Report a Crime, Go to Prison

Imagine this: you call the police to report a robbery-in-progress. Police arrive in time, the robbery is prevented, and the police arrest YOU. And then they let the robbers go.

If you think that’s too far-fetched, check this out.

The infamous Diebold Company was using illegal, uncertified software in their California voting machines. There were documents proving that Diebold’s lawyers had informed them that they were violating the law.

These documents were discovered by a temporary employee, Stephen Heller, of Diebold’s attorney’s office. Heller made the documents public. And now the Los Angeles District Attorney is going after this whistleblower with three felony charges.

No charges have been filed against Diebold for trying to derail our government.

Please contact the L.A. District Attorney’s office and ask them not to prosecute Stephen Heller. He’s a whistleblower and should not be prosecuted. Diebold is attempting to hijack our democracy. The whistleblower who exposed their crimes is a hero, not a criminal.

The L.A. District Attorney’s e-mail address is: lada@co.la.ca.us.

Their mailing address is:

District Attorney's Office
County of Los Angeles
210 West Temple Street, Suite 18000
Los Angeles, CA 90012-3210

Phone: 213-974-3512
Fax: 213-974-1484

And thanks to Backsplash for posting about this.

When Bush Dies

This joke has been making the rounds:

George W. Bush has a heart attack and dies. Obviously, he goes to Hell where the Devil is waiting for him. “I’m not sure what to do,” says the Devil. “You’re on my list but I have no room for you. As you definitely have to stay here I’m going to have to let someone else go. I’ve got three folks here who weren’t quite as bad as you. I’ll let one of them go, but you have to take their place. I’ll even let you decide who leaves.”

George thought that sounded pretty good, so he agreed. The Devil opened the first room. In it was Richard Nixon and a large pool of water. He kept diving in and climbing out, over and over. Such was his fate in Hell. “No!” George said. “I don’t think so. I’m not a good swimmer and don’t think I could do that all day long.”

The Devil led him to the next room. In it was Tony Blair with a sledge hammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing the hammer, time after time. “No! I’ve got this problem with my shoulder. I would be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day” commented George.

The Devil opened a third door. In it, George saw Bill Clinton lying on the floor with his arms staked over his head, and his legs staked in a spread-eagle pose. Bent over him was Monica Lewinsky, doing what she does best. George Bush looked at this in disbelief for a while and finally said, “Yeah, I can handle this.” The Devil smiled and said, “Ok, Monica, you’re free to go!”

Thanks to Rants From The Plains, where I first saw this. The joke originated here.

Censure! Impeach!

Congressman John Conyers has introduced three pieces of legislation. The purpose is to censure Bush and Cheney, and also to create a fact-finding committee.

An illegal war based on phony “intelligence” reports has killed tens of thousands of people and drained trillions out of our treasury. There’s been a massive domestic spying effort unequaled since Nixon’s presidency, and we know what happened to him. National security has been jeopardized; a CIA agent’s life was endangered.

Yup, a few things need to be cleared up. This committee could recommend impeachment if enough incriminating evidence is discovered.

And if his impeachment leads to a conviction, Bush will be removed from the White House. Some of his puppet masters might also be convicted and removed.

Some of the ringleaders could even be jailed for war crimes. Is this a great country or what?!?

::pause:: ::focus:: ::calm down:: OK, it’s gonna be an uphill battle. But this is a beginning. Like the ancient Chinese saying goes, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

So far Conyers has 27 sponsors for this bill. Please click here to ask your Congressional Representative to sponsor Conyers’ bill. We’ve waited long enough. The cancer is spreading. We need to operate. Please act now. And thanks to Open Your Mind’s Eye for posting about this earlier.

Now, there’s a chance that our Republican Congress won’t have the spine or the integrity to impeach a corrupt rotting festering president. Thank God there’s a backup plan. This article provides a letter and zillions of e-mail addresses of state legislators and their staff members. Yes, impeachment CAN be initiated at the state level. Thanks to The Bulldog Manifesto for providing this invaluable information.

Please act on both of these proposals. Your country needs you.

