Tennesseefree.com

If you really want to believe statistics, Tennessee will overwhelmingly vote for John McCain for President. Just as George Bush received the majority (and the state’s 11 electoral votes) in 2000 and 2004…
“John McCain enjoys a strong double digit lead over both Democratic Presidential hopefuls in the state of Tennessee. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds McCain leading Barack Obama 58% to 31%. The presumptive GOP nominee leads Hillary Clinton 52% to 38%.

“McCain is viewed favorably by 65% of Volunteer State voters while Clinton earns favorable reviews from 45%. The numbers for Obama are bleak—39% favorable and 59% unfavorable. That latter figure includes 40% with a Very Unfavorable opinion of the Democratic frontrunner.”

Because of Baracky’s continued exposures as a false prophet.

Brings a smile to my stone face.

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Oh, and William, you will never understand the military. Luckily for you, those serving don’t care what you think.

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Can you image a bill like this coming from anywhere but Dumbfuckistan Republicans??

House Rep. Paul Broun [R-GA], with 15 Republican co-sponsors recently introduced a bill that would ban on sales of Playboy and Penthouse magazines on U.S. military installations.

Let me get this straight… US soldiers are involved in 2 hellish wars, both of which aren’t going well, and these congressmens’ biggest concern is to remove soldiers rights to read Playboy??

Rep. Broun explains:

“Allowing the sale of pornography on military bases has harmed military men and women by: escalating the number of violent, sexual crimes; feeding a base addiction; eroding the family as the primary building block of society; and denigrating the moral standing of our troops both here and abroad.”

If this doesn’t give you an idea of how fucked up and backward thinking these morons are, I don’t know what could. I’m speechless.

Military being sued for religious discrimination and harassment

It’s the military, not Jesus Camp!!

As if serving in the military isn’t hard enough, evangelicals try to force their religion on their subordinates. In 2005, new Air Force Academy rules went into effect after cadets complained that evangelical Christian officers proselytized on campus.

Jeremy Hall is an Army specialist, a US soldier in Iraq. He was raised Baptist by his grandmother in Richlands, N.C. He said he joined the Army “to make something of myself.” As a Christian, Jeremy said, “I thought going to Iraq was right because we had God on our side.”  In the summer of 2005, after his first deployment to Iraq, Specialist Hall began to read the Bible more closely, which bred doubts that deepened over time. He expanded his world view by conversing with others with a variety of views. “There are so many religions in the world,” he said. “Everyone thinks he’s right. Who is right? Even people who are Christians think other Christians are wrong.” Quietly, he became an atheist, that’s when his trouble started.

Hall began receiving threats from his superiors. When Hall held a meeting for a chapter of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers in Tikrit, Iraq, superior officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, told the soldiers he might bar them from re-enlistment and bring charges against them. A sergeant who, without provocation, threatened to “bust him in the mouth.” Another sergeant allegedly told Specialist Hall that as an atheist, he was not entitled to religious freedom. He was called immoral, devil-worshiper, gay - none of which was true. Hall believes his promotion to sergeant has been blocked because of his lawsuit

Last month, Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas, alleging that Specialist Hall’s right to be free from state endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers.

Mike Weinstein, a retired Air Force judge advocate general and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said he has been contacted by more than 5,500 service members and military families about incidents of religious discrimination.

 NYT 
CNN

Shortcomings in the planning for America’s more than $700 million embassy in Iraq may result in a year or more delay before the estimated 1000 staff can move in.

AP

The new U.S. Embassy complex does not have enough fortified living quarters for hundreds of diplomats and other workers, who must remain temporarily in trailers without special rooftop protection against mortars and rockets, government officials have told The Associated Press.

More than a dozen people have been killed in the Green Zone in the latest waves of attacks, including a U.S. civilian government worker whose housing trailer was hit. At one point — during the heaviest barrages early this month — the State Department ordered all its Baghdad employees to wear body armor and other protective gear while outside buildings in the Green Zone… One senior U.S. official who spent more than a year in Baghdad described the living situation as “Russian roulette” for staffers in the trailers.

When reading the AP story, one has to notice descriptions of those interviewed include:

• “The diplomat asked not to be named, lacking authorization to speak to media.”

• “The official, who was not authorized to speak to journalists, would not provide more details.”

• “The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was not authorized to speak to media.”

etc…yet the truth leaks out.

Thanks Serr8d and the Pentagon for providing us and the war profiteers with some good news.

