ThinkFast: September 18, 2006
ThinkFast: September 18, 2006
A portrait of sectarian violence in Baghdad. “A wrong turn, a detour, an untoward stare, a pointed finger, an anonymous denunciation, a nod of the head – these can, and do, lead regularly to death.”
Top House conservatives reportedly want Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who pled guilty last week in connection with the Abramoff scandal, to resign from Congress immediately. Ney “hasn’t taken the hint.”
After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, applicants who applied for reconstruction jobs “didn’t need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration.” Pentagon officials “posed blunt questions” to candidates like whether they voted for George W. Bush in 2000, and whether they supported Roe v. Wade.
At least 255,000 people have died in Darfur since the genocide began in 2003, researchers report in the journal Science, “though they believe the actual number may be much higher.” Tens of thousands marked the “Global Day for Darfur” yesterday in four dozen cities worldwide.
Thomas W. O’Connell, the Pentagon’s top special operations policy-maker, “is quitting in a move that several Bush administration sources say is the first negative fallout from a major reorganization of advisers in the office of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.”
A far-right party “which openly espouses xenophobic and neo-Nazi views…made further inroads in Germany’s economically fragile east” in yesterday’s elections.
Project BioShield, the $5.6 billion program to expand medical stockpiles in case of a biological attack, “has largely failed to deliver.” Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) calls it a “torturous labyrinth of federal fiefdoms into which billions disappear.”
The U.S. continues to rank 16th among industrialized nations for broadband internet development and penetration, and customers in countries like Japan and South Korea “enjoy broadband speeds that are hundreds of times faster” as standard U.S. speeds.
And finally: Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) argued last week that the South could have won the Civil War if the Confederates had just had better intelligence. Sources told Roll Call that Chambliss said, “We need better intelligence. If we had better intelligence in the Civil War we’d be quoting Jefferson Davis, not Lincoln.”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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RE: BioShield…
Has anything this administration done or tried to do not failed?
I’m serious. I can’t come up with anything.
I’m ashamed.
http://theworstpresidentever.org
September 18th, 2006 at 9:21 amapplicants who applied for reconstruction jobs “didn’t need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction
As if anyone in BushCo is an expert in their area – unless that area is “deception in order to get and maintain power”
Top House conservatives …want Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH)…to resign from Congress immediately
Hmm, worried about that little election thing next month?
September 18th, 2006 at 9:26 amThank you, TP!! Name and e-mail automatic and post showed up immediately.
September 18th, 2006 at 9:28 amtorturous labyrinth
Doesn’t Bush support torture?
September 18th, 2006 at 9:30 am“Top House conservatives reportedly want Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), … to resign from Congress immediately”
They just don’t want to have another self-admitted liar around during the election time frame.
I wonder why Jason M. Hendler never called for the Pres. Reagan docu-drama to be broadcast? You only like “free speech” for partisan films with which you agree while others are to be banned? Double standards, eh Jason?!?
September 18th, 2006 at 9:41 amNey won’t go.
September 18th, 2006 at 9:43 amLieberman won’t go.
I’m not liking this trend.
255,000 people have died in Darfur
This just proves the Stories about Saddam are more a reason for invasion and because he had oil, Surely America should be in Darfur helping if they care so much but they got no spoils of war there except rape for the troops but no oil
September 18th, 2006 at 9:44 am#1: A friend and I were thinking about this as well. We did remember No Child Left Behind, which was passed. That’s about it, though.
September 18th, 2006 at 9:55 am8 Yachts and Lattes
September 18th, 2006 at 10:03 amNo Child Left Behind does not qualify as a success, either. It is a set of unfunded mandates to the states and, ultimately, to local school districts which involve more unrealistic, unnecessary testing which takes up teaching time and money.
Yachts and Lattes,
No Child Left Behind is a disaster.
It’s also a veiled tracking system for the military.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:04 amPLC,
September 18th, 2006 at 10:05 amYou sat your posts are coming right up?