Coddling Criminals

Don’t you just hate it when some guilty lowlife bastard tries to go free on a technicality? A person commits a serious crime and then pores over the law books with a magnifying glass, looking for a way to squirm out of the consequences.

I don’t usually agree with Conservatives, but when it comes to punishing criminals (real criminals), justice needs to be done. I don’t believe in any laws against victimless “crimes,” but when there’s a victim, there’s a price to be paid.

Here’s the latest example of a slippery little pukebag trying to manipulate our legal system. This son of a bitch jeopardized our national security and put someone’s life in danger. Hey Scumbag, you’re gonna love prison. Bitch! In the words of Jack Nicholson in Anger Management, “you’ll be passed around from cell to cell like a peace pipe.”

This traitor doesn’t even seem to be denying anything. He’s pretty much just saying “I did it on a Thursday and it was raining and I was wearing a blue shirt. Neener neener neener.”

I sure hope some bleeding-heart soft-headed judge doesn’t dismiss the charges against this pervert. Conservatives must be just furious about this whole thing.

Neocons Murder 2200 American Soldiers, Then Say “OOPS! Nevermind!”

The War on Terror is getting so convoluted, you can’t tell the players without a program. Bush’s foreign policy should be titled “Who’s On First.”

We’re about to invade Iran because they have nuclear technology, and it turns out Halliburton has been helping Iran develop their nuclear technology. Is Halliburton aiding and abetting the enemy? Do they hate America?

Bush feels so strongly about selling our port security to a Middle Eastern company that he’ll veto any law that prevents it. Then we find out that this entire deal was made without Bush even knowing about it. But in any case he feels very strongly about it — er, I think that’s what he was told to say. Uh, Karl, hey, I didn’t fuck up again, did I?

And now, we’re getting a Big 180 from one of the world’s most influential neocons, Francis Fukuyama. He's one of the architects of our Iraqi invasion and a member of the infamous Project For a New American Century. He’s now changed his mind and decided “oh, the hell with it.”

He said the neocon doctrine has “evolved into something I can no longer support.” He said it’s “now in shambles” and that its failure has demonstrated “the danger of good intentions carried to extremes.” Hey Dickhead, ever read a history book?

Oh well, back to the drawing board. Hey, those weren’t real people getting killed over there in Iraq were they? I mean, this was kinda like a video game, or a chess match, or something, right?

Well, at least nobody important was killed over there. I mean, the Bluebloods and VIPs are all keeping their kids out of the military (eewww, that's for working-stiffs, lowlifes, not for decent people who count for something). So most of the people killed over there were like, just ordinary people, blue-collar types, you know.

Let’s see what sort of fun and games we can play next…

Bush: “I Strongly Believe This. (They Told Me To Say That)”

Two conflicting stories are coming out of the White House. We’ve all heard that Bush feels very strongly about entrusting our port security to a firm from the United Arab Emirates. He’s so adamant about this that he’ll veto any law that attempts to overturn it.

Gotta hand it to him — George W. Bush is a man of strong convictions. Right? Well…

This other story seems a little contradictory. Bush didn’t even know about the sale of our port security to the UAE until after the deal was completed. He was completely out of the loop.

Ready, all together now: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

These two stories, taken together, are the clearest illustration yet that Bush is NOT running things. OK, that isn’t exactly a news bulletin, a bolt out of the blue, but now it's more blatant than ever.

Who are Bush’s puppetmasters, and how many of them does he have? He’s an expert at staying “On Message,” but does he actually have any beliefs or convictions of his own? He’s facing the biggest backlash of his career. Who’s making him do this?

Keeping an Eye on Congress

Everyone agrees that this current U.S. Congress is the most pitiful, corrupt, sleazy collection of prostitutes ever assembled. (My apologies to the world’s oldest profession for comparing you to American legislators. No offense intended.)

It’s one thing to agree that there’s a problem — that’s the easy part. Now, what’s the solution? Strict campaign finance laws so that the wealthiest two percent doesn’t drown everyone else out? Requiring all media to provide free advertising to all candidates and political causes, thereby making jillion-dollar campaign contributions moot? (Some European countries do this.)