(compiled by RTO Trainer)

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Iraq: SecurityMultinational Force

Petraeus Cites ‘Significant, but Uneven’ Security Progress in Iraq
Source: Blackanthem Military News 9 April 2008, WASHINGTON, D.C. — The efforts of U.S. and Iraqi surge forces have boosted security in Iraq, but those gains are uneven and subject to reversal, the top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Iraq testified before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington D.C. on 9 April. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, attributed recent security gains in Iraq to three factors: The engagement of some 30,000 U.S. and more than 100,000 Iraqi surge forces; Employment of U.S. and Iraqi security forces in joint counterinsurgency operations; and the Iraqi people’s adoption of anti-insurgent attitudes. However, a multitude of forces — not only al-Qaida and Iranian-allied terrorists, but also garden-variety criminals — are competing to sow destruction and discord in efforts to topple Iraq’s government for their own purposes, Petraeus said. Ethno-centric disagreements continue to occur among Iraq’s population, but there are signs of improvement and growing accord, Petraeus said.

U.S., Iraqi Forces Winning in Western Anbar Province, Colonel Says
Source: American Forces Press Service 21 April 2008, WASHINGTON – Increased security brought about by military success against insurgents in the western portion of Iraq’s Anbar province is enabling a drawdown of U.S. forces there as well as enhanced regional reconstruction efforts, Marine Corps Col. Pat Malay, commander of Regimental Combat Team 5, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference from Camp Ripper, Iraq. During a previous Iraq tour in Fallujah two years ago, Malay recalled, multitudes of foreign fighters were entering western Iraq from Syria. Today, there are very few foreign fighters in his area of operations, he observed.

U.S. troop levels in Iraq will fall further -Gates
Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, April 21 — A drop in U.S. troop levels in Iraq is “inevitable over time” but U.S. forces face many more years of combat against “violent jihadist networks” around the world, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on 21 April. While stressing the United States must remain engaged in Iraq “to avoid an even uglier fight or even greater danger to our country in the future,” Gates said troop levels would decline further.

Meeting Signals to Soldiers in Bayji That Iraqis Are Primed to Shift Focus
Source: 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division 21 April 2008, BAYJI — After several months of combat operations in the northern Iraqi city of Bayji, tribal leaders and local officials have shifted their focus. Full-scale U.S. and Iraqi-led operations have cleansed the area of numerous “high-value individuals,” crippling terrorist organization’s capacity to operate here. The result of these combined operations has led to positive economic and infrastructure changes for one of Iraq’s biggest oil hubs. Located in the Salah ad Din Province, the city of Bayji is 130 miles north of Baghdad and is home to the country’s largest oil refinery.

US, Iraq forces build wall through militia bastion
Source: AFP 19 April 2008, BAGHDAD – US and Iraqi forces are building a wall through the capital’s Shiite bastion of Sadr City in a bid to stop militiamen firing rockets, as fresh clashes there killed 13 people on 19 April. The wall of cement blocks, some up to three metres (12 feet) high, “will enclose (the southern section) in order to control access in and out of the area,” US Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover told AFP. The spokesman added that this was a plan of the Iraqi government.

US military threatens to hit back if Sadr launches war
Source: AFP 20 April 2008, BAGHDAD — Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces in central Iraq, warned on 20 April that the military would strike back after hardline Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr threatened to launch a new uprising by his militia. Lynch, whose area of control includes the Shiite provinces of Babil, Wasit, Karbala and Najaf, said his forces were ready to take on Sadr and his feared Mahdi Army militia if they choose to fight Iraqi and American forces.

U.S. Policies

Rice visits Baghdad, insists Iraqis ‘more united’
Source: Iraq Updates
21 April 2008 – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a surprise visit to Baghdad on 20 April said Iraqi leaders were more united than ever, as Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr warned of a war against the government. Rice also said that security in Iraq had improved, but during her stay in Baghdad’s Green Zone the heavily fortified area was rocked by an explosion which, according to a US official, could have been a rocket attack.

US embassy in Baghdad cleared for occupancy
Source: AFP 15 April 2008, WASHINGTON — The new, state-of-the-art US embassy complex in Iraq has been cleared for occupancy, with a moving day to the 700-million dollar office and housing compound set for late May or early June, officials in Washington said. EU. Policies

EU should not only shelter Iraqi Christians: presidency
Source: AFP 18 April 2008, LUXEMBOURG – The European Union’s Slovenian presidency rejected on 18 April a German proposal to offer preferential asylum treatment to Iraqi Christians. I think the right of asylum should be provided without consideration of religion or race,” said Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate. German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wanted to persuade other EU countries to offer asylum to thousands of Iraq’s minority Christians because of violence against them in majority-Muslim Iraq. His plan was initially mooted by Germany’s Catholic and Protestant churches who are powerful allies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party. NATO

Iraqi Forces

Ministry to purchase weapons worth $2.6 billion
Source: Azzaman.com 19 April 2008 –The Ministry of Defense has allocated $2.6 billion for the purchase of weapons for the Iraqi armed forces, the army’s chief of staff said. Gen. Babaker Zaibari said the sum is earmarked to “equip Iraqi troops with modern weapons.” Zaibari said the ministry would spend an additional $595 in the coming six months on the reconstruction of military camps and headquarters in Iraq.