I have high-speed, yet still have to wait over 5 minutes to see anything.
harumph. :)
trueblue
September 18th, 2006 at 10:15 amWell, at least my First post came up right away – after that, not so much.
I find it hard to have a “conversation” when they are very slow, which seems most important when taking on trolls.
“A wrong turn, a detour, an untoward stare, a pointed finger, an anonymous denunciation, a nod of the head – these can, and do, lead regularly to death.†– - So Baghdad is like South Central L.A. People can get Reginald Denny-ed to death.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:16 amI post a couple of times then get tired and go elsewhere, myself.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:18 amWell, one quick post is a step in the right direction, I guess!
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) argued last week that the South could have won the Civil War if the Confederates had just had better intelligence.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:21 am– - The insurgency network in Iraq probably has better intel than we do. Not a good sign, eh Saxby?
What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration.†Pentagon officials “posed blunt questions†to candidates like whether they voted for George W. Bush in 2000, and whether they supported Roe v. Wade.
Well I guess the old ‘there’s a bright spot to everything’ applies here. It’s outrageous that they’d pose such questions and completely irrelevant to whether someone is or is not qualified to perform a job, then again it looks like they may be sending the ‘right’ people to Iraq.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:29 amapplicants who applied for reconstruction jobs “didn’t need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:50 amBut they did need to be experts in kissing Neocon derriere!
I was wondering about sectarian violence in India and how it squares with that in Iraq. For as long as India has been a State there has been sectarian violence, mostly muslim-vs-hindu but there have been all other religious/ethnic combinations. I mean if Iraq is descending into a civil war due to sectarian violence why is India not descending into a civil war?
September 18th, 2006 at 11:04 amChambliss said, “We need better intelligence. If we had better intelligence in the Civil War we’d be quoting Jefferson Davis, not Lincoln.â€
If the South had better intelligence before the Civil War they wouldn’t have seceded and chosen war. Never the intelligent decision.
September 18th, 2006 at 11:22 amRRS
September 18th, 2006 at 11:27 amOK, if India does have the sectarian violence level you describe, then they have a civil war also. The difference is the U.S. does not have the same massive military operation in India as in Iraq. So, what’s your point?
RRS,
For sectarian violence in India to compare to that in Iraq, 5000 deaths would have to occur each and every day, after adjusting for population. There also would be no functioning government. Talk about a failed analogy!
Pathetic.
September 18th, 2006 at 11:35 amPredictions For November Election?
18th of September 2006
by Jay Randal
The key factor in predicting the outcome of November election: How much GOP vote fraud/cheating occurs?
Since the 2000, 2002, and 2004 elections had evidence of GOP vote fraud and cheating, this election outcome is in question hence Republicans might cheat to win?!
If the Senate races are 100% honest, then Democrats probably can pick up 4 to 6 seats, but I doubt Repubs will allow that to happen, so expect about 3 seats max!
If the House races are 100% honest, then Democrats probably can pick up 15 to 25 seats, but I doubt GOP will allow that to happen, so expect pick up of 12 max!
Democrats by NOT challenging the GOP vote stealing, in past elections, have basically allowed Republicans to get away with murder of our American democracy!
The criminal Bush Regime is destroying freedom and liberty in the U.S., while conquering/occupying other nations and subjugating their populations to tyranny, so why are Dems in Congress afraid to fight Dubya?
( Jay Randal, political activist and writer in Stone Mountain, Georgia.)
September 18th, 2006 at 11:49 am#19 I agree the only better intelligence they needed was the intelligence not to rebel. However they lacked that simple notion. Chambliss is a fool who does not even know the rebellious history he pretends to have intimate knowledge of. The war was lost for the south the day they declared independence. It was a simple matter of numbers. The United States had way too much of an advantage with their industrial base, their population base, their agricultural base etc…
The article about the CPA in Iraq should have shocked no one who has been paying attention. We have known all along that every move this administration does is strictly based on politics. These people have been given jobs that are way beyond their abilities simply out of political loyalty to the president and to the wrong headed conservative cause. I am currently reading a book called “love and fate” It is a novelized version of life in the Soviet Union, written by a Russian writer and smuggled out of the country 20 years after his death, around the time of Stalingrad. In the book, there are so many references to connections to party members and party membership getting you jobs over qualified people, and how it is wrong to speak out against Stalin in a time of national crisis etc… that I think you could re-write the book and add in contemporary names without changing any of the content, and it would read like a non-fiction account of the US today. How many years will it take us to reverse the damage that these people have done to the country?
