Say…Anyone out there really give a fuck? Really……Well here’s one member of your government who does.

What do you care about? Your health? Your family? Your children? How about something that is affecting all those and in a decidedly negative way? Let’s watch the third ranking Democrat in the Senate the Senator from North Dakota Byron Dorgan talk about how your government is doing.

Let’s listen to him talk about the American worker:

The Employee Free Choice Act:

Notice how he points out that the fat corrupt toads who have historically, and continue to do so it would seem, sat in the chamber of ‘The Greatest Deliberative Body in the World….’ had zip to do with helping workers?

Here’s ‘The Money Pit Part I:’

Anyone really think some of that 18 Billion never left the States…or just made a quick round trip to to some selected Solons…18 Billion in cash….no accounting. No wonder Bush can wear $7,000.00 boots, eh? Maybe the continuous, unrestrained voting  for more unaudited, off the books spending is starting to seem a little…er, understandable?

Anyone really think some of that 18 Billion never left the States…or just made a quick round trip to to some selected Solons…18 Billion in cash….no accounting. No wonder Bush can wear $7,000.00 boots, eh?

Let’s wrap this up with the Senator speaking at length on slave labor Immigration.

If any of this got ya going here are some phone numbers:

Madame Speaker of the House the Honorable Nancy Pelosi: (202) 225-0100

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: 202-224-3542

And most importantly call Senator Dorgan here: (202) 224-2551 and thank him for his work. He surely deserves some praise.

Oh..yeah…I almost forgot…..This………………………..

I liked this in particular:

‘…administration and military officials say it’s not that easy to distribute the money. They contend that Iraq’s lack of spending isn’t due to laziness or corruption, but rather Baghdad’s inability to determine where its money is needed most and how to allocate it efficiently.’

In other words they’ve got so much money they can’t figure out what to spend it on first. Thanks Madame Speaker, thanks Harry, thanks especially to ‘The One’ who has voted for every ‘emergency appropriation…’ for Iraq. And they are all, every one ‘….emergency appropriations..’ and not included in the nation’s budget. Budget…hah, what a concept.

Hey! You are in good company. Malcolm…MLK…Bobby, Seale that is, all my heros from my Radical Youth….

Yep, wiretapped from thanks to the ‘SellOut’ Dems and don’t forget, as if

I or any other real progressive would let you, that Senator Barack Obama has

no problems with this.

Yep, it’s all good since he’s gonna be President next and we all know we can trust him.

Right?

Right?

All you followers of The Magic Man are gonna get to find out what it’s like to be on

the ‘eat shit and die’ end of the argument. Sites, which I will not name, which heretofore have been hot beds of Obama support are filled with angry commenters shrieking in rage. Talkin’ about, ‘Sellout…copout…Coward….’ and worst the very, very worst of all, ‘That asshole ain’t gettin’ a dime.’ not one.

Enough, time to get on with fighting for our and our children’s freedom. Obama will fix himself.Good riddance.

Jane, a progressive’s progressive, is responsible for the poster and the pushback agains Fascism

that goes with it. Check it out and take action it seems a good idea to you. I did and you can
right here…………….

Until various issues are sorted out I will not be creating content for the D/L site. I’m not doing this
to sell their ad space especially when it gobbled up our community blog links. Plus the mechanics of
blogging there now are like doing it with a broken leg.

I will make one more stab at it and see if we can’t get things straightened out. Don’t hold your breath.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm…..Now this is….Well, Barry do you and McSame want to explain this given your votes to fully fund…..

‘Lil’ George’s excellent adventure in Iraqi land?

We don’t know what we got.”

by tristero

Good morning! Are you sitting down?

In one case, according to documents displayed by Pentagon auditors at the hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, a cash payment of $320.8 million in Iraqi money was authorized on the basis of a single signature and the words “Iraqi Salary Payment” on an invoice. In another, $11.1 million of taxpayer money was paid to IAP, an American contractor, on the basis of a voucher with no indication of what was delivered…

The disclosure that $1.8 billion in Iraqi assets was mishandled comes on top of an earlier finding by an independent federal oversight agency, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, that United States occupation authorities early in the conflict could not account for the disbursement of $8.8 billion in Iraqi oil money and seized assets.

A billion here, a billion there…

And then check this out:

The mysterious payments, whose amounts had not been publicly disclosed, included $68.2 million to the United Kingdom, $45.3 million to Poland and $21.3 million to South Korea. Despite repeated requests, Pentagon auditors said they were unable to determine why the payments were made.

“It sounds like the coalition of the willing is the coalition of the paid — they’re willing to be paid,” said Mr. Waxman

And some more details:

In one instance, a United States Treasury check for $5,674,075.00 was written to pay a company called Al Kasid Specialized Vehicles Trading Company in Baghdad for items that a voucher does not even describe.