U.S. sees Iraqis in control in Baghdad in a year
Source: Reuters 17 April 2008, BAGHDAD — U.S. forces in Baghdad hope to turn over responsibility for security in most of the Iraqi capital to Iraqi forces in about a year, the chief of staff of the American military in the city said. “We do foresee the Iraqi security forces able to attain a level of sustainable security in much of Baghdad by early spring,” said Colonel Allen Batschelet , chief of staff to Major-General Jeffery Hammond, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad.

Iraq sacks 1,300 police and soldiers in south
Source: Reuters 13 April, 2008, BAGHDAD – The Iraqi government has sacked 1,300 soldiers and policemen for their poor performance during clashes last month with Shi’ite militias in the south of the country, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on 13 April. The move was an acknowledgement of failures in an offensive against the militias, which started in the southern oil hub of Basra and spread across the south and to Baghdad, triggering Iraq’s worst fighting since the first half of 2007.

Iraqi National Police graduate Carabinieri training
Source: Reuters 21 April 2008, BAGHDAD — Iraqi National Police graduated from the third Carabinieri-trained Iraqi National Police Course Apr. 21 at Camp Dublin in Baghdad. More than 400 graduates were commended by Iraqi Police Maj. Gen. Hussein, Iraqi National Police commander; Italian Lt. Gen. Gianfrancesco Siazzu, Italian Carabinieri Corps general commander and Italian Army Maj. Gen. Alessandro Pompegnani, NATO Training Mission — Iraq deputy commander. Each of the speakers told the police graduates that the Carabinieri-trained National Police Course takes into account Iraq’s unique security concerns and the challenges of maintaining security for a free Iraq. Security Threats

Al Qaeda

Intercepted al-Qaida Letter Reveals Tactics, Strategy
Source: American Forces Press Service 16 April 2008 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Use silenced guns to kill coalition forces at Iraqi security checkpoints, smuggle weapons in gradual shipments to reduce the risk of detection, and poison Iraq’s water supply with nitric acid to spread disease and death. Such tactics were fleshed out in a terrorist letter intended for Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the foreign-born leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. But the document never reached Masri. Instead, coalition forces lifted it from the body of a terrorist they killed last month during an operation 30 miles northwest of Baghdad. Providing a glimpse into the proposed inner workings of al-Qaida in Iraq, the author discusses the need to split jihadists into three groups: snipers, assassination experts and martyrs. Each well-trained group should have an emir, or unit commander, at the lead. Through a series of coordinated surprise attacks, groups should work in unison to “bring down the city or the area,” he wrote. In addition to outlining extremist combat methods, Safyan advocated waging economic and psychological warfare, and his roadmap for success hinged on “continuous conflict” between Iraq’s Shiite government, Sunni members of “Awakening Movements” and Kurdish nationalists.

Security Situation

Basra’s `dark ages’ lifting as hard-line grip weakens
Source: AP 18 April 2008 – CD shops sell love songs again. Some women emerge from their homes without veils, and alcohol sellers are coming out of hiding in the southern city of Basra — where religious vigilantes have long enforced strict Islamic codes. The changes in recent weeks mark a surprising show of government sway — at least for now. But it’s unclear whether the new tone in parts of Basra represents a permanent tilt toward the Iraqi government or just a temporary retreat of Shiite hard-liners challenging the current Baghdad leadership.

US eases security rules for diplomats in Baghdad
Source: AP 16 April 2008, WASHINGTON – The State Department is easing security restrictions on diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that were imposed during a recent spate of rocket attacks in the Green Zone. Embassy employees were told in a 16 April notice obtained by The Associated Press that they are no longer required to wear body armor, helmets and protective eyewear while outside and that restrictions on movement inside the Green Zone have been lifted. The rules were introduced last month amid an increase in insurgent rocket fire.

Iraq: Governance

Official: Iraq will not allow open warfare
Source: Iraq Update 21 April 2008–Iraq will not allow the break out of fullfledged war, the government said on 21 April in response to Moqtada Al Sadr’s threats of open war. Iraq is capable of confronting Al Sadr, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari reaffirmed, adding the government has to take action when state authority is challenged.

IAF submitted nominees’ names to rejoin the cabinet: President Talabani
Source: Iraq Updates 21 April 2008 – The President Jalal Talabani said on 20 April that the “subtle obstacles” that prevent the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF — Sunni parliamentary bloc) from rejoining the cabinet were removed, and the IAF submitted its nominees’ names to occupy empty ministerial posts. In August 2007, the IAF, which held 44 out of 275 parliamentary seats, withdrew from Premier Nouri al-Maliki’s cabinet. IAF has five ministerial positions, in addition to the post of deputy premier. President Talabani described this development as an “important step, and very important to fulfilling national unity and reconciliation.”