September 18th, 2006 at 12:25 pmI have high-speed, yet still have to wait over 5 minutes to see anything. harumph. :)
Comment by trueblue — September 18, 2006 @ 10:05 am
and you are a new MAC user, right? congratulations!
September 18th, 2006 at 1:07 pmis your high speed connection DSL or cable?
my 3yr old imac has been seeming to slow down radically at times, talked with my provider and apple, who sent me emails with troubleshooting information (thinking the problem was safari)…
this morning my cable company was here (after another phone call, and the tech decided the signal was weak and erratic), and changed the wiring to a “bigger” coax cable…
it seems to have made a big difference…
however, i read one comment here that TP has improved it’s problems, so i’m not sure which fix solved the problem… will see…
Great Post’s Jay and Mark, I wish I had the answers to you’re question’s. sadly all this old woman has are guesse’s.
To you’re question Jay, I think it may be one of two things as to why the dem’s appear to be afraid of bush. First, most have been accustomed to their life style and don’t want to give up their own little power gig’s even in this time of republican dominance..Second, Fear, of the swift boat crap that has been done to others have caused them all to be spinless and maybe even their own indiscretion’s have crippled them. Not all but many….Sorry that was 3 thing’s.
In response to Mark’s question…..Sadly Mark, I think longer than I will live to see it…First there may be a revolution right here as the public is made aware of all the lies and corruption…The reich is so blinded and warped about this administration and relegion we may have a holy war right here before we are through……These whackos are using (their interpretation) of a book written from fairy tales handed down 2000+ plus years ago and with out fact’s following a evil dictator who has claimed to talk to god. This is ofcoures not true for as we have seen bush only talk’s to a tiny circle of war mongers not even world leader’s much less his war god….Blessings
September 18th, 2006 at 1:28 pmkaty
September 18th, 2006 at 1:32 pmI posted twice in another thread several minutes ago and neither has shown up – so, maybe the problem gets worse as the number of posts increases. Just for the record, I am hitting the Post button at exactly 1:33 pm EST. Let’s see how long it takes to show up.
They should have asked the same questions of soldiers before sending them to Iraq, so that only the ones who supported Bush would fight and die for his “noble cause”. Makes sense to me.
September 18th, 2006 at 1:53 pmBUSHCO: ONLY NON-EXPERIENCED SYCOPHANTS NEED APPLY
September 18th, 2006 at 1:57 pmThat so much has gone wrong under Bush is actually to be expected.
The Bush administration leadership team lives in a bubble talking to and believing only themselves.
They appoint deputies based on ideological and sycophantic moral and intellectual capabilities only.
Just think. When Bush had the opportunity to appoint a new Supreme Court Justice and possibly change the course and nature of American jurisprudence for decades, what did he do?
He nominated the middling intelligent, relatively inexperienced, generally unqualified Harriet Miers whose main qualification it would seem was to slavishly adore him.
Even Stephen Hawkings would be at a loss to explain the non-reality-based dimensions of the Bush et al universe. These nutters approach the world stage basing their pronouncements on what they desire to have as results while manning the Command Module with only umbilically linked inexperienced ideologues.
God help us; two more years.
EXORCISE YOUR RIGHT, VOTE !!
