Senior Pentagon Officials were so eager to find a link between Saddam
and Bin Laden that they cooked the data.
The heroic (and victimized) Bush administration has revamped the
intelligence community so it won't happen again.
Now I can rest easy.
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Spin
According to the evening news:
Shedding a tear for Ima Freak
If I ever knew it, I'd forgotten that John Michael Talbot was in Mason
Profitt. I was looking up the lyrics to "Two Hangmen" and found a link
to his homepage. I read with much interest his disillusionment with
"hippies" and rock music.
Profitt. I was looking up the lyrics to "Two Hangmen" and found a link
to his homepage. I read with much interest his disillusionment with
"hippies" and rock music.
It was kind of a standard position at the time. I went to Bethesda
Christian Center in Wenatchee WA in the late 70s - John Michaels music
was very popular there, as was Terry Talbot's. I think recall Terry
Talbot playing there, and Bethesda putting on a full press to get him
to relocate there.
Before they collapsed in a Jim Bakker-like scandal, their radio
station broadcast Ronald Reagan's homilies daily. What poisonous
associations exist for John Micheal Talbot in my mind!
Now here we are a good many years on... you know, the hippies are long
gone, either dead or driving SUVs. We've had a third of a century of
US presidents who claim a born again relationship with the Lord. The
current president makes the most extravagant claims of daily dialogue
with God - apparently he's giving God orders, who is compliantly
standing down while Bush is rewriting the scriptures, just as congress
is accepting his rewriting of the constitution.
Bethesda's specialty was recruiting long-haired and barefoot hippies
through their coffee shop, and getting them into 3-piece suits. From
the let it be 70s to the go-go-greed is good 80s, the feelin my pain
90s to the Thanatos worshiping 00s, I've seen a whole lot of whupass
come done in the name of Christ, and I'll tell you what, the hippies
only look better and better as there recede in history's rear view
mirror.
Anyway, if you get a chance, you might pass the word onto John Michael
- his concerns are a little bit out of date. He might want to update
his resume, there's a whole new job to be done, and it makes the last
one look like light duty.
Then They Came for Me
Ran across this on the web by chance. Petty good.
Then They Came for Me
by Stephen F. Rohde, Esq.
First they came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a Muslim.
Then they came to detain immigrants indefinitely solely upon the
certification of the Attorney General, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't an immigrant.
Then they came to eavesdrop on suspects consulting with their
attorneys, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a suspect.
Then they came to prosecute non-citizens before secret military
commissions, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a non-citizen.
Then they came to enter homes and offices for unannounced "sneak
and peek" searches, and I didn't speak up because I had nothing to
hide.
Then they came to reinstate Cointelpro and resume the infiltration
and surveillance of domestic religious and political groups, and I
didn't speak up because I had stopped participating in any groups.
Then they came for anyone who objected to government policy because
it aided the terrorists and gave ammunition to America's enemies, and
I didn't speak up because...... I didn't speak up.
Then they came for me....... and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Stephen Rohde, a constitutional lawyer and President of the ACLU of
Southern California, is indebted to the inspiration of Rev. Martin
Niemoller (1937).
on another front...
have you ever seen "Bad Touched By An Angel?" On several occasions
I've seen the last two or three minutes while I'm waiting for Matlock
to come on. I always think that I can handle it, and I always end up
regretting it. It goes far beyond the garden variety abuse of shows
like, say, "Little House On The Prairie."
I've seen the last two or three minutes while I'm waiting for Matlock
to come on. I always think that I can handle it, and I always end up
regretting it. It goes far beyond the garden variety abuse of shows
like, say, "Little House On The Prairie."
The molestation it visits on the viewer is Satanic in it's intensity.
It is up there with, yes, Dr. Phil himself.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Re: eSkeptic: Creationism in Our National Parks
please, ask people to write to their congresspeople and ask them to stop the madman in the whitehouse.
if we don't prevent war on Iran, there may not be any of us to argue how things got here. we can argue about that later.
please.
if we don't prevent war on Iran, there may not be any of us to argue how things got here. we can argue about that later.
please.
