Priorities

Another one for the "life starts at conception and ends at birth" file.

Pro-lifers are celebrating the birth this week of a baby who was a frozen embryo stored in a cannister at a fertility clinic in New Orleans and rescued during Hurricane Katrina. The "snowflake baby", as the frozen embryos are called, was named "Noah", because he survived the flood.

Too bad the guy in the picture didn't make out as well.

Fess up, Georgie

The caretakers at Chimp Haven in Shreveport, Louisiana are scratching their heads after the unexpected birth of a chimp last week:

"In a mysterious bit of monkey business, a female at a chimpanzee sanctuary has given birth, despite the fact that the facility's entire male chimp population has had vasectomies... Chimp Haven managers said they knew something was up when Teresa was missing during morning rounds on January 8. Later in the day, she appeared with a newborn chimpanzee in her arms."

Come on Georgie -- don't be a deadbeat dad.

"They can't prove it was me!!!"

Doom & Gloom

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the Doomsday Clock ahead by 2 minutes; it's now 5 to midnight.

I'd had the mistaken idea that the Bulletin only moves the clock at set times, every 5 years. According to the clock's timeline, it's been moved (ahead, and during happier times, back) at increments of anywhere from a year to 7 years.

It's interesting and alarming that this is the first time environmental concerns like climate change have been a factor in advancing the clock. Could this have anything to do with the reformcons' sudden evironmental awakening?

My next post will be about cute furry puppies, I promise.

Get your war on

TEHRAN, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- "Iranian troops have shot down a U.S. pilotless spy plane recently, an Iranian lawmaker announced on Tuesday as the Islamic Republic was facing increasing military pressure from its arch rival -- the United States.

The aircraft was brought down when it was trying to cross the borders "during the last few days," Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh, a member of the parliament, was quoted by the local Fars News Agency as saying." ...

"The announcement came amid reports that the United States is increasingly flexing its muscles to counter Iran's growing regional assertiveness and put more pressure on Tehran over its controversial nuclear programs.

It was reported Tuesday that a second U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, will arrive in the Middle East in about one month, the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq war in 2003 that the United States will have two carrier battle groups in the region."

It's time.

Shhhhhhh

It's migraine time.

If anyone has any cures, long or short-term, I'm listening.

Just don't type too loud, my fuckin' ears are bleeding.

Encore hangings in Iraq

More "justice" was served this morning in Iraq as Saddam's two co-defendants were hanged.

There were a lot of things wrong with the way Saddam was hanged, but one that didn't get much publicity was that the video of his corpse after the execution showed a huge open gash in his neck under the jawline. As if his head had been partly ripped off by the rope.

Apparently the executioners have been working on their technique, because today's hanging, carried out with the usual dignity, included the added panache of one guy's head being torn right off his body as he fell. The video (did you even doubt there'd be one?) shows one guy falling and hanging, and the other guy falling in a blur and hitting the floor; (presumably the blur was his head flying off):

"The video showed the trap doors opening. Mr. al-Bandar could be seen dangling from the rope, while Mr. Ibrahim's body in a blur fell to the floor, chest down, his still-hooded severed head resting several yards away."

This has naturally revived the outrage simmering in the Sunni community since the execution of Saddam. I can't imagine why.

Hell no, they won't go

American war resisters are on the move... north.

The "surge" of 21,500 troops (anyone else notice that number keeps creeping up?) into Iraq is expected to be accompanied by a smaller surge of war resisters heading to Canada. Some of the troops being deployed in the "surge" have already done one or two (or even 3 or 4) tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, some of them are saying "HELL NO".

"Officially" the Canadian government has been less than welcoming to the resisters, not surprising from a conservative government that likes to emulate the Bush administration. Unofficially, most Canadians sympathize with the resisters' plight, especially the ones who went through it all themselves 40-or so years ago.

The situation today is a little different than it was in the 60s. Back then military service was mandatory ("the draft"), and unless you were rich or well-connected (like George W), or could weasel deferment after deferment (like Dick Cheney) it meant you were cannon fodder for Vietnam. That's what sent the students into the streets protesting.