Or we could take a laissez-faire attitude and decide that the First Amendment allows two percent of the population to purchase politicians, and just let the chips fall where they may.

There are valid arguments for and against all of these ideas.

Here’s another one: Senator Barack Obama has introduced the Congressional Ethics Enforcement Commission Act of 2006. This would set up an independent watchdog commission to make sure our Public Servants are obeying ethics rules. Our “servants” are about as trustworthy as an alcoholic working in a liquor store; they need some oversight.

This may or may not be the perfect solution, but something needs to be done. Whenever there’s a video of cops beating up a suspect, there are calls for a civilian review board to oversee the police and handle complaints. Some cities actually have these review boards.

For five years now, our “Leaders” has been stomping and kicking the living shit out of our Constitution. They’re watching us; and they need to have somebody keeping an eye on them.

Tennessee and Kentucky are already doing this at the state level.

Please click here to ask your Congressperson and your Senators to sponsor this bill. We’re all sick and tired of our prostitutes legislators bending over for lobbyists and VIPs and ignoring the rest of us. Let’s give this bill a chance. This may be a small step toward taking back our government.

Chaos in the White House

Did you think the White House was out of control during the Katrina crisis? Some newly released e-mails show that no matter how chaotic and spastic you thought the government’s response was, it was worse. Much worse.

FEMA’s Michael Brown, tired of being 2005’s biggest punchline, released the e-mails in an effort to share the blame. And there’s plenty to go around.

On the night of August 29th, as New Orleans was getting swamped, the situation was being monitored by the assistant to the Homeland Security Advisor. Everyone higher up was on vacation and not to be bothered.

This assistant to the assistant went home that night thinking everything was under control. Wrong!!!! Most Americans knew how dire everything was — everyone except the person running things in the White House. Hey Assclown, you can get the latest news and weather from your TV, radio or computer. Look into it.

He learned the gory details at 6 a.m. the next morning.

And now — straight from the cover of Duuuhhh!!! Magazine — some senators are saying that FEMA should be completely revamped before the next hurricane season. Ya think?!?!?

That’s kind of like seeing a thick cloud of smoke pouring out from under the hood, hearing a loud clanging and scraping sound under the car, and thinking “I probably should get this checked before we start on that long motor trip.”

Halliburton and the Axis of Evil

When you hear “Iran” and “nuclear” in the same sentence, you probably imagine thousands of hysterical rioters and looters, a fire-breathing Mullah with his finger on The Button, and Halliburton?!?!?

While Dick Cheney and his little sockpuppet are whipping up hysteria about Iran having nuclear weapons, Halliburton — Cheney’s alma mater — has been working with Iran’s nuclear development team. They’ve sold centrifuges and detonators specifically for use in a nuclear reactor, according to Halliburton sources.

Cyrus Nasseri, a senior member of Iran’s nuclear team, has allegedly accepted $1 million in bribes from Halliburton while providing them with Iran’s nuclear secrets. Halliburton and the White House have both refused to comment on this.

Halliburton officially discontinued its work last Spring with Cyrus Nasseri, but has still been working with him in an “advisory capacity.”

The U.S. has laws prohibiting companies from doing business with “rogue, terrorist-sponsoring” countries — including Iran, Syria and Libya. Halliburton has a Cayman Island subsidiary which somehow wiggles out of these pesky restrictions.

Halliburton has been doing business in Iran since 1995. They’ve been in violation of U.S. sanctions at least since 2001, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Halliburton has been making about $40 million a year through its Iranian dealings. This is tiny compared to their multi-billion dollar contracts in Iraq.

Halliburton is probably the biggest and best-known violator of these U.S. sanctions. Conoco-Phillips and General Electric have also conducted massive operations in Iran and Syria.

There’s so much American business activity in these countries, that basically anyone with a retirement or investment portfolio probably has money invested in “rogue, terrorist-sponsoring” countries.

Is it just me, or are there a few contradictions here? Bush has said “we will make no distinction between the terrorists and the countries that harbor them,” and “money is the lifeblood of terrorist operations.”