On 1/10/07, Michael Shermer <skepticssociety@skeptic.com> wrote:
eSkeptic: the email newsletter of the Skeptics Society
Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 | ISSN 1556-5696trouble reading this, or want to forward this to a friend?
view this with proper formatting at its permanent url:
www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-01-10.html
In this week's eSkeptic, geologist and paleontologist Dr. Donald Prothero discusses the latest creationist challenge to science in the form banning park rangers at the Grand Canyon from telling people how old it is!
Dr. Donald R. Prothero is Professor of Geology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and Lecturer in Geobiology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He is currently the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of 21 books and almost 200 scientific papers, including five leading geology textbooks and three trade books. He is on the editorial board of Skeptic magazine, and in the past has served as an associate or technical editor for Geology, Paleobiology and Journal of Paleontology. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Paleontological Society, and the Linnaean Society of London, and has also received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Science Foundation. He has also been featured on several television documentaries, including episodes of Paleoworld and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts.
![The Grand Canyon (photograph by Dave Dyet)]()
The Grand Canyon (photograph by Dave Dyet)
Creationism in Our National Parks
by Donald Prothero
If you thought that censoring talk about global warming and suppressing the free speech of government scientists was bad enough, last December the government reached a new low. According to documents released on Dec. 28, 2006 by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Bush administration appointees will not allow rangers at Grand Canyon National Park to mention that the earth is more than a few thousand years old. "In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology," said PEER Director Jeff Ruch. "It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is 'no comment.'" I have been unable to confirm this report in my own enquiries among rangers and on the NPS website, but perhaps the order is still being considered at the NPS and has not yet been forced on the rangers.
This is just the latest step in a creeping introduction of religious fundamentalism to our National Parks. Under the "faith-based" initiatives of the Bush Administration, the National Park Service (NPS) is now creating "faith-based" parks by placing crosses in numerous places, and Biblical verses on the plaques overlooking the Grand Canyon. These plaques were reinstated by Bush appointees after the NPS director had them removed on advice of lawyers in the Department of the Interior. In August 2003, the creationist book Grand Canyon: A Different View, by Tom Vail, was introduced to the Grand Canyon bookstore. It promotes the absurd idea of young-earth creationists that every layer in the Grand Canyon (PLUS its subsequent carving) can be explained by Noah's flood. There were national protests from geologists, all the relevant scientific organizations, and NPS personnel (including the entire NPS geologic staff), and Park Service Superintendent Joe Alston blocked its sale. But Bush appointees at the NPS headquarters intervened and overruled Alston. NPS Chief of Communications David Barna then told Congress and reporters that there would be a review of the issue, but no such review was even requested, even after 3 years — and the creationist book is still on sale in the Grand Canyon! And it is clear that the Bush appointees in the NPS are pandering to the religious right. According to an NPS spokesperson Elaine Sevy, speaking to a Baptist news agency, "Now that the book has become quite popular, we don't want to remove it."
The political bias of the process is even more starkly revealed by the way in which the NPS policy approves books for sale in its parks. The policy clearly states that the books are supposed to reflect only the highest quality of science and support approved interpretive themes. According to records, Grand Canyon officials rejected 22 other books for placement on the shelves in 2003, and approved only one — the creationist book. In 2005, the NPS approved Director's Order #6, section 8.4.2, which states that "history of the Earth must be based on the best scientific evidence available, as found in scholarly sources that have stood the test of scientific peer review and criticism [and] Interpretive and educational programs must refrain from appearing to endorse religious beliefs explaining natural processes."
This raises even larger, more troubling issues. It's already bad enough that only a minority of Americans have even a limited understanding of evolution, and a majority still believe the creation story is literally true. It's worse that creationists have effectively destroyed the teaching of evolution in science classes around the country by pressure on school boards and textbook publishers, even though the courts have ruled against them every time. Now their attack is focused on geology and the age of the earth, making one of our most essential sciences highly vulnerable. If creationists managed to put their bizarre notions of geology into place, do you think that we would have another new oil discovery, or find any more precious minerals or groundwater? Not likely! Their first attack is naturally in a place like Grand Canyon, which is so popular and so clearly shows the immense span of earth's history, but who's to say where they'll strike next? Many of the national parks, such as Petrified Forest and Dinosaur and Badlands and John Day Fossil Beds, also display an impressive record of fossils changing through time in way that cannot be explained by the Bible. According to PEER Director Ruch, "As one park geologist said, this is equivalent of Yellowstone National Park selling a book entitled Geysers of Old Faithful: Nostrils of Satan."