Kurdistan youths want Parliament seats
Source: Iraq Updates 17 April 2008 – Haman Zrar, an MP in Kurdistan Region Parliament, says Kurdistan MP’s have ignored the rights of youths for several years. MP Khaman Zrar stated that around 50 civil society organizations in the region are now working to give youths a chance to hold Parliament seats and are encouraging Parliament to pass a bill allowing youths to be elected MP’s.

State personnel salaries and allocations increased
Source: Iraq Updates 15 April 2008 – The Parliament approved two laws increasing salaries of State personnel and the allocations of those holding advanced degrees for the purpose of achieving a better standard of living for them. This came during a meeting of the Parliament on 11 April, where many of the deputies also called for granting special allocations to engineers.

Rule of Law

A close agreement on oil and gas law
Source: Iraq Updates 21 April 2008 –Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, told a committee at the European Parliament in Brussels that Iraq is close to completing the oil and gas law. Vice president of the Iraqi parliament, Khaled al-Attiyah, stated that the Iraqi government and officials from Kurdistan region will resume talks soon to try to settle differences that hinder the passing of the bill.

Iraqi cabinet agrees provincial election law
Source: Reuters BAGHDAD, April 13 — Iraq’s cabinet has agreed on a draft of a law governing provincial elections to be held later this year and will now submit it for approval to parliament, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on 13 April.The law governing elections for powerful provincial posts is one of the measures that Washington has encouraged Iraq’s leadership to enact in an effort to reduce violence by luring alienated groups into the political process.

Regional Relations

Major powers and neighbours meet on Iraq
Source: AFP 21 April 2008, KUWAIT CITY – Diplomats from major Western powers and countries neighbouring Iraq met in Kuwait on 21 April to prepare for a ministerial conference on the nation, officials said. Foreign ministers, or their representatives, from 23 countries — Iraq, its neighbours, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the remaining G8 industrial nations — are due to attend the conference. Iran will be represented by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, according to organisers, while US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will also attend.

Border point with Iran turned into international crossing
Source: Iraq Updates 17 April 2008 — The unofficial border point of Haj Omran linking northern Iraq with Iran has been refurbished and turned into an international border crossing. Iran now has three international crossing with Iraq. These crossing are manned by customs officials where travelers and vehicles require official papers to cross. But there are numerous other crossings along the 1500-kilometer long border between the countries. Since the invasion, bilateral trade has mushroomed and Iran is now Iraq’s top trade partner. Volume of Iranian goods imported by Iraq and value of contracts being implement by Iranian firms is estimated a billions of dollars a year.

Turkish army says it strikes PKK in Northern Iraq
Source: Reuters 16 April 2008, ANKARA — Turkish warplanes fired on a group of Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq on 16 April as they tried to enter Turkey, the General Staff said. PKK spokesman Ahmet Danees, who is based in northern Iraq, said Turkish forces had bombed for an hour in the Zagros mountains, but that there were no casualties among the PKK. It was not possible to independently verify the reports. Ankara says thousands of separatist PKK rebels use a remote, mountainous part of northern Iraq as a base from which to stage attacks on targets inside Turkey.

Iraq: Essential Services/Reconstruction

Parliament urges government to reallocate development money to those in need
Source: IRIN BAGHDAD, 13 April 2008 — The Iraqi parliament on 12 April urged the government to reallocate US$5 billion earmarked for investment in infrastructure and services to social welfare programmes, a food rationing system and to meet the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Farming flourishes in Iraq’s Arab Jubur
Source: Iraq Updates 21 April 2008 – Three months after US forces dropped tonnes of bombs on Arab Jubur and put Al-Qaeda to flight, farmers are everywhere out in their fields tending their tomatoes. Homes in the Sunni Arab rural patch about 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of Baghdad, meanwhile, are being rebuilt, schools reopened, roads repaired and irrigation pumps renewed, even as shopkeepers happily dust off their shelves.

Iraq needs more than $300 billion to restore its infrastructure
Source: Iraq Updates 20 April 2008 – Mohamed Ziyadat, board chairman of the Fifth International Exhibition of Rebuilding Iraq which began its work in Amman on 16 April, confirmed that Iraqi, Jordanian and Arab businessmen are discussing trading contracts on the sidelines of the exhibition. He said that the “exhibition is a great opportunity for companies wishing to work in Iraq, especially after the adoption of the 2008 budget allocated for the reconstruction of Iraq, and which amounted to some $48 billion. He added that Iraq has the potentials to administrate investments successfully due to its natural and human resources.