Nobody's forced to join today's all-volunteer military, but the Hotel California-like "stop-loss" policy means that once you've joined, the length of a tour can be extended indefinitely. As can the number of deployments. Refusal to deploy can mean prison for desertion. But is the military truly all-volunteer if a soldier can't walk away from it as easily as he joined up?

Update: If you can provide temporary housing for a war resister, please contact
Tom or Christine at 647.393.3096
or Leave a message at the War Resisters Support Campaign office: 416.598.1222 * _resisters@sympatico.ca_

Georgie does 60 Minutes

It opened with a face shot of Georgie in full smirk; the humble, contrite Georgie we saw on Wednesday night is back in the box.

The "60 Minutes" interview was done by Scott Pelley at the inner sanctum of Camp David, I suppose to make Georgie look all deep thought-ish, but this is one pig you can't dress up. It was pretty standard Bush interview fare -- pertinent questions answered with bullshit, obfuscation, gibberish and 9/11. Some things stood out, though.

Pelley asked what "mistakes" Bush thought he'd made with Iraq. "Using bad language, like 'bring 'em on'," Bush said. Seriously. That's all he could come up with. Pelley had to remind him of one of the umpteen-thousand real mistakes, like the inadequate troop levels that were originally sent. Georgie conceded that "coulda been" a mistake, added a lot of other mealy-mouthed bullshit, and ended with "and that's why I made the decision I made!" Ta-da! (Only 4 years too late.)

When asked if he watched the Saddam hanging video. Georgie got this weird, creepy look on his face and said he'd seen it, "but not all of it." Sure. That's why the question made him wince and cringe like a frat boy caught in the co-ed laundry room jacking off into into someone's dirty sock. Georgie watched it and watched it til he slapped himself raw, probably high-fiving Cheney with the other hand the whole time.

But the most painful irony was Bush's answer to the question "What would you say to the Iranian president?":

"I'd say, first of all, to him, "You've made terrible choices for your people. You've isolated your nation. You've taken a nation of proud and honorable people, and you've made your country the pariah of the world. You've threatened countries with nuclear weapons. You've said you want a nuclear weapon. You've defied international accord. And you're slowly but surely isolating yourself."

It's terrifying how much he really doesn't get it.

Full transcript here.

Doomsday Clock moves forward

For the first time since 2002, the Doomsday Clock will move forward. The clock was advanced in 2002 from 9 to 7 minutes to midnight as a result of 9/11, anthrax scares, nuclear proliferation and a US foreign policy that favoured unilateralism over diplomacy. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which oversees the clock, said it would be moved forward again this Wednesday:

"It said emerging and "grave" threats include nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing launch-ready status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks." ...
"It has been set at less than seven minutes to midnight only five times. The most alarming -- two minutes to midnight -- was in 1953, shortly after the U.S. and the former Soviet Union successfully tested hydrogen bombs."

Only 5 times, now 6 times. There's your legacy, Georgie. Boo-ya.

Condi Rice, Feminist Icon? Spare me!

Right-wingers are in indignation overdrive after remarks made by Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer to Secretary of State Condi Rice about the upcoming escalation of troops to Iraq. Yesterday during a senate hearing, Boxer criticized Rice's support of the troop escalation, inferring that Rice could support the escalation because being childless, she wouldn't be personally impacted by the decision. Boxer:

"Who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price,' Boxer, a Democrat, said. 'My kids are too old and my grandchild is too young. You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families. And I just want to bring us back to that fact.'"

Seasoned opportunist that she is, Rice saw a chance to turn the dispute on its head, re-inventing it as a feminist issue. Later she said of Boxer's comment:

"At the time, I just found it a bit confusing, frankly. But in retrospect, gee, I thought single women had come further than that. I thought you could still make good decisions on behalf of the country if you were single and didn't have children."