For further details…
- www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=801
- www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,783829,00.html
- www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=428
Take action on the issue
For those of you who wish to take action on this issue, we recommend contacting:
Ms. Mary Bomar, Director
National Park Service
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
202-208-3818
Mary_Bomar@nps.gov US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
354 Dirksen Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-4971 (phone)
202-224-6163 (fax) US Senate Subcommittee on National Parks
(a subcommittee of the above)
354 Dirksen Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-4103 (phone)
202-224-4340 (fax)Express your concern to a committee member and request that hearings be held to discuss this unconstitutional practice. Contact your local representative using the following list of Democratic members of the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
![The Amazing Meeting 5]()
final reminder:
James Randi's Amazing Meeting 5January 18–21, 2007
The Riviera Hotel
Las Vegas, NevadaTickets are still available! Online registration for the Amazing Meeting 5 closes on the January 14th. Also, tickets will be sold at the door of the event.
READ more about the event and REGISTER
Recordings of past Amazing Meeting conferences are available to order from www.randi.org . For those of you attending this year's Amazing Meeting, come by and visit us at the Skeptics Society table. See you next week!
SUBSCRIBE to Skeptic magazine and
become a member of the Skeptics SocietyeSkeptic is the free, electronic companion to Skeptic magazine, published weekly by the Skeptics Society. | Subscribe to eSkeptic by sending an email to join-skeptics@wood.lyris.net. Browse, search, and read the eSkeptic archives online. Discover skepticism, explore events, enjoy articles, listen to podcasts, order books, cds and dvds all at www.skeptic.com. | Contents are Copyright © 2007 the Skeptics Society and the authors and artists. Permission is granted to print, distribute, and post with proper citation and acknowledgment. Contact us at skepticssociety@skeptic.com. | eSkeptic is coded by Rocketday Arts to W3C compliant XHTML 1.1, adhering to guidelines set forth by the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative and US Section 508.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Britney Spears panties! Shirts on, shirts off!
It's pretty obvious that the Bush Crime Family is about the worst the
country has to offer... but like turds in a toilet bowl they rise to
the top.
country has to offer... but like turds in a toilet bowl they rise to
the top.
Very very depressing.
Bush's uncle tangled in options probe: SEC
Wed Feb 7, 2007 5:30pm ET14
By Tim McLaughlin
NEW YORK (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's uncle, William H.T.
"Bucky" Bush, was part of a group of outside directors at a defense
contractor who realized about $6 million in unauthorized pay from an
options backdating scheme, according to U.S. securities investigators.
Bush and other non-employee directors who served on the board of
Engineered Support Systems Inc., now owned by DRS Technologies Inc.,
are not accused of any wrongdoing in a civil complaint filed on
Tuesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC complaint, however, says the non-employee directors benefited
from stock options not approved by shareholders.
Reuters Pictures
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Editors Choice: Best pictures
from the last 24 hours.
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"As a result, the company provided significant additional compensation
to its outside directors beyond what shareholders had approved," the
SEC complaint said. "These same directors later realized approximately
$6 million from the exercise of their addtional stock options."
The complaint did not break out how much Bush and the other outside
directors received from a total of 132,000 shares of unauthorized
shares.
Bush, whose brother is former President George H.W. Bush, was
unavailable for comment. He served on St. Louis-based ESSI's board
from 2000 until the St. Louis defense contractor was acquired last
year for nearly $2 billion by DRS, which sells engineering services to
the U.S. military.
Bush served on ESSI's audit committee and received $2,500 a month in
consulting fees, an arrangement that later was ended for him and other
outside directors. Bush also received a fixed amount of ESSI shares
each year for his work on the board.