More projects for Karbala
Source: Azzaman.com 11 April 2008 –Work on projects worth nearly $100 million is to start in the religious city of Karbala. The projects are part of the post-war construction and will be implemented by local contractors, according to Falah Attiya, head of the provincial reconstruction program. There is a flurry of reconstruction in the religious cities of Karbala and Najaf despite mounting insecurity. Attiya said the 109 projects were included in an additional budget to “accelerate the development of regions” in the country.

Education

4 training programs for the unemployed in Fallujah
Source: VOI Anbar, Apr 21 — The Unemployed Recruitment Center in Fallujah started four training programs for unemployed people, in the fields of personal computers (PC) maintenance, cell phone maintenance, welding, and carpentry, the professional training director at the center said on 21 April.

Iraq: Economy

Iraq qualifies 35 companies for oil deals
Source: UPI WASHINGTON, April 14 – Iraq’s Oil Ministry has approved 35 companies it will allow to bid for soon-to-be announced tenders to develop oil and gas fields. The largest oil companies in the world — ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Conoco Phillips, Chevron — all qualified, as did firms of a variety of sizes and nationalities. The announcement on 14 April on the ministry’s Web site is a major move that could bring foreign oil companies en masse into Iraq since the third-largest oil sector in the world was nationalized three decades ago.

Iraq wants neighbours to forgive debts: report
Source: Iraq Updates 21 April 2008 –Iraq’s government spokesman, in comments published on 19 April, called on Gulf states to forgive billions of dollars owed from loans and upgrade their diplomatic representation in Baghdad. Gulf states, especially OPECOPEC members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, agreed several years ago to forgive a substantial part of Iraqi debt, estimated to total tens of billions of dollars, but Iraq wants this to be translated into action. Foreign ministers of Iraq neighbours, along with Egypt and Bahrain, plus five UN Security Council permanent members and other Group of Eight nations, are to meet in Kuwait on 22 April to discuss the situation in Iraq.

Private Banks are allowed to open credits for building contracts
Source: Iraq Updates 20 April 2008 – The Iraqi government decided to end the monopoly of the governmental “Iraqi Commercial Bank” for the opening of credits concerning building and reconstruction contracts, and assign it to the private sector. Adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Kamal Al-Basri, explained that the aim of this step is to facilitate the procedures for foreign investment applications, and the work of the Iraqi investors, as it will allow foreign companies and capitals to enter Iraq, and expected this year to be much better than the previous ones in the area of investment.

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It’s about time we had some positive news from Iraq on the front page of this here blog. With the continued whinefest from William (five consecutive negative rants) you’ll forgive the length of this one.RTO Trainer, thanks for putting this together; forgive me my lifting, but believe me it’s for a good cause.

The same Republicans that supported the bill in committee unanimously voted against the bill on the House floor.

Politico:

Under the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act, the federal government would help localities switch to paper ballots or attach printers to their electronic voting machines in time for the November elections. To overcome states’ rights objections, Holt crafted the bill as an opt-in: Nobody would be required to switch technologies or conduct audits, but federal funding would be available to offset costs for those who did.

So why did the Republicans fail to support a bill assisting in fair and verifiable elections? Because the Bush Administration came out in opposition to the bill, they said it was too expensive. The estimated cost of the bill, $680 million, is about what is being spent in Iraq every two days.

What this shows is that the accusations of fraud that marred the 2000 and 2004 elections will continue. Republicans show that they feel no responsibility to protect our the primary fabric of our democracy: free and fair elections.

So what? The fact is that it is likely an illegal Pentagon-constructed psychological operation aimed at the American people to sell a government policy through lies in the media.

The NYT exposed the first details of the Pentagon’s Military Analyst Program and now there are calls for a Congressional investigation. So, what’s this all about?

This program was launched in early 2002 by then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke to recruit “key influentials” such as retired military to help sell a wary public on the planned Iraq invasion. More than 75 retired officers have been coached by government and military officials to spin the news about Iraq or simply lie on countless network and cable channel news programs and talk shows over the course of the past five years or more. Fox News has led the way in presenting these individuals to the public and other networks followed. Watch this short video story.

NYT: “Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as ‘message force multipliers’ or ’surrogates’ who could be counted on to deliver administration ‘themes and messages’ to millions of Americans ‘in the form of their own opinions.’ … Don Meyer, an aide to Ms. Clarke, said a strategic decision was made in 2002 to make the analysts the main focus of the public relations push to construct a case for war”

So? Why is this illegal?

Because “covert” propaganda is illegal. Covert propaganda is defined as “materials such as editorials or other articles prepared by an agency or its contractors at the behest of the agency and circulated as the ostensible position of parties outside the agency.”