Our civil liberties are going the way of the hula hoop. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are being shat on. And this is all being done in the name of “fighting terrorism.” “If __________________ then the terrorists have won.” Remember those wacky TV ads saying if you use illegal drugs you’re financing al Qaeda.

Fear of terrorism is the driving force behind everything from the Patriot Act to the Iraqi invasion. Terrorists are out there, lurking, just waiting to strike as soon as we let our guard down. And every time Bush starts slipping in the polls, or another White House scandal erupts — “Terror Alert!!”

And yet some of the largest American corporations are doing billions of dollars worth of business in the exact countries that are supposedly “sponsoring terrorism.” We’re spending ourselves into bankruptcy and wrecking our own quality of life just to fight The Terrorists, and Big Business is in bed with them.

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

America Needs a Slicker PR Campaign

America’s global image is suffering. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our “Coalition of the Willing” keeps getting smaller and smaller. New torture reports keep coming out of Gitmo and Abu Ghraib.

And at home, the public is getting more discouraged by our endless quagmire in Iraq.

You’re probably thinking of how we could fix these problems. What?? No, you dummy. That’s the old way.

Rumsfeld knows the answer: keep doing exactly what we’ve been doing, but hire a better PR team to improve our image. Rumsfeld says we need to win the “hearts and minds” of Muslims throughout the world. “Hearts and minds” is the phrase Lyndon Johnson used during the Vietnam war. Will these similarities ever stop?

Rumsfeld said Muslims are “bombarded with negative images of the West.” Jeez, show a few pictures of mutilated Arab corpses, and that damn liberal media just blows everything out of proportion.

He said “For the most part, the U.S. government still functions as a ‘five and dime’ store in an eBay world.” He said we need to use today’s weapons of war, including “e-mail, BlackBerries, instant messaging, digital cameras and blogs.”

Blogs. Ahah! And you thought all those rightwing bloggers were just regular citizens, sitting at home typing out their opinions. These zillions of pro-Bush bloggers are probably more like those orchestrated “public” meetings where thousands of guests would “spontaneously” start cheering and whoopin’ and hollerin’ for Bush.

Ted Kennedy noted that Rumsfield was missing the point. “Clearly, we need to improve our public diplomacy and information age communication in the Muslim world. But nothing has done more to encourage increased al-Qaida recruitment and made America less safe than the war in Iraq and the incompetent way it’s been managed. Our greatest failure is our policy.”

And here at home, a tax-exempt political group called Progress For America is spending $500,000 on a TV ad campaign to fire up enthusiasm for the Iraqi war. Now, I would’ve thought that $500,000 could be better spent on equipment and body armor for our troops — but what do I know?

The READ THE BILLS Act

All American citizens of every political persuasion should be in favor of the Read The Bills Act. This proposed law cuts across all party lines.

By the same token, most members of Congress are against this law and they’re afraid to touch it with a ten-foot pole. This too cuts across all party lines. No matter how populist or how folksy a lawmaker is — or how many soundbites he/she makes about “being here to serve you” — he/she will probably start squirming and twitching at the mention of the Read The Bills Act.

The Read The Bills Act has been written by Downsize DC. As the name indicates, Downsize DC is a non-partisan group working for a smaller federal government. And they’re not talking about the phony “limited government” that Republicans are always blubbering about while they fork over more billions for the War in Iraq, the War on Drugs, the War on Privacy…

The Read The Bills Act, if passed, will require every lawmaker to read the entire contents of a bill before voting yes or no on it. Period. Rinse and repeat — EVERY bill that comes before them must be fully read before they can vote on it.

You can see why every American will benefit if this law is passed. AND you can see what an uphill battle it’s gonna be. “Read The Bills?!?!? But I’m too busy spreading my legs for my high-paying johns meeting with VIPs and lobbyists. I don’t give a fuck about peons like you This is a nice idea but it’s just not practical.”

Yes it’s an uphill battle, but it CAN be done. Please click here to make your voice heard. Ask your two senators and your congressional representative to sponsor the Read The Bills Act. It's time for our legislators to remember whom they're working for: Us. We The People. Let's make them start earning their salaries.

Alaska’s Image Problem

Alaska is worried about its “image problem.” Sounds kind of like the “image problem" that Republicans sometimes wrestle with.

