations out of the public eye, the Bush administration signaled to other nations that it would not unequivocally reaffirm the commitments made by the United States to the world's women a decade ago.

"I am extremely concerned that the U.S. will withdraw its support for women's human rights on the world's stage," said June Zeitlin, executive director of the Women's Environment and Development Organization. "This is in stark contrast to our government's rhetoric supporting women's rights in Afghanistan and Iraq, and would be a terrible step backward."

"The U.S. should reaffirm, not retreat from, women's rights and equality. Globally, this is about saving women's lives," said Eleanor Smeal, president of Feminist Majority.

It was at the 1995 Beijing Women's Conference that women around the world took up the rallying cry: "women's rights are human rights." An estimated 6,000 women from non-governmental organizations are expected to join the government delegations at the upcoming review of women's status since the Beijing meeting. The ten-year review takes place February 28-March 11 at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

With concern for the U.S. position, more than 30 U.S. organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice late last week to urge the Bush administration not to withdraw from the U.S. pledge made at the Beijing Women's Conference. Leaders noted that the Beijing review was Secretary Rice's first official opportunity to speak about women's rights. They asked Secretary Rice for help in shoring up the U.S. commitment to global women's rights.

"With world governments gathering to discuss women's rights, the United States has an important opportunity to renew its leadership," said Alex Arriaga, Amnesty International's director of government relations. "We urge the Bush administration to keep the U.S. pledge to advance human rights for women."

More information on the ten-year review of the UN Beijing Women's Conference, and a copy of the letter to Secretary Rice, is online at http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=43575&Link=http://www.PLANetWIRE.org.

Quotes for Our Time....

Thanks, Mario! This is why the Bloggers cannot take even a weekend off! :)

"Prosperity is just around the corner." -- Herbert Hoover
"The economy has turned a corner." -- GW Bush

A Little Bit 'O Friday Fun

Try this!

And then have a great weekend!

Ms. Julien

The Dark Wraith Comments on the Blogrrlls...

Mr. Dark Wraith of The Dark Wraith Forums wrote a powerful letter in response to my re-posting of the Blogrrlls post by Shakespeare's Sister.

I share it with you now (didn't want it to remain hidden in the comments only...). I say, to all gals thinking about joining the Blogosphere - your voices are valued!

Thank you, Mr. Dark Wraith!

Good morning, Ms. Julien.

Having noted how some of our Sister's posts have caused flames to lick from my monitor, I went on to note something important that might otherwise go unheralded.

Julien and Pam in Durham made their presence known—in fact, they insisted on making their voices heard—on AMERICAblog and in other ways at a time when the Clubby Blogs were consolidating their control of the high end of the Blogosphere.

I should also note that Holly in Cincinnati, with her intelligent posts, was occasionally interrupting the AMERICAblog commenters doing their graffiti blog nonsense, too.

In a material and important way, Julien, Holly, Pam, and the Sister have put a wedge in the door that would otherwise have closed to all bloggers not in the Important Blogs Club.

We should be grateful for that opening, which will someday serve to overrun the elite tier of progressive bloggers and let in the light of better voices come.


The Dark Wraith has spoken.

Their Uteruses are an Open Book...

...or they will be if the Attorney General in Kansas has his way...(and of course it is a he)

Holly passed this on from Ohio News Now:

Kansas attorney general seeking records of women who had late-term abortions

WICHITA, Kan. The attorney general of Kansas wants to know the detailed history of the sex lives of nearly 90 women who received late-term abortions.

Court documents show that Phill Kline wants to search the documents for evidence of crimes under laws that limit late-term abortions and require mandatory reporting of suspected child sexual abuse.Under the order signed by a judge, the attorney general would get records that would include each patient's name, medical history, details of her sex life, birth control practices and psychological profile.The Wichita Eagle says two medical clinics have asked the Kansas Supreme Court to intercede. Copyright 2005 Associated Press

Why We Need Discrimination Protection for LGBTs

The knuckle-draggers who own this private health care facility would rather let this poor woman lose her LEG for god's sake rather than let her use their pool...