Kathy Gill notes one of many likely illegal uses of propaganda:

“Pentagon officials helped two Fox analysts, General McInerney and General Vallely, write an opinion article for The Wall Street Journal defending Mr. Rumsfeld. The military “analysts” did not disclose to the networks, the papers or the public that they were parroting the Bush party line or working in their defense. Instead, they were presented as “experts” — one assumes vetted for neutrality by the networks. We’re only now finding out that they were in fact paid to appear on TV, [possibly also paid to write the op-eds].”

The most insidious thing was that many of the ‘analysts’ have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air. They were promoting a war that they stood to profit from.

Of course, the Bush family knows a lot about war profiteering.
I urge everyone, read the whole story of how your news was written by the government.

Update:

Caught!  The Pentagon halts propaganda program (story)

Over a billion dollars has been spent on abstinence only sex education that doesn’t work according to experts testifying before congress. The federal government currently spends $176 million a year on abstinence-only education, which only supplements the millions more spent on abstinence-only in state and local matching grants.

Programs teaching U.S. schoolchildren to abstain from sex have not cut teen pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases or delayed the age at which sex begins, health groups told Congress on Wednesday:

“Vast sums of federal monies continue to be directed toward these programs. And, in fact, there is evidence to suggest that some of these programs are even harmful and have negative consequences by not providing adequate information for those teens who do become sexually active.” — Dr. Margaret Blythe, American Academy of Pediatrics

So, how does our local Republican Representative John Duncan, from Dumbfuckistan (TN) respond?

“…it seems rather elitist that people with academic degrees in health think they know better than parents what type of sex education is appropriate. “

What use could Republicans possibly need with such silly things as education, data, and science? Another battle in the Republican War on Science (and education.)

Read more »

The most recent USA Today/Gallup poll finds 63% of Americans saying the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq.

Check out these facts and statements by Gallup:

• This is the highest “mistake” percentage Gallup has ever measured for an active war involving the United States — surpassing by two points the 61% who said the Vietnam War was a mistake in May 1971.
• The average percentage saying the war is a mistake has increased every year of the conflict…majority opposition to the Iraq war is basically cemented.

Sadly, it looks as if this month will be the worst death toll of US troops since Sept ‘07 if the present trend continues.

Speaking of polls, I see in the RCP poll of polls, both Clinton and Obama are slightly ahead of McCain now. This margin will widen considerably once a Dem candidate is chosen, I guarantee it.

Graphics below the fold… Read more »

McCain, who had been courting the endorsement of Pastor Hagee for over a year, said that he was “very honored by Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement.”

Here’s what McCain’s man Hagee has said:

“The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West… a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ.”

“Russia is going to get in that position and they are literally, with all that massive military force, going to attack Israel. This is recorded in Ezekiel 38 and 39. God himself is literally going to destroy that army. Decimate it.” – Hagee told ABC News in 2006.

And more recently, for the second time, he blamed gays in New Orleans for Katrina:

“What happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God, in time if New Orleans recovers and becomes the pristine city it can become it may in time be called a blessing. But at this time it’s called a curse.” - Rev. Hagee

The difference between Rev. Wright/Obama and Hagee/McCain is that McCain worked for a year to gain Hagee endorsement and as recently as Sunday, said he’s still “glad to have his endorsement” and spoke of how he admired Hagee views, “I admire and respect Dr. Hagee’s leadership… I admire and appreciate his advocacy for the state of Israel, the independence of the state of Israel.”

Obama has no political affiliation with Rev. Wright like McCain does with Hagee. I think it’s time to elect a leader of the free world that doesn’t base his views on ancient texts and ‘group think‘ from the Dark Ages…. don’t you?

i.e. This guy is said to have been sought by the Bush Administration for advice on the Middle East, I’m not kidding.

As most of you probably already know, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, formerly of the conservative movement, has teamed up with the current Speaker of the House to promote the global warming hoax with this clever commercial.

Our “conservative” friends at Terra Rossa alerted me to this responsive post by Whit Ayers.

 I couldn’t agree more with Newt’s position here. I’m a conservative, but I’m also a passionate environmentalist. And it dismays me to see that, somewhere along the way, conservatives wrote themselves out of the environmental debate. I don’t question the motives of my liberal environmentalist friends, but I do question their methods. And I genuinely believe conservatives have something to say on this issue. As a reader recently wrote on this site, conservation is inherently conservative.

Whit, it’s like this. We do believe in a clean environment. We just don’t believe that we humans are destroying the planet. We don’t believe in man made global warming. Show us how to conserve energy, which also helps us to save money. But please stop buying into this man made global warming hoax and trying to convince us of this idiocy. You and Newt and all the rest, are nothing but tools for a bunch of radical leftists posing as environmentalists.

Joltin’ Django of Nigh Seen Creeder has written an excellent post explaining capitalism to Phil Valentine, who wonders why the oil companies dare to charge the “prevailing market price for their goods”.