“Gee, the press keeps portraying us as the party of Big Business.” “For some odd reason, people perceive us as being narrow-minded and judgmental. How can we correct this image?”

Can you say CLUELESS?

With both of these “image problems,” the solution is not to hire an expensive PR firm (at taxpayers’ expense) to improve your image. Imagine Rush Limbaugh saying “everybody thinks I’m just some loudmouth bigot with an IQ of ten,” or Ted Kennedy saying “I seem to come across as this over-the-hill politician with a serious drinking problem.”

Now, this post is NOT slamming Alaska’s residents; just their politicians. Especially this pile of shit. In a Senate full of slithery lowlifes, Ted Stevens stands head and shoulders above the rest. This asshole would hump his mother on nationwide TV if it would clear the way for the oil companies to drill in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

Seriously — there was absolutely no lowlife stunt that Stevens didn’t pull for his Oil Masters. Attach an amendment to a bill to aid Katrina survivors? “Yes Master.” Attach another amendment to a bill providing funding and equipment for American soldiers in Iraq? “Yes Master.”

Hmmm…why does Alaska have an image problem?

And now this. Washington’s Senator Maria Cantwell is the main reason Stevens was unable to get approval for drilling in ANWR. And now Alaska wants to get even.

The Alaska state legislature wants to prevent Alaskan ferries from stopping at the Alaska Ferry terminal in Bellingham, WA. For seventeen years, Bellingham has been the Southernmost stop in the Alaska ferry system. Hey, let’s throw some Bellingham residents out of work; that'll teach those treehugging Democrats.

Hmmm…Alaska has an image problem. Let’s hire an expensive PR consultant…

Feeling Sorry for Dick Cheney

George W. Bush has a certain empathy for Cheney's little misfortune. After all, he can relate.

How to Make Lot$ of Money

What do you think is the best way to make lot$ and lot$ of money? The stock market? Real estate? Clawing your way up the corporate ladder? Building a better mousetrap?

::Smirk:: Come on, get with it. The most lucrative money-making scheme — by far — is to:

Bribe Congress.

Purchasing a Congressman (or several) is so far out in front of every other moneymaking scheme, it doesn’t even matter what’s in second place. There’s gold in them thar prostitutes legislators.

Here’s just one example: several years ago, a coalition of sixty corporations — including Pfizer and Hewlitt-Packard — spent $1.6 million in lobbying fees. This bribe lobbying effort was to “persuade” Congress to create a special low tax rate on their earnings from foreign operations.

Presto! These companies have (so far) saved $100 billion in taxes. Whew! Talk about a return on your investment — can anyone top that??

Of course this doesn’t help the Horatio Alger type who’s starting off on a shoestring, but hey, that’s sooo last century. This new economy is for people who already have money. If you have a few million to throw around, you’ll get a killer tax cut. And as you can see, the investment opportunities are endless.

A lobbying group — The Carmen Group Inc. — collected $11 million in fees in 2004. And the firm delivered $1.2 billion in assistance to its clients.

So there you have just two examples of this incredible investment opportunity. Go for it! And no sniveling from any bleeding heart socialists. This is the Land of Opportunity. IF you’re already rich.

Russian “Caste” System: Is This Where We’re Heading?

Russia is becoming more and more of a two-tiered society. There’s a small group of VIPs who have incredible luxury and power; everybody else is scraping and struggling just to get by. These are the conditions that led to the Bolshevik revolution nearly a century ago.

A recent incident has brought everything to a head. A car was rearended by a speeding Mercedes while the driver was slowing down for a turn. The rearended driver and his wife were injured; all three occupants of the out-of-control Mercedes were killed.

The Mercedes belonged to a high-ranking politician. Therefore the accident was the fault of the driver (not a VIP) who was rearended. He was sentenced to four years in a labor camp.

Now, America doesn’t YET have such a deep division between the Haves and Have-Nots, the elite and the masses; but there are red flags everywhere:

Billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, while vital services are being cut to the bone;

Millions of Americans have been incarcerated for victimless “crimes,” while corporate leeches who’ve stolen millions of dollars and wrecked thousands of lives get a slap on the wrist (if they’re even prosecuted at all);

The Bush Administration operates in total secrecy and unaccountability; for the rest of us, our entire lives and histories are an open book for government snoops.