Before the DRS deal was approved in January 2006, Bush held ESSI
shares worth $3.8 million, SEC filings show.
Between 1995 and early 2005, ESSI's stock climbed nearly 900 percent
as the company sold cargo loaders, generators and trailers to the
Pentagon. ESSI's board was politically connected and included several
retired generals.
The SEC on Tuesday accused ESSI's former chief financial officer, Gary
C. Gerhardt, and former controller, Steven J. Landmann, of
orchestrating a backdating scheme that spanned six years. In all,
executives and directors netted $20 million in unauthorized pay,
according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
Outside directors received backdated options issued in 1996, 1998,
1999 and 2001, the SEC complaint alleges.
Reuters Pictures
Photo
Editors Choice: Best pictures
from the last 24 hours.
View Slideshow
Landmann has agreed to give back about $519,000 in option-related
compensation while paying $367,585 in penalties and interest. He did
not admit or deny the SEC allegations, and will be permanently barred
from serving as an officer of publicly-traded company.
Records unsealed in federal court in St. Louis late last year show
that the SEC is investigating Michael F. Shanahan Sr., who co-founded
ESSI; his son, who served on the board's compensation committee; and
Shanahan Sr.'s son-in-law, David Mattern, who was general counsel.
The SEC wants the Shanahans and Mattern to produce e-mails, meeting
notes, telephone logs and board meeting minutes related to the pricing
of Engineered Support stock options, court papers show.
The SEC's complaint against Gerhardt said nearly half of the
unauthorized and undisclosed gains from options backdating, or about
$8.6 million, went to Shanahan Sr. He has not been charged by the SEC.
Court records also show there is an ongoing criminal investigation
that mirrors, in part, the SEC's probe.
(c) Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
You Tube Celebrities Vs. Real Life Celebrities
I wonder if Hollywood is concerned that the "celebrities" on YouTube
are more attractive, talented, smarter, nicer, and more normal than
their dynastic Tinseltown counterparts. A case in point - Venetian
Princess vs. supposedly the most beautiful woman in the world (a
comparison advanced in a YouTube video). It's a comparison that would
embarrass the hell out of People and Us magazine, if they were capable
of embarrassment.
are more attractive, talented, smarter, nicer, and more normal than
their dynastic Tinseltown counterparts. A case in point - Venetian
Princess vs. supposedly the most beautiful woman in the world (a
comparison advanced in a YouTube video). It's a comparison that would
embarrass the hell out of People and Us magazine, if they were capable
of embarrassment.
Think of all the current crop of rather ordinary children of show
business families - Angelina Jolie, Cate Hudson, Drew Barrymore.... I
wonder if these people could even make a living on the dinner theater
circuit if they had to.
No, I don't suppose Hollywood is too worried. It's not a very
sentimental place - they'd turn out these overpaid, undertalented
trollops in a heartbeat to make room for a new batch of talent. Get
the newcomers strung out and coked up, and pretty soon they are as
unattractive and nasty as the old guard. That's probably where some
of the YouTube "celebrities" will end up - like Diana Ross, or even
John Belushi.
It's fun to watch them now, young, very talented, controlling their
own material, doing fresh and fun stuff. So sad that it can't last...
Not a DMCA complaint - please read and forward to your management
Dear YouTube:
Is that all you guys care about - copyright issues?
Do you think that's why everybody is gunning for MySpace - because of
copyright issues?
MySpace is becoming synonymous with online preditors. If you guy's
don't do something, YouTube will become synonymous with racist hate
mongers.
For example, these two revolting creeps posted this on HappySlips new Vlog:
fmhdkc (2 hours ago)
asians have tight pussys
hardpenis10 (2 hours ago)
Would love to have my god damn cock deep in this sluts asshole, then
watch my cum drip out of her open hole!
I can't watch a single video without seeing this sort of comment. The
best talent are going to start looking elsewhere if all they are going
to get is abuse for their creative work, in this Lord of the Flies
atmosphere you allow.
And why do you make it so hard to contact you? You need to drop that
barrier. there needs to be a way to remove objectionable material and
objectionable users, and contact you right away.
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