 Well, here’s a newsflash such-minded folk: Publicly-owned businesses aren’t in business to give anyone a break; they’re in business to provide goods and services the public at large desires and - AND - make a profit.

Did he say profit? Oh my God! How awful of those companies to make a (gasp!) profit. Is there any other word in the English language more offensive than profit?

Oh wait. His post gets better.

That said, corporate directors have one primary job: to maximize profits so that their company’s stock increases in value. A company can’t do either of those things by selling the goods it produces at below-market prices. If’n that sounds like a bad thing to you, well, direct your Web-browser to the Communist Party’s site and click the “join now” button.

CEO’s of major corporations are duty bound to their shareholders and just who are the shareholders of big oil? Well chances are, if you have a 401K, it could be you. One of my favorite radio commercials is this brilliant piece from the American Petroleum Institute. Please listen.

Yes that’s right. A recent study by Robert Shapiro, formerly of the Clinton administration, revealed that 41% of oil company stock is owned by people like firefighters and teachers in pension retirement plans, and nearly 30% are owned by mutual funds.

Selfish bastards!

Sharon Cobb links to this article about a soccer player in Brazil being arrested for calling the referee a monkey, and then asks “Should racism be a crime?”

The thing is, if people like Sharon have their way, it will be one day. Liberals almost crap their pants anytime anybody utters a word remotely offensive, and being people who see everything, every moral position, through the prism of government, you can bet your ass that at some point they will seek to pass laws like that one in Brazil and similar anti free speech laws in Old Europe, that outlaw things like holocaust denial.

Obviously those types of laws would violate our First Amendment, but don’t expect them to be deterred by something as minor as the Constitution.

Just think for a second how those laws would be interpreted. Glen Dean would most certainly be locked up. Good grief. Just about any political ad ran that is anti-Obama is labeled by at least a few pundits, as being racist.

Not to pick on Sharon, but I am reminded of another ironic post she wrote a while back about a couple of fat people not being let into New Zealand, because they would be a drain on the government healthcare system. I wrote about that post too, by the way.

In regards to the proposed “I Believe” Florida license plates, Mark Rose is correct when he says “The ACLU is going to have a cow.” In fact, according to Chris Kromm, they have already had that cow.

Does this type of thing violate the First Amendment? If an “I Don’t Believe” plate is proposed and not turned down, then what’s the big deal? These are PERSONALIZED plates, are they not? Are atheists and people from other religions going to be forced to buy these plates? Of course not. Possibly, the proper thing to do, in the ACLU’s case is to ask the legislature to approve other plates for other religions.

That proposal was addressed in the article by a Florida, you guessed it, Democrat.

Rep. Kelly Skidmore said she is a Roman Catholic and goes to Mass on Sundays, but she believes the “I Believe” plate is inappropriate for the government to produce.

“It’s not a road I want to go down. I don’t want to see the Star of David next. I don’t want to see a Torah next. None of that stuff is appropriate to me,” said Skidmore, a Democrat who voted against the plate in committee. “I just believe that.”

Why is she so afraid of a Star of David or even a Star and Crescent for that matter? If somebody wants to express their religion on their license plate on their car, how does it affect her freedom? It doesn’t, of course. Some people took a similar position in Tennessee a while back with the “Choose Life” plates. I suggested that the opposition create a “Choose Death” plate to offset. That suggestion didn’t get too far, of course.

Seriously though, why does the ACLU take on these battles? Rather than supporting the separation of church and state, they often end up just opposing religious freedom. Like I said earlier, requesting plates for other religions would be a more understandable position to take. But they really shouldn’t even do that, not unless a request by a Jewish, Muslim, or other group was actually turned down.

McCain again didn’t show up for work. Hillary and Barack both came back to the Senate to vote for and speak out on behalf of this legislation - a Senate bill that sought equal pay for women. The bill fell 4 votes short of the 60 votes needed despite bipartisan support. Every Democrat and both independents (Lieberman and Sanders) supported the measure, along with six Republicans.

The Republican minority did what it does best: obstruct legislation.

McCain explained his opposition to the bill by claiming it ‘opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems.’ He added that instead of legislation allowing women to fight for equal pay, they simply need ‘education and training.’

If American workers are being discriminated against, they should be able to file suit. Employers then will stop discriminating and there will be fewer such lawsuits in the future.

OK ladies, now you know who to NOT to vote for. McCain has a way with women. If McCain becomes president, forget about equal pay, you just need to be trained and educated.

No wonder Jenna Bush has refused to support McCain so far!

Guess what? Over in Brazil evil oil companies just found a whole mess of Texas Tea, Black Gold, oil that is…

April 24 (Bloomberg) — Brazil’s discoveries of what may be two of the world’s three biggest oil finds in the past 30 years could help end the Western Hemisphere’s reliance on Middle East crude, Strategic Forecasting Inc. said.