Couple 'Kicked Out' Of Health Center Because They Are Lesbian
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: February 24, 2005 2:03 pm. ET

(Syracuse, New York) The American Civil Liberties Union filed a discrimination lawsuit Thursday on behalf of a Utica, New York couple kicked out of a health care center because the women are lesbians - even though one of them desperately needs the center's services.

Louise Bizzari suffers from severe osteoarthritis and other medical conditions and needs to use theCharles T. Sitrin Health Care Center’s pool to avoid losing her leg.

Read the rest of the sickening article from 365gay.com...

Difference in Media Emphasis

Jefferson Morley: World Opinion Roundup

"The divergent coverage of Bush's apparent drug use is a textbook study in the difference between the international online media and their American counterparts."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48042-2005Feb23.html

A Call to Liberals To Take Back the Light

By Jo-Ann Mort
February 18, 2005 in The Forward

The separation of Church and State does not mean the segregation of religion from the public discourse," Evangelical Christian Minister Jim Wallis said in a recent interview with the Forward. Wallis, who lives in Washington, D.C., with his sons and wife, the Rev. Joy Carroll (the first woman to be ordained in the Church of England) is among the most sought-after thinkers in the Democratic Party and progressive circles. And his new book, "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It" (HarperSanFrancisco) is a best seller. These days, Wallis is being listened to like a modern-day prophet, as politicians and activists want him to explain the new surge of morality and religion in the public sphere, and seek his guidance on how Democrats can shed their image of godlessness....

http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=mort200502161015

Trickle-Down Economics...

...from whichever Bushie is in power to the bottom-dwelling family members who feed off of him. From Pam's House Blend:

Chimpy's "Uncle Bucky" profiting off of Iraq War - to the tune of $450K

Mo' money, mo' problems - NOT. "Uncle Bucky" and Neil are just two of the Bushes that made a killing on Chimpy's (and the taxpayer's) back

Remember Ignite???

It happens over, and over, and over, and over....

You're Kidding - I thought they were supposed to greet him with flowers...

A demonstrator waves a peace-flag during a protest rally against the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush in Mainz, western Germany, on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005. (AP Photo/Fabian Bimmer)

Demonstrators pulled a float portraying a prisoner being beaten at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison through the German city of Mainz on Wednesday, part of a protest by several thousand people against visiting United States President George Bush.

Go, Shakespeare's Sister - an Ultimate BLOGGRRLLL

Shakespeare's Sister has earned the Julien's List title of Top Rant-n-Rave with a Purpose today.

Her scathing, funny, and very to-the point style will keep you alternatively rolling out of your chair with laughter, or wanting to grab the nearest pie to throw at Chimpy's face (or the Pope's....or ....)

Check out today:

1. One of my favorite posts EVER - Is He Still Talking? Everything I have ever thought or tried to say about one of my least-favorite people on the planet - the Pope - is in her post.

2. A great rebuttle to one idiot's conjecturing about the "dearth" of female bloggers - aptly titled: Bloggrrls.


You GO, girl!

Journalistic Malpractice

Great article in the Washington Post by Robert J. Samuelson.

(Free registration required - I recommend signing on as there are some excellent commentaries - at least written above the reading level of a sixth grader - as is my own home-town rag, the Miami Herald...)

Thanks, Holly!

Top Right Wing News Source Slams on Gannon/Guckert...

Folks, I have been quiet on this blog for the most part about the Gannon scandal (if you don't know about it by now then we need to talk...:)

I have been getting my updates from the premier and one of the first sources of this scandal - www.americablog.org, headed by John Aravosis.

Tonight I will reference a post from that fab blog - FINALLY - a conservative-leaning news source - The WorldNetDaily - has spoken up...to quote John:

Jesus. One of the best, BEST, stories ever about GannonGuckertGate and what it means, and why it matters, comes from one of the most - MOST - conservative pro-Bush news sources on the Internet. This guy spells out exactly why this is a story. Exactly why this is so outrageous. And note, his column doesn't even criticize us, the liberal bloggers. It is pure and simple an article about how outrageous Gannon's and Talon's AND THE WHITE HOUSE'S actions were in this entire affair.