Cheney’s little accident over the weekend is a perfect example. It took nearly 24 hours for this incident to be reported to the media. Bush (among others) was aware of the incident long before it was made public. And Scott McClellan got all blustery and defensive when reporters asked about it.

Could YOU get away with something like this? If you accidentally shot somebody, would a bunch of VIPs build a wall of secrecy to protect you and keep everything hush-hush?

Is this the direction we want for our country?

Dick Cheney on the Constitution: “I had Other Priorities”

What’s all that screeching and squealing? It’s starting to sound like that “make a noise like a pig” scene from Deliverance. Why, it’s Scooter Libby, and he’s squealing about his Mentor, Dick Cheney.

Squirming under pressure, Scooter Libby is expected to point the finger at Cheney. Libby will be claiming that Cheney instructed and encouraged him to “share” classified information with reporters. Some of this “shared” information was Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA agent.

Hmmm…would Dick Cheney really try to get even with Joseph Wilson (Valerie Plame’s husband) by leaking his wife’s identity?

This can’t possibly be surprising. If you’re wondering if Cheney could really be such a vengeful, ruthless little shit, let’s see what he thinks about Bush’s latest wiretapping scandal.

Cheney’s views on domestic spying include: “It’s good, solid, sound policy. It’s the right thing to do.”

He also said the President’s authority under the Constitution needs to be “unimpaired.” “Watergate and a lot of the things around Watergate and Vietnam … served to erode the authority I think the President needs to be effective, especially in the national security area.”

And now things seem to be closing in on our pathetic little would-be dictator. Senators from both parties have said Cheney should be investigated if he OK’ed the CIA leak. Poor little Dickie; the Constitution is such a pain in the ass.

And finally, our Vice President has a little riddle for you. What’s the difference between a covey of quail and a 78-year-old lawyer?

Laura Bush Disses the White House

Things aren’t too good for the White House when even the First Lady walks all over the president’s foreign policy. She zeroed right in on the gist, the essence, of her husband’s approach to every problem — and shot it full of holes.

Looks like Dubya might be sleeping on the couch until these two get this problem settled.

Laura said “If we resort to violence, it’s very, very difficult to have any sort of dialogue.”

Zing!!! George W. is reeling; he’s on the ropes.

"Resorting to violence"…hmmm…A “pre-emptive” war to search for Weapons of Mass Destruction capture Osama bin Laden establish democracy ------this space for rent------- has killed thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians.

And Dumbya is wondering “gee, nobody else in the world wants any dialogue with us. I don’t get it.” Ask your wife, Dumbfuck!

At least Laura is finally starting to — oh, wait…she was only referring to the Middle Eastern violence over those Danish cartoons. But surely she can see the larger picture. Hellloooo!!!! The irony is deafening.

Laura also lashed out at Hillary Clinton for calling the Bush administration “one of the worst” in history. ONE of the worst?!?!?!? Come on, who else even comes close? Compared to GWB, Richard Nixon was just a kindly old uncle who got a little stern once in awhile.

Wal-Mart Creeping and Oozing

If you think Wal-Mart is already ubiquitous, the fun hasn’t even started yet. Wal-Mart is planning to open more than 1,500 new stores in the United States during the next few years. There are now about 3,200 Wal-Marts in the U.S., so that’s almost a 50% increase.

We just can’t seem to get enough of this place.

There’s a culture clash that’s going to get more and more intense as Wal-Mart expands. Wal-Mart refuses to sell Emergency Contraception, aka the morning-after pill.

As a NARAL spokesperson said, “Wal-Mart's CEO should not decide what medicines women may or may not take...When a doctor prescribes emergency contraception for a woman, Wal-Mart does not have the right to overrule that decision.”

Since Wal-Mart has put so many smaller stores out of business, they’re often the only game in town. Urban customers can just take their business elsewhere; rural residents often don’t have that option.