Saudi Arabia’s influence as the biggest oil exporter would wane if the fields are as big as advertised, and China and India would become dominant buyers of Persian Gulf oil, said Peter Zeihan, vice president of analysis at Strategic Forecasting in Austin, Texas. Zeihan’s firm, which consults for companies and governments around the world, was described in a 2001 Barron’s article as “the shadow CIA.”

 What will “Captain Planet” do now? Calling all hippies…

Are you better off today than you were 8 years ago?

86% of Americans say the economy is getting worse.

73% of consumers in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll citing higher grocery bills as a concern, and nearly half saying food inflation has caused a hardship for their households. 80% percent of those polled also noted energy prices as a concern.

Sam’s Club is now even rationing the amount of rice you can buy.

I spent $6 for 4 tomatoes the other day. It’s bad. i’m OK but I know there are people working their ass off and barely getting by. It’s been a helluva decade so far and for many, it’s getting worse.

But don’t worry…

John McCain said that under GW Bush, “…there’s been great progress economically.”

How do you suppose gas prices will do under McCain? Since first running for the Senate, McCain has received at least $549,712 from the oil and gas industry, with over half coming in the last two years alone. McCain’s signature tax cut plan would deliver $3.8 billion to the five largest American oil companies. They definitely need more profit, right? More $400 million CEO pensions.

Al Gore may have used a misleading graphic in his documentary? Stop the presses! Let’s discuss this and nothing else for days!

The Bush Administration has consistently put political pressure on its scientists to downplay environmental problems? Move along, people, nothing to see here…

UPDATE: Ha!  I see William and I posted on this at almost exactly the same time.

Hundreds of EPA scientists complain they have been victims of political interference and pressure from the Bush Administration to skew their findings.

The Union of Concerned Scientists said that more than half of the nearly 1,600 EPA staff scientists who responded online to a detailed questionnaire reported they had experienced incidents of political interference in their work. EPA scientists described an agency suffering from low morale as senior managers and the White House Office of Management and Budget frequently second-guess scientific findings and change work conducted by EPA’s scientists, the report said.

Nearly 400 scientists said they had witnessed officials misrepresenting scientific findings, 284 said they had witness the “selective or incomplete use of data to justify a specific regulatory outcome” and 224 scientists said they had been directed to “inappropriately exclude or alter technical information” in an EPA document.

(AP story)

Keep the people dumb and uninformed, fix the science around the policy.  That’s the way Republicans do business.

Here’s a potpourri of recent Republican corruption, lies and documented bad behavior:

• Bush Administration contracts retired Generals connected to defense industry (war profiteers) to spread the “good news” about the war. (story)
• The Bush propaganda efforts (lies) have been documented in this new documentary film: War Made Easy (trailer)
• Despite a federal judge ruling that the Secret Service White House visitor logs must be released, the Bush Administration is fighting the release in appeals court. (By contrast, President Clinton’s political opponents made extensive use of Secret Service logs documenting White House visits). (story)
• The House Judiciary Committee wants Karl Rove to testify in the investigation of the prosecution of Gov. Don Siegelman. Rove has refused thus far to show up - the corrupt chickenshit he is. (story)
• Yet another Bush Administration official pleads guilty in the Abramoff scandal. Robert Coughlin, a former DOJ official, was accused of having a “criminal conflict of interest” with jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Today, Coughlin admitted in federal court that he accepted gifts from Abramoff during a time he was under a plea deal with the government. (story)
• Colorado State Rep. Douglas Bruce [R] was immediately scolded and barred from speaking Monday after he called migrant workers “illiterate peasants” on the floor of the statehouse. Some of these racist, bigoted Republicans slip and reveal their true colors sometimes. (story)
• Echoing Bush’s infamous “Bring ‘em on” statement, Condi Rice taunted Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr as a ‘coward’ in between duck and cover episodes while cowering in the relative concrete safety of Iraq’s Green Zone. All this after al-Sadr agreed to a government request from the Iraqis for a cease-fire. It seems that Condi wants the full-scale war. So much for her job, diplomacy . (story)
• US soldiers say the Bush Administration has exaggerated the role of Iraqi troops in Basra (story)
• Bush lied to the American people again today and said: “we’re not in a recession.” Last month, a vast majority of economists polled by the WSJ say America is in a recession. (story) (Yesterday, the dollar hit a new low against the Euro and oil hit an incredible $119 a barrel - almost double what it was a year ago. Thanks to Dick Cheney’s energy policy, Exxon boasted record profits and for the 5th yr in a row was the #1 most profitable company in the US). (story)
• Dick Cheney lied again claiming “the House leadership has allowed a critical statute to expire — FISA” (story)
• CBS News reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) apparently concealed veteran suicide statistics to put a better face on the war, denying the mental trauma the war has taken on the troops. (story)