These guys are one of the top right-wing news sources. Now, for them to savage GannonGuckert and Talon News/GOPUSA is downright wild. It suggest to me that either WorldNetDaily actually has some scruples, and/or that they are scared shitless about the potential damage this scandal is causing and/or will cause the administration.

No Rest for the Weary

"TWELVE hours after sharing an intimate lobster risotto and proclaiming an end to their Iraq war feud, President Bush and Jaques Chirac were yesterday at loggerheads on a range of issues.

The pair disagreed on China, Iran, Iraq and the future of Nato, marring efforts by US and European leaders to declare that transatlantic relations had entered a new era of harmony.

As Mr Bush attended consecutive summits with Nato and EU heads of government Brussels police fired water cannon to break up demonstrations against his presence.

In Moscow, President Putin took issue with Mr Bush’s criticism of his drift towards authoritarianism, saying that Russia would develop its own form of democracy without foreign interference.

In Brussels, the clearest disagreement was over the EU’s plans to lift its arms embargo against China. “With regard to China, Europe intends to remove the last obstacles to its relations with this important country,” M. Chirac insisted.

But Mr Bush spoke of his “deep concern” that a transfer of military technology would change the balance of relations between China and Taiwan, a country US troops might one day have to protect.

European leaders believe they can meet American concerns with a strict code of conduct on what could be exported, and allowing officials to check dual use items were not being used in illicit weaponry.

But Mr Bush expressed no enthusiasm for such a system, and said he would not intervene to prevent the US Congress retaliating by blocking US military sales to Europe.

“The Congress will be making the decisions as to how to react to what will be perceived by some as a technology transfer to China,” he said.

On Iran, M.Chirac urged Mr Bush to back European efforts to dissuade Tehran from pursuing nuclear weapons by granting it economic and trade benefits. M Chirac said that Iran should be allowed to buy civil aircraft engines and to join the World Trade Organisation. “I don’t see why that should not be done and I said so to the President of the United States,” he said." The rest here.

The idea that Bush could go there, smile, talk funny and be nice, and expect European leaders to forget their perceived danger that Bush poses to the world is simply childish. Those leaders are politicians too. They run for office. They have constituencies, and those voters are overwhelmingly negative as to what Bush has done and to his announced intentions. Bush's begging there will go for naught. It makes the case that we need the Europeans (contrary to what the US had said previously), that we cannot go it alone, and that we shall not get our way through bluster.

If the Truth be Known

In the last election young voters cast votes in historical numbers and the numbers did not look good for Republicans. So, how did Bush-Rove plan to do something about it? By creating this young-old wedge issue over social security money. Through the use of lies, half-lies, and false representations, the young will be led to believe that Republicans want them to have a better retirement plan than the democrats, that the AARP lefties - also opposed to providing youth with a better future - are antimilitary and pro gay marriage, and therefore they should join the Republicans to assure their future. If Bush-Rove lose this round on SS, it gives them a huge election issue in 2006: help us beat the filibuster, vote for Senate Republicans, and we shall guarantee you a better retirement future. It's as plain as the writing in this article:

"As he stumps for Social Security privatization, President Bush always gets a big round of applause for promising that the money in a private account could be passed on to one's heirs.

If those happy clappers only knew the details.

Under the president's proposal, when you retired you would not be able to start spending the money in your private account until after you bought an annuity, a financial contract in which you hand over a lump-sum payment and, in return, get a monthly stream of income for life. The upside of buying such an annuity would be that you'd be protected against outliving all of your money. The downside is that even if you died immediately after retirement, the most your heirs would inherit would be the amount that remained in your private account after you had paid for the mandatory annuity. (If you lived longer, of course, you might well need to spend the remainder to supplement the annuity's low monthly payout.)"

For the rest of the article click here.