"Gee." Found it a bit confusing? No, Dr. Rice may be evil and odious but she isn't stupid; she knew exactly what Boxer was trying to say, and just how to spin it. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, born-again feminist, wasted no time jumping into the fray, calling Boxer's remark "a great leap backward for feminism". Astonishing: a government that's always been virulently anti-female has a sudden feminist epiphany.

Give me a fucking break. Anyone who says this argument had anything to do with feminism is either obtuse or disingenuous. Senator Boxer's comment was right on the mark. If Rice, Bush, Cheney or any of the other cheerleaders for this death march had kids who were serving in Iraq, the war would have been over long ago. It's so easy for them to march other peoples' kids into that middle eastern meat grinder because they'll never know, or even have to worry about knowing, the unspeakable agony of losing a child.

Predictably, many on the right are calling for Boxer to apologize to Rice. For what, speaking the truth? If anything, Rice should apologize to Boxer for purposely twisting the meaning of her words into something she could use for sleazy political spin and diversion. Boxer owes an apology? No way! And I hope she resists the pressure to give one.

Surging to disastrophe

It looks like Bush's plan to "surge" another 20,500 troops into Iraq is a done deal -- regardless of what most of congress wants (including more than a few republicans), and what 70% of americans want. In a "60 Minutes" interview to air tomorrow, King George says that the surge is on, no matter what the democratic-controlled congress tries to do. Asked if he thought he had the power to override the will of congress (and most of the country), the Chimperor said:

"I think I've got, in this situation, I do, yeah. Now I fully understand they will," Bush continued, "they could try to stop me from doing it, but, uh, I've made my decision and we're going forward."

Hmm. It brings to mind this gem from 2002:

"I'm the commander — see, I don't need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president."

Ain't democracy grand?

At this point it should be clear to all and sundry that nothing short of impeachment will stop this idiot from implementing his cataclysmically ill-conceived plans. It's time.

Senseless in Seattle

...or at least in Federal Way, which is a few miles away physically, but light years away intellectually, it seems, from wonderful, liberal Seattle.

The school board in the town of Federal Way has decided that Al Gore's film about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth", can't be shown to students unless an opposing view is also presented (meaning "creationism", a sound science if I ever saw one). The decision was made after one of the bible-whomping parents complained that the film didn't show the biblical version of the story of climate change(?).

The complainant believes in creationism, opposes sex education and thinks the world is 14,000 years old, and said that omitting the biblical version of the story gave "a very cockeyed view of what the truth is". He conceded that although the bible says the earth will eventually burn up in the end times, he wasn't convinced that the movie portrayed this properly. And furthermore:

"Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher," said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven...

Frosty, you've got one thing right; the condoms don't belong in school, they belong on your weinie. Try it sometime, give your poor wife a break and stop diluting the gene pool.

"Iran: you're fired!"

Gazillionaire and serial marrier Donald Trump was on MSNBC today commenting on Bush's "surge" speech earlier this week.

“You know, the one thing I sorta liked was what they were saying about Iran. I believe you have to go in and strike Iran — not with soldiers. You know, it’s not a world of soldiers anymore. It’s a world of air. It’s a world of different kinds of, you know, we’ve changed.”

"It's a world of air"... under The Donald's hair. I've got an idea, The Donald: why don't you fly in there and light 'em up yourself? You've got planes and helicopters and you're already wearing a helmet, get on the stick. Dipshit!

(from think progress)

Olbermann on Georgie's speech

and what the "New Plan for Iraq" really means.

What is Georgie really up to?

Bush said a lot during his speech last night, and some of it was even coherent. But none of it made any sense, at least not in the context of being a "New Way Forward for Iraq".

Sending 21,500 more troops to fix that wreckage of a country is like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound -- even if you manage to cover the puncture where the bullet went in, there's still that great gaping blood-and-gut-plastered hole where it came out. 21,500 troops only brings the number back up to the original 160,000 that were there losing the war a year ago. This whole thing is a "wag the dog" to slide in something else that's going on.