In another case, $6,268,320.07 went to the contractor Combat Support Associates with even less explanation. And a scrawl on another piece of paper says only that $8 million had been paid out as “Funds for the Benefit of the Iraqi People.”

But perhaps the masterpiece of elliptic paperwork is the document identified at the top as a “Public Voucher for Purchases and Services Other Than Personal.” It indicates that $320.8 million went for “Iraqi Salary Payment,” with no explanation of what the Iraqis were paid to do.

Whatever it was, the document suggests, each of those Iraqis was handsomely compensated. Under the “quantity” column is the number 1,000, presumably indicating the number of people who were to be paid — to the tune of $320,800 apiece — if the paperwork is to be trusted.

“…if the paperwork is to be trusted.” Now that’s funny. But the joke’s on us.

Tell ya what….
I ain’t laughing.

Flash Alert: Yoo Protest This May 17th….Will you be there?

This just in….

Friends & fellow-activists,

Come out Saturday to protest the impunity granted to war-criminal John Yoo
by the Boalt Law School at UC Berkeley!

The Law School graduation is this Saturday morning, 5/17, and we need your
help to pull together a rousing turnout from AAT and other participating
groups, including the National Lawyer’s Guild, Code Pink, and World Can’t
Wait. We’ve talked to Boalt students who said that most of the graduates
are supportive of the planned protest (despite the shrill blogging of a
few).

We’re going to make our voices heard outside the Boalt graduation ceremony
to lend numbers to the call issued by the National Lawer’s Guild and
endorsed by the Center for Constitutional Rights: “John Yoo should be
disbarred and he should not be retained as a professor of law at one of
the country’s premier law schools. John Yoo should be dismissed from Boalt
Hall and tried as a war criminal.” (See the NLG press release at
http://www.nlg.org/news/index.php?entry=entry080409-083133).

Will you join us on Saturday?

Where: Hearst Greek Theatre, Berkeley California (east side of campus, on
Galey Rd – see directions below)
When: Saturday May 17, 2008
8am (ticketed guests will all be inside by 9 — you can take
a nap in the afternoon!!!)
A reception at the law school, just around the corner
(southeast corner of the campus) will follow the graduation
ceremony.

A recap of our e-mail of 2.5 weeks ago follows; and at the bottom we’ve
included directions for getting to the graduation, at the Hearst Greek
Theatre on the east side of the Berkeley campus. Want to come but don’t
think you can get there via the transportation options described below?
Drop us an e-mail and we’ll do our best to help out.

To recap: You’ve probably followed this month’s revelation of the
contents of John Yoo’s legal brief of March 14, 2003, advising the White
House how it could get away with torture. Jameel Jaffer, director of the
ACLU’s national security project, said Yoo’s legal reasoning puts
“literally no limit at all to the kinds of interrogation methods that the
president can authorize. [...] The whole point of the memo is obviously to
nullify every possible legal restraint on the president’s wartime
authority. The memo was meant to allow torture, and that’s exactly what
it did.” In the wake of the memo’s release, the National Lawyer’s Guild
has called for Yoo’s dismissal from his position at UC Berkeley, his
disbarment, and his prosecution for war crimes. The Center for
Constitutional Rights has released a letter in support of this call.

The graduation ceremony starts at nine, but our protest will happen BEFORE
the ceremony, beginning at 8 am when the gates at the Greek Theatre open
to guests (only folks with tickets will be allowed inside, but we’ll have
plenty of opportunity to make our point as students, faculty, and families
arrive through the two entrances to the Greek Theatre). During the
ceremony we’ll take a coffee break, and will return to line the route
between the Greek Theatre and the Boalt Law School where a reception will
be held.

We plan to have the usual orange jump suits & our cage, lots of orange
ribbons that we’ll ask people to wear inside the graduation, and excellent
signs for the many of you we expect will come out for this action.

Please join us on Saturday!!

Yours,

Act Against Torture
http://www.ActAgainstTorture.org

===================================
Directions to the Greek Theater
===================================

Direction to the Berkeley Greek Theatre FROM INTERSTATE 80:
===================================
* Exit on University Avenue.
* Continue east approximately 1.5 miles to Oxford Street.
* Turn left on Oxford Street.
* Turn right on Hearst.
* Continue east past Euclid Avenue.
* Parking lots will be on the corner of Hearst and Gayley Road, and past
Gayley above the Greek Theatre on the right hand side of the street.

Direction to the Berkeley Greek Theatre FROM HWY 24 WESTBOUND:
===================================
* Exit on Telegraph Avenue
* Continue north on Telegraph approximately 2 miles to Durant Street.
* Turn right on Durant, and turn left on Piedmont Avenue.
* Continue north, and Piedmont will turn into Gayley Road.
* The Greek Theatre will be on your right.
* Continue past the Greek Theatre to Hearst.
* Parking lots will be at the corner of Hearst and Gayley, and also right
on Hearst, above the Greek Theatre on right hand side of the street.