Where Does The Budget Cut?

Where Would The Cuts Be Made Under The President's Budget? An Analysis of Reductions in Education, Human Services, Environment, and Community Development Programs (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
http://www.cbpp.org/2-22-05bud.htm (with state-by-state data)

The Dayton Daily News summary of these cuts as they affect Ohio:

(free registration required)

Dems in the Crystal Ball

The Forward's Campaign Confidential Blog reports on an interview with Bill Daley about the future of the Democratic Party:

The Real Bush Agenda

Source right here.

Amnesty: Iraqi Women No Better Off Post-Saddam

And the surprise here is...?!

Great post by Jeremy Lovell at Common Dreams...

Julien's List is Honored to Feature the Dark Wraith Forums' Weekly Poll

Hello Reality-Based Readers!

Mr. Dark Wraith, of The Dark Wraith Forums (also linked permantly on this site) made a very kind invitation to Julien's List at its launch: to be able to post the weekly poll found on his site.

Due to some coding restrictions on my originally chosen format, I have made the move to Blogger for their ability to allow these polls.

So, tonight we are getting them formatted. We are working on getting and keeping them updated.

There is a powerful new question each week, relevant to our times, and of course the more people who take the poll the greater sample we will have...

I also encourage you to visit The Dark Wraith Forums - as well as the (short but select) list of Bloggers linked on the right of this site.

Together they represent the "eclectic" yet cohesive train of beliefs that are vital for the continued growth and development of our society.

Read, think, ACT!

Sex Toys

Do you believe a state should have the power to enact a law which prohibits the distribution of "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs," where the "first-time violators can face a fine of up to $10,000 and as much as one year in jail?" For the rest of the article click here.

Marty

Have They No Shame?

The Despicable ad campaign, which the Republican Joseph Goebbels would be proud of, has justifiably gotten DarkSyd's ire and anger up, in a fashion that mirrors my own; yet he has articulated it much better than I in his post Now They're Smearing The Greatest Generation. I suggest you read it and write your President, Vice-President, Senators and Congressmen/women of any party, to let them know that if they fail to reject this outrage, they approve of it, and that they and or their party shall suffer the political consequences in coming elections.

As DarkSyd writes of the AARP members:

"This is the greatest generation of Americans to have lived since the Civil War or the American Revolution, and one of the greatest generations of people to have lived in all of recorded history. [snip]

"For those of you who would like to send your Representative an e-mail or letter telling them what you think about this, and how you're going to vote and contribute money going forward if this disgusting immoral practice continues, here's an online list of Congressmen you can look up by state or, however. Senator look up. US House look-up.

President George Bush's e-mail is President@whitehouse.gov. And the Vice President's e-mail is Vice.president@whitehouse.gov.

Sound off if you're with me Blogosphere, from the patriotic left, the patriotic right, and the middle ground.

Let them know how you feel, and where you'll be directing your votes and your dollars if they don't slap this down loudly and publicly in the next 24 hours."

Never forget this: America used to be for fair play, honoring our heroes, respecting our elders, and dignity, honor and loyalty. Can you say that today?

Marty

All the Gay, Gay Grannies:

"Now the Rude Pundit knows: Grandma must be in hell. Because, apparently, when Grandma was in her retirement years and a card-carrying member of the AARP, her quilting circles were actually excuses for hot lesbian action. Whenever she went on cruises with the widow next door, AARP discounted cruises, it meant that Grandma and the widow would carefully open their tired hips, slowly, lest a nasty break occur, and reveal their withered flowers of orgasmic paradise to hungry tongues and mouths. Oh, how the sweet rocking of the oceans around Bermuda must have enhanced their moans, their pleasures, to and fro, to and fro, ah, Grandma. And let's not even think about Grandpa and whatever went on at the American Legion Hall on Friday nights. But let's just say perhaps AARP stands for the "Association of Anally-Rogering People."

For the rest of the post click here.

Marty

Why Europe Matters

Here are 10 reasons why Europe matters to Americans.