War profiteering by the criminal Bushite junta FINALLY comes to the attention of the people…
…the fact that Bushite “loyalists” were given the reconstruction contracts in Iraq (and New Orleans)…
…should have us all up in arms…
…Saxby Chamblis’ treasonous remarks about the “South could’ve won with better intelligence,”
…shows that Confederate traitors are alive and well, and need to be dealt with…
…the people can sleep for only so long…
September 18th, 2006 at 2:10 pmDoes this mean that the Bushites are engaging in war/disaster profiteering?
Do Saxby Chamblis’ comments about, “the South could’ve won with better intelligence”…
…show that Confederate traitors are still amongst us?
…Do these things together mean that REAL American PATRIOTS need to band together…
…take to the streets and rid our country of our traitors in the White House, Senate, and elsewhere?
…people can only sleep for so long!
September 18th, 2006 at 2:18 pmCheck a ton of daily stats available at Metrics 2.0 on net, tech, business, finance and ecocnomy.
September 18th, 2006 at 2:22 pmHello to all the people on this website:
May I impose upon you just a bit?
I’ve posted a diary on Street Prophets that comments on the Pope’s recent speech at Regensberg. I have never, ever tried to drum up traffic for one of my diaries before. But the fact of the matter is, I am profoundly saddened by this controversy, and I honestly think I have a perspective that lends some insight (and dignity!) to the discussion. The diary can be found at Violence, Truth, and the Perfection of Allah — Pope Benedict’s Dilemma.
If you would, might you take a look? And if you think it adds something of benefit to the discussion, please either link to it, or post it elsewhere, as you think fit.
Peace be with you all.
September 18th, 2006 at 2:27 pmagnusdei
Just for the record, I am hitting the Post button at exactly 1:33 pm EST. Let’s see how long it takes to show up.
Comment by PatrioticLiberalChristian(PLC) — September 18, 2006 @ 1:32 pm
damn! blew that argument! :-]
one of those very agrivating things like when you take your car to the shop complaining about a noise that won’t happen at that time…
but i know what you mean… my comments are taking a while to post also, but the between pages and links speed has improved for me…
1:56…
September 18th, 2006 at 2:55 pmoops… eastern = 2:56…
September 18th, 2006 at 2:56 pmThis must just send progs into a tizzy – on the one hand, progs want the US to get out of muslim nations and muslim civil wars in the middle east, yet they see what inaction does in African nations like Somalia, Sudan and Chad, where 100,000’s are dying in muslim purges.
I still predict, that AIDS and ethnic cleansing by muslims will eliminate all the tribal cultures in Africa, while China and India make a play to shore up a couple resource-rich nations on the continent.
September 18th, 2006 at 3:05 pmKaty and all, I to am still having problem’s..My old iMac run’s poorly on this site only. I have dial up and now believe it is this site, not my computer that is the problem. It started 5 or 6 week’s ago…Today is day 2 of being able to get on the site with out struggeling for 3 hour’s in the A.M. pacific time….As the day has progressed it is taking longer for the post’s to show up after I post them…..My guess they have filters or something else that is causing the problem with TP….Gonna leave and check in later today to see how it is going. Blessings…12:07 my time
September 18th, 2006 at 3:07 pmThe stockpile is just North of New York and the security may not be that great.
September 18th, 2006 at 3:08 pmJay, don’t you guys usually wait until after the election and then claim fraud? Which 25 seats are the Dems projected to take? Where is that great swing in the Senate coming from? Where are you getting your numbers from?
September 18th, 2006 at 4:53 pmYo Retarded++,
how about these POLLS
RI-SEN Sept 18 Whitehouse (D) 51%, Chafee (R) 43%
OH-SEN Sept 18 Brown (D) 47%, DeWine (R) 41%
MT-SEN Sept 18 Tester (D) 52%, Burns (R) 43%
MN-SEN Sept 17 Klobuchar (D) 56%, Kennedy (R) 32%
MI-SEN Sept 18 Stabenow (D) 54%, Bouchard (R) 41%
September 18th, 2006 at 6:57 pmBusiness Finance
I enjoyed reading your blog. What a great thing it is to be able to share information like this on the Internet.
April 9th, 2008 at 1:33 pm