Parking at the Berkeley Greek Theatre:
===================================
* Parking is available at U.C. controlled lots. Unattended lots are
available at varying fees. Upper and lower Hearst lots are also available.
* Disabled Berkeley Greek Theatre parking is available in the lots nearest
to the Greek Theatre.
* Use Parking Machines in unattended ‘S’ Lots throughout campus

In general, during commencements at UC Berkeley, lots that typically allow
‘S’ (Student) Permits will be open to the public for a $10 fee. Drivers
must purchase a $10 dispenser machine ticket (DMT) from the parking
machine in the lot and display it on their dashboard. The $10 dispensing
machine ticket is ONLY valid in “S” permit areas. Please read parking
signs carefully.

Berkeley Greek Theatre Public Transportation:
===================================
BART directions:

* From the RICHMOND LINE -
* Exit at the BERKELEY STATION (Shattuck and Center Streets).
* Walk 1 block east on Center Street to the campus, then consult the
campus map at the West Entrance and walk east across campus to the Greek
Theatre (approximately a 20 minute walk) located on Gayley Rd.

From the CONCORD LINE -
* Exit at ROCKRIDGE station and take a #51 AC Transit bus north on College
Avenue to the campus and exit at Bancroft Way and College Ave.
* Walk east on Bancroft to Piedmont Avenue/Gayley Road. Walk north on
Gayley Road and the Greek Theatre will be on your right.

Alternatives to Parking: Shuttle Bus Service to Greek Theater Commencements
===================================
* Avoid parking stress and consider using the BearTransit shuttles to get
to Greek Theatre Commencement Events.
* Catch an eastbound shuttle near the Downtown Berkeley BART station
[buses stop at Addison and Shattuck Sq. next to Bank of America]; or at
the intersection of Hearst and Euclid streets.
* Shuttle cost is $1 except for graduates and their families.

Shuttle lines make a circuit of campus at approximately 12-minute
intervals. See BearTransit page and shuttle schedules for “P-Line” and
“R-Line” for actual times.

* Perimeter (“P”) Line Stops & Schedule
* Reverse Perimeter (“R”) Line Stops & Schedule

For further information on routes, you can also refer to the BearTransit
system map.

For more info see
http://pt.berkeley.edu/parking/special_events/commencement.html

Not going to get angry about this….will not lose my temper….Nope, not gonna get angry….

but I am going to ask you to take action. It seems our ‘Democrat’ Party lawmakers can’t even do that. Make laws that is without some outside help that is. Yep, the Telcos have stepped up to the plate to ‘help’ resolve the FISA crisis. I say send their CEOs and head legal counsel to the chokey. They all knew what they were doing and are still doing today was and is illegal. Totally illegal….

That’s why they want a get out of jail card folks. And guess who’s their to ‘help’ them ‘help’ the House. Our pals, our Democratic ‘Leaderscum’ Queen Pelosi and  her faithful sidekick Steney ‘I love Money’ Hoyer. Here’s a link to tell Hoyer, ‘Hell no!’ on this. Here’s one to the House and here’s one to the Senate. Let ‘em know how you feel. And, no, I don’t care how polite you are these assclowns are obviously listening to the sound of big money and ya gotta really get fierce to be heard over that.

And as we approach the elections please remember that Sister Beezlebub, McSame and The Glass-Jawed Barry are not the only game in town. We’ve two very progressive candidates for Madame Speaker’s job and frankly I can think of no better way to send a message than to give her the boot. That may not be possible, no polling exists as far as I know, but at the least we can send her a message. Something along the lines of, ‘Shape up or Ship Out!’

Frankly, I’d like to see her go or lose her Speakership. She’s been, as have many others in the Dem caucus, much more Republican than Democrat and that is not what the citizenry wants. Of that I am certain sure.

So, stay tuned. McSame vs. Whoevah! is not the only game in town.

Res Ipsa Loquitor….

Sgt. 1st Class David L. McDowell, 30, of Ramona, California died Tuesday in Afghanistan of "wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked using small arms fires." The San Diego Tribune reports, "He had been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq seven times and was a recipient of two Bronze stars and a Purple Heart."

Seven Tours...for Bush’s and America’s vanity; Sick. Disgusting. Here talk to these people. I didn’t do this….And I will not be responsible for it!

Senator Boxer

Senator Feinstein

Clik on their pics to get contact info.

Question: Should we start a FaceBook petition to ask the UC Faculty Senate to fire Professor John Yoo?

Here’s the poll:

Exercise your right to speak out….

I will be ready to discuss this action starting at the next Drinking Liberally Brunch, which is Sunday April, 20th, at Luka’s Taproom and Lounge, world headquarters for Drinking Liberally, Oakland Chapter and lots of great Belgian beers. Feel free to drop in and let me know what you think.