Recently, there have been significant naval deployments to the Persian gulf and the coast of Lebanon/Syria, not just by the US, but a whole shitload of different countries. France, Greece, Italy and the UK are patrolling the Lebanese coast (UN Resolution 1701), Canada's HMCS Ottawa was sent to the Persian Gulf in September to be integrated into US Expeditionary Strike Group 5. Germany, Spain, Denmark and Bulgaria have all deployed ships to the Lebanese coast. And this may or may not be related, but India and Russia are starting joint Naval exercises in the Pacific early this year. Georgie's saying: "Iran: you're surrounded. Drop the nukes and reach for the sky!"

Last night Bush talked about "destroying the networks in Iran and Syria" that are helping arm the insurgents. There's a huge naval presence near both countries. And now reuters is reporting explosions in southern Iran.

No wonder he looked so nervous last night. Georgie's starting fucking World War III.

Nighty-night

It's so friggin cold today the turkeys came home and hit the sack early. Their ETA is usually around dusk.

The poor little bastards don't like the snow at all. Maybe tomorrow I'll let them in.

There's the New Plan for Iraq

and then there's the REAL New Plan for Iraq.

Or is this part of the New Plan for Iran and Syria?

And by the way, what ever happened to this guy? Maybe this guy knows.

Georgie speaks: New Plan for Iraq

Georgie just gave his speech outlining the "New Plan For Iraq", and what a steaming load it was. Although his demeanour was somewhat more humble than usual, he insisted on beating the dead and decaying horsemeat about failure in Iraq meaning disaster for the US, Iraq becoming a terrorist haven where they'd plan attacks on the US, and the "Ideological Struggle". The basics: we didn't have enough troops, let's send more. Another 20,000 troops will supposedly be able to do what 140,000 couldn't, and by November no less. The Iraqi troops will lead the charge with US troops as backup. We will stand down as they stand up, etc. Meet the New Plan, just like the Old Plan.

Georgie just doesn't get it. He still talks about "the enemy" as some amorphous extraneous element apart from the Iraqi people. It isn't. Iraq is in a civil war and most of the violence is being caused by the Iraqi people themselves. The government won't disarm the shia militia that's causing so much of the violence; the head of the militia, al-Sadr, is one of the prime minister's key supporters. The Iraqi forces are unlikely to be trained or committed enough to take the lead in the fighting -- and why the fuck should they when they've got US troops to take the bullets for them?

The "unimaginable bloodshed" Bush says will happen if the US leaves Iraq is another load. That's what they told us would happen in Viet Nam, and it didn't. The "unimaginable bloodshed" is already ongoing, and short of ethnic cleansing of the sunnis by the shia (which is already happening on a small scale), it can't get much worse.

The November "deadline" Bush talked about is meaningless. It's a date the administration more or less pulled out of their asses to give the american public something that looks like light at the end of the tunnel where there really is none.

The New Plan for Iraq isn't new and it isn't even much of a plan: it's Georgie as usual throwing good money after bad in a last pathetic attempt to be remembered as something other than the Worst President Ever.

*Groan*

It's snowing like a bastard... again. WTF!!? It was about 10c at midnight last night.

Hopefully this won't turn into another day without hydro... I'm out of firewood. (No hydro = no heat.)

Only 70 more days til spring.

The evidence is in

What I've long suspected about right-wingers appears to be true, at least according to Psychology Today.

A recent article in PT says there's a direct corelation between the political ideologies of adults and their childhood temperaments. A study of childhood personalities, started in 1969, asked nursery school teachers to rate their students' temperaments. 20 years later the subjects' adult political leanings were compared with the data on their childhood personalities. The results show a compelling relationship between political ideologies and certain childhood personality traits.

Kids who became liberals as adults were rated in childhood as "self-reliant, energetic, impulsive and resilient". Adult conservatives were described as children who were "easily victimized, easily offended, indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited and vulnerable". The difference was that the insecure kids were the ones most in need of the sense of security provided by authority and tradition, which they eventually found in conservative ideology.

And if you need any more proof, just scroll through the comments in any of the popular con-blogs; the fear and insecurity is palpable.