Amending A Trend?

Senate OKs ban on gay marriages
TUESDAY INDIANAPOLIS STAR
Change to state constitution expected to pass House next.

The Indiana Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday to make a ban on same-sex marriages a part of the state constitution, shipping the controversial issue to the House....

Despicable

Here's an ad placed by an organization called USA Next on the website of the American Spectator: Joseph Goebbels would be proud.

Hat tip to Obsidian Wings.

DarkSyd's Warning and Call to Arms

"What the Neo-cons have done is to nurture a distorted version of Christianity, which I call Neo-Christianity. Neo-Christianity downplays care for the weak, sick, non violence, and even honesty or integrity. In fact, Neo-Christianity holds such behavior in conempt, and labels those who engage in it with all kinds of derogatory disgusting names. It's quite a break form the core values of Christ or even simple decency. Somehow, and I don't fully understand how, the Neo-cons have invented a variant of Christianity which condones, in fact encourages torture, hatred, violence, murder, genocide, deception, and ignorance. In conjunction with a very Rude Pundit .... I plan to be ripping to shreds some of the evangelical Blogs, and their nasty indecent owners and regs, which are leading the way in this newer extremist, violent, variation, of what was once a decent, gentle faith.

And I suggest those of you who want to stop this nonsense get active, and stop waiting for someone else to do it. Regardless if you're a young voter, a middle-aged voter, or a senior citizen, you had better cop to the fact that this shit is for real, and these religious Neo-Christian extremists will come after you, your social security, your benefits, your privileges, your very Constitutional Rights, all under the camoflauge of YVHW while calling you an unpatriotic atheist or Satanic scum, if their Neo-Cons masters so commend them to."

For the rest of his post click here.

Marty

New Course by Royal Navy: A Campaign to Recruit Gays
By SARAH LYALL 9:19 PM ET

Britain's Royal Navy has begun actively encouraging gays to enlist and has pledged to make life easier when they do...

Editing Jefferson

A great editorial on what we're facing:

Washington Post Lead Editorial: Editing Jefferson

Panelists Decry Bush Science Policies

Paul Recer recently published this piece via AP:

Notable quote (horrible, actually): "Under Bush, the questioning of the proven science has become more important than finding ways to cope with climate change."

Remember folks, there is no democracy in church...

You voted for it - you got it!

Miami Beach Wants Your Gay Dollars - but Don't Ask for Gay Rights

RAINBOW TOURISMGay tourism has become a big business for S. Florida, with events like the Winter Party Festival attracting tens of thousands of gays and lesbians from all over the world. Entire story is here.

The Miami Herald ran a very interesting article today in their widely-read Business Monday section. Now, there are a couple of interesting things about this:
1. It ran as the COVER STORY in this section - the one section that actually writes for those with an education above the 6th grade.
2. It is on the HOME PAGE of the www.herald.com website.

Folks, this is something that the LGBT community still is not stepping up to do: use our own "almighty" DOLLAR$ to do our work for us. Florida has the some of the MOST PUNITIVE anti-gay laws as far as adoption and other rights - remember our own bankrupt gal Anita Bryant - yet it gets most of its revenues from tourism (we have no state income tax) and the LGBT community helps add to that revenue pool in a big way.

I think, in my most humble opinion - that is is time to stop the angle of "marriage is a right for all" - which is a completely different frame from the "mainstream" - and a long way from winning. It is time to TRULY speak in a language corporate America understands - $$$$$$$$!

Let's start a discourse of how we can concentrate on using our dollars NOT on the ineffectual organizations who spend more time on PR than on really doing anything (HRC....) - or on random ideas of boycotts of a single product...

Julien's List is happy to be the central forum or blackboard for this discourse...we welcome your comments!

Message to GW Bush

I take these lines from one of my favorite historical figures...

What upsets me is not that you lied to me, but that I can no longer
believe you.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

(Not that I ever believed in him in the first place - but I think that he has let down a lot of people he used over his sorry lifetime...)