One possible bright spot: Wal-Mart has told the media that they are giving this policy “a lot of thought.”

OK, that gives us a window. Please click here to sign this petition. Ask Wal-Mart to do the right thing and start offering emergency contraception. This is a medical emergency faced by thousands of women. The life you save could be your wife, your sister, your mother.

Bye Bye Internet

This is no joke. It’s been fun — logging onto the Internet and just surfing anywhere you want to go. And it’s been free of charge other than your monthly bill. But it may be over soon.

Remember how radio used to be? A huge variety of stations, each one with live DJs, and enough choices to suit everyone’s musical taste. And now of course radio has turned into an abortion. Two or three CEOs own most of the stations, they’re mostly automated and they all play the same twelve songs over and over and over, no matter what format name they use.

Your online surfing habits are heading in the same direction. The biggest media/telecom companies are trying to privatize the Internet. And with our current administration, the Robber Barons get what they want. Period.

From the time the Internet was first designed, it was based on cooperation and inclusiveness. It was an infrastructure with one purpose: to move data between users.

Now that the Internet has been fully developed, with billions of users, the sharks are circling. Telecom CEOs want to charge a toll or a premium for their services. Anyone who can’t pay will be relegated to the “slow lane” or shut out of the Internet all together. Bloggers, web services, independent media — buh bye! Get over there in the breakdown lane; get out of the way.

If these assholes could find a way, they’d privatize the air supply and make you pay for your oxygen.

If there was ever a bipartisan, non-political issue, this is it. If you’re a conservative blogger who thinks Big Business is our great savior, you won’t be able to go online and express this viewpoint. Or you’ll pay through the nose for the privilege. There are hundreds of online independent media sources, serving every imaginable viewpoint. They provide an alternative to the bland useless Mainstream "Media." Let's keep them.

If you want to continue surfing the Net the way you have been, ACT NOW. Click Here to send an e-mail to five of the largest telecom executives. Tell them what you think of their plan to charge you for every mouse click.

And thanks to the Rambling Taoist and the Martian Anthropologist, who have already posted about this.

Bush: “My Dog Ate The Evidence”

OOPS! Some White House e-mails from 2003 weren’t archived properly and now they can’t be found. Oh, gosh darn it all; somebody made a booboo. Oh well, accidents will happen.

By the strangest coincidence, some of these e-mails pertain to the CIA “Plamegate” leak investigation. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald requested all relevant e-mails, and by golly, some of them are “missing.” As Dana Carvey used to say, “how conveeeenient.”

As you probably remember (and Bush/Rove wants you to forget), Valerie Plame is the CIA agent who was outed by someone in the White House in order to get even with her husband, Joseph Wilson. Wilson publicly refuted Bush’s claim that Saddam Hussein had sought yellowcake uranium from Niger. Wilson needed to be punished by having his wife’s life jeopardized. He won’t disobey the Caliph again, now, will he?

Scooter Libby has already been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. But the question remains — how much further up the chain of command does this go? Bush? Cheney? Rove?

And speaking of “how conveeeenient,” Libby’s trial has now been postponed until January 2007 — two months after the 2006 midterm elections. Whew!! Somebody sure is smiling down on this corrupt sleaze-infested administration.

The trial was delayed because one of Libby’s lawyers had a “scheduling conflict.” Riiight. Hey, wanna buy a bridge? How about some oceanfront property in Nebraska? Special offer, just for YOU.

By November 2006, with Libby’s trial still two months away, rumors and speculation might be so hot and heavy that Rove and Co. will regret using their slippery delaying tactic. Sometimes sleazy methods can backfire.

Religious Fanatics: Can’t Tell the Players Without a Program

By now you’ve probably seen the international headlines. Religious lunatics are foaming at the mouth — spewing hatred and venom — just because of some harmless entertainment. Modern-day Caliphs are calling for boycotts and mass protests. Some of the wackiest extremists are even making death threats against “infidels.”

Oh, and now it seems some Moslem leaders are all bent out of shape over a comic strip in Denmark.

Maybe the Theory of Evolution is wrong after all. Seems we haven’t evolved much since the Spanish Inquisition.