There is a lot of outrage about Yoo’s cushy job at Boalt and, more importantly, his role in destroying whatever reputation our nation had as one that might be considered ‘Law Abiding….’

Question is are you willing to put some time and effort to do something?

Or is this gonna be another ‘All Hat…No Cattle….’ drive?

This Speaks for Itself. The Message is Unacceptable to me. What Say You?

First listen to this admitted war criminal spew lies…..

Then go here to speak out…..and demand that the national media do the same!

Or prepare to live as slaves of  the corporate state.

National Lawyers Guild calls for Disbarment and Prosecution of Professor John Yoo, Boalt Hall Law School

NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CALLS ON BOALT HALL TO DISMISS LAW PROFESSOR JOHN YOO, WHOSE TORTURE MEMOS LED TO COMMISSION OF WAR CRIMES 

Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 08:31 AM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 9, 2008

Contact:
Marjorie Cohn, NLG President, marjorie@tjsl.edu; 619-374-6923
Heidi Boghosian, NLG Executive Director, director@nlg.org; 212-679-5100, x11

NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CALLS ON BOALT HALL TO DISMISS LAW PROFESSOR JOHN YOO, WHOSE TORTURE MEMOS LED TO COMMISSION OF WAR CRIMES

New York. In a memorandum written the same month George W. Bush invaded Iraq, Boalt Hall law professor John Yoo said the Department of Justice would construe US criminal laws not to apply to the President’s detention and interrogation of enemy combatants. According to Yoo, the federal statutes against torture, assault, maiming and stalking do not apply to the military in the conduct of the war.

The federal maiming statute, for example, makes it a crime for someone "with the intent to torture, maim, or disfigure" to "cut, bite, or slit the nose, ear or lip, or cut out or disable the tongue, or put out or destroy an eye, or cut off or disable a limb or any member of another person." It further prohibits individuals from "throwing or pouring upon another person any scalding water, corrosive acid, or caustic substance" with like intent.

Yoo also narrowed the definition of torture so the victim must experience intense pain or suffering equivalent to pain associated with serious physical injury so severe that death, organ failure or permanent damage resulting in loss of significant body functions will likely result; Yoo’s definition contravenes the definition in the Convention Against Torture, a treaty the US has ratified which is thus part of the US law under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. Yoo said self-defense or necessity could be used as a defense to war crimes prosecutions for torture, notwithstanding the Torture Convention’s absolute prohibition against torture in all circumstances, even in wartime. This memo and another Yoo wrote with Jay Bybee in August 2002 provided the basis for the Administration’s torture of prisoners.

"John Yoo’s complicity in establishing the policy that led to the torture of prisoners constitutes a war crime under the US War Crimes Act," said National Lawyers Guild President Marjorie Cohn.

Congress should repeal the provision of the Military Commissions Act that would give Yoo immunity from prosecution for torture committed from September 11, 2001 to December 30, 2005. John Yoo should be disbarred and he should not be retained as a professor of law at one of the country’s premier law schools. John Yoo should be dismissed from Boalt Hall and tried as a war criminal.

The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association, which did not admit people of color, the National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.

Let them know how you feel.

As it happens the vile Yoo…..

…clever scumbag that he is does not belong to the California Bar Association. Nor is he licensed to practice law in the State so my plan has no leverage. There is however on group of individuals whom have a say in all this. The most august Faculty Senate of the University of California at Berkeley, my cherished alma mater. They can cast the insane Woo from his perch as Professor at UCB’s Boalt Hall School of Law should they so choose. There is a link to email the chair. If you do so be polite and marshal some arguments for them to use. Bloviating  ain’t gonna get it done.

There is one individual member of the faculty who has expressed his internal conflict about Woo’s presence at Berkeley. This would be Professor of Economics Brad DeLong whose blog Grasping Reality is an excellent example of the academic blog.

I recently commented in a thread about Greek plays, that’s where the opening quote comes from as follows:

Some mindfulness
A man should surely keep, of any thing
That pleased him once.

Yes, I have that ‘mindfulness’ of my days at Berkeley circa 1965 to 1971 when such a one as ‘Professor’ John Woo would have been driven from the hallowed vale that is Berkeley by an enraged community.

Sadly, as the ancients so correctly lamented the men of today are but pygmy’s compared to the giants of yesterday.Lost to them, it would seem, the moral outrage that gave birth to our nation, our society.

Is there no one on the faculty who feels the sting and shame of associating with the creature Yoo?

Is there not one amongst you who will stand up and demand he be cast forth?

Sadness……

A. Citizen

This man is struggling to be on our side and if you do contact him please be nothing but polite.

I have not and will not give up on my campaign to send Yoo packing. Next up is research on whether his work can get him expelled under Faculty Senate rules. If you have any ideas…send ‘em along.