Wow - the Ultra-Red Hoosier State Gets it Right for Once

I agree with this ruling...it does validate a gay parent adoption:

With Gay Adoptions Come Responsibilities Court Rulesby The Associated Press
Posted: February 20, 2005 12:01 am. ET

(Indianapolis, Indiana)
A lesbian who split with her partner after adopting the woman's biological children must pay child support, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled. The ruling came less than 90 days after the court granted child-visitation rights in another case to a Bloomington, Ind., woman who had broken up with her domestic partner.
"Whether a parent is a man or a woman, homosexual or heterosexual, or adoptive or biological, in assuming that role, a person also assumes certain responsibilities, obligations and duties," Judge John Baker wrote in the 22-page ruling.
"That person may not simply choose to shed the parental mantle because it becomes inconvenient, seems ill-advised in retrospect, or becomes burdensome because of a deterioration in the relationship with the children's other parent." The decision was part of a growing -- and sometimes contradictory -- body of family law involving homosexual relationships.
Ellen Andersen, a political science professor at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis who follows such issues, said yesterday she believed the Court of Appeals got it right.
In the appeal from Tippecanoe Circuit Court, a woman who had adopted another woman's children in 1997 during a lesbian relationship sought to vacate the adoption when she split with the children's biological mother. At the same time, the children's mother obtained a child-support order. The children's biological father had waived his parental rights during the 1997 adoption.
©Associated Press 2005

Is 'Covenant Marriage' coming to Ohio?

This from Holly - get ready folks, the GOVERNMENT is coming into your private lives like never before - and you thought you were only voting against gay marriage...

Marriage option would make divorce harder

Counseling pre-, post-marriage keeps more in wedlock

By Laura A. BischoffDayton Daily News (Cox Ohio Publishing)

COLUMBUS Ohio couples may soon have a choice between standard marriage andsuper marriage.A group of state lawmakers, religious groups and conservative organizationsmet behind closed doors in Columbus last week to discuss giving Ohio couplesthe option of standard marriage or "covenant" marriage.....

Read it all here (free registration required.)

Class Action Law

"There are basically two things you need to know about the recent class action bill signed into law by President Bush. It moves most class action lawsuits from state court to federal court. And the reason it does so is because class actions are more likely to fail in federal court. That’s the new class action law in a nutshell.

Ignoring for now the merits of the new law (and there are good arguments both for and against it), I want to use it to make a more general point about "states' rights." To me, the legislation provides a perfect example of why states’ rights rhetoric – indeed, the very concept of states’ rights – is so empty and incoherent. After all, you would think that ardent states’ rights conservatives would have opposed this bill in the name of decentralization. The reason they did not is because battles over decentralization or states’ rights have nothing to do with lofty ideas or general principles. They are merely pretextual justifications for interest group politics. When you boil most federalism battles down to their essence, they are simply about fighting for the forum (i.e., state vs. federal) that is most likely to advance the preferences of the interest group in question. "

For the rest of the article click here.

He has it exactly right. States' rights only meant something when the states provided conservatives some shelter from the federal courts where those judges upheld individuals' rights in the later part of the 20th century.

Now that the conservatives own the federal courts, and there are a few states left that afford shelter to those seeking to enforce individual rights, the conservatives want them out of those remaining states. When it comes to individual rights these days, conservatives are like Border Collies herding the cattle to slaughter.

Marty

George W Bush - a Gift that Keeps on Giving

Folks - it is about time that Mr. and Ms. Joe Public are reminded that when they voted for GWB to "protect" their precious marriage against the homosexuals, they were also voting into power the TRUE slippery slope - once they decide what group cannot marry do you think they will stop there?? What about who can/cannot get divorced - like the average American citizen? Giving the state/US a power to govern such issues is going to lead to an oppression not seen in literally hundreds of years.
And now look - Chimpy will snub the entire country of the UK by not sitting with Prince Charles and his to-be wife (they will be married by this time) when PC makes a visit to the white house that has been three years in planning! Why would he allow such an affront on a world figure like this? Well - because CAMILLA is a - horrors - divorcée. Of course, there is not mention that Charles is one also...
Now, how come Ronald Reagan could be Prez? He was divorced? How come so many of our (Republican mostly) legislators are divorced and still allowed to lead? How come so many people listen to Rush Limbaugh and god knows he has seen the back end of a marriage a time or two...

365 gay.com has the story....

Whatever happened to your favorite and mine - not - Anita Bryant??!!?

Well, I used my Guru-Net program to search her out, and loved the fact that whoever wrote the bio of our own resident Orange-Lover, and Tolerance-Hater, obviously was part of the reality based community - and must have particularly loved writing the ending...:)

I am not sure if the links will remain, but if you want to view any of them and have trouble, just email me or comment on the blog!

Anita Bryant (born March 25, 1940) was an American singer who made a series of television commercials for Florida orange juice. A member of the Southern Baptist church, she is remembered for campaigning to repeal a local ordinance in Miami that guaranteed civil rights regardless of sexual orientation.
Singing from the age of two, she became Miss Oklahoma in 1958 and was a 2nd runner-up in the 1959 Miss America beauty pageant. She had three million-selling pop hits: "'Til There Was You" (1959); "Paper Roses" (1960); and, "My Little Corner of the World" (1960). In 1960, she married Bob Green, a Miami disc jockey, with whom she eventually raised four children. She became a spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission in 1969, and nationally televised commercials featured her singing "Come to the Florida Sunshine tree", and opining that "Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine". She became widely recognizable, doing advertisements for Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Holiday Inn, and Tupperware. She sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" during the graveside services for Lyndon Johnson in 1973, and performed the National Anthem at Super Bowl III in 1969: in short, prior to her excursion into politics, she had a lucrative, thriving career and a seemingly happy marriage.
In 1977, Florida's Miami-Dade County passed a human-rights ordinance that provided that rights could not be abridged on the basis of sexuality. Believing that homosexuality was evil, Bryant conducted a campaign to repeal the ordinance. Among Bryant's assertions were "If gays are granted rights, next we'll have to give rights to prostitutes and to people who sleep with St. Bernards and to nailbiters." On June 7, 1977, Bryant's campaign, trading on fears of homosexual "recruitment" and child molestation, and calling itself "Save Our Children", resulted in a repeal of the county's Civil Rights Ordinance by an overwhelming margin of 69% to 31%.
The following day, Bryant stated, "In victory, we shall not be vindictive. We shall continue to seek help and change for homosexuals, whose sick and sad values belie the word 'gay' which they pathetically use to cover their unhappy lives."
In the aftermath, legislation was passed outlawing adoption by gay persons in Florida.
Dade County later reversed Bryant's influence in 1998 by passing an anti-bias ordinance. The drastic effects that Bryant had predicted before, however, did not follow. The statute forbidding adoptions by gay persons in Florida, however, remains law.
Anita Bryant's political success galvanized her opponents. She became one of the first persons to be "pied" (in Des Moines in 1977) as a political act. Gay activists organized a juice boycott, some enclosing two dollar bills and requesting a copy of a nonexistent pamphlet linking orange juice with homosexuality.
The fallout from her political activism had a devastating effect on her career, and her marriage failed. She divorced Bob Green in 1980, and her mainstay audience, conservative Christians, abandoned her because of their distaste for divorce. Her contract with the Florida Citrus Commission also was allowed to lapse because of the divorce.
She married her second husband, Charlie Hobson Dry, in 1990, and they have tried to reestablish her career in a series of small venues. Commercial success has been elusive, and they have left behind them a series of unpaid employees and creditors. They have filed for bankruptcy in Arkansas (1997) and in Tennessee (2001).

Welcome to the New Site

Hello folks!
Thank you for your patience during the transition of Julien's List...while we are still a long way from what we hope to achieve with this site, we are once again up and running, and looking forward to providing our readers with progressively-eclectic posts and thoughts.

Read, think, ACT!

Julien
(and Holly & Marty)