Steal Big!!

In a previous post I talked about the oil bubble from last summer, created by speculators that drove the per-barrel price of oil up over 100%. Now comes the rather unsurprising news that Exxon-Mobil shattered it's previous record for annual profits posted by a US company.
Here's my conspiracy theory: speculators, working for Exxon-Mobil, deliberately drove the price of oil up, so that Exxon-Mobil could sell the oil they had purchased earlier at a lower price at the new inflated price.
Sure, it may be a stretch, but it fits right in to the continuing corporate criminal culture. A criminal president and vice president not being prosecuted for their crimes,Bernie Madoff under "arrest" in his $7 million apartment, it just proves that the larger the crime, the less likely you'll serve any time.

Break The Law, Win A Prize

Torture works. That is, if your goal is to attract more foreign fighters to attack US troops in Iraq (last paragraph). It's a good way to ensure that a war continues in perpetuity.

Bill Kristol, chief neocon, editor of The Weekly Standard and probable defense contractor stock holder thinks that those who torture should be given the Medal of Honor. Because there's nothing more honorable than ensuring that foreign fighters and Iraqi insurgents continue to kill American forces in Iraq than torturing people.
Torture is a war crime, which would make those who authorized war criminals. So into the moral quagmire we ask can you pardon some one for committing a crime you authorized?

Someone Trying To Lie Us Into Another War?

One of the linchpins on which the Bush administration tried to hang a casus
belli to invade Iraq on were forged Niger documents that claimed Saddam Hussein (no relation to Barack Hussein Obama) was trying to buy yellowcake uranium for his (non-existent) weapons of mass destruction program. Later, Joseph Wilson, sent on a fact-finding tour discovered them to be fakes and said so in a New York Times op-ed piece that eventually led to the outing of his wife as a CIA agent by members of the Bush administration.
In 2005, the US toured the world with a stolen laptop computer they touted as evidence Iran was developing nuclear weapons with it's uranium enrichment program, not nuclear power. This was contrary to the National Intelligence Estimate that stated Iran had given up it's nuclear ambitions two years earlier. Now, as it turns out, the documents may have been fabricated. Gee, ya think? Someone in the Bush madministration faking evidence to start a war in another Middle East country rich with oil?

You CanTell It's An Election Year When..........

Yesterday at work we received a printout of this warning from the USFDA about food defense and terrorism, which, after bringing much laughter and derision ( What with MFN Chinese government still sending us food laced with melanine), reminded me that this is an election year and once again the politicizing of government agencies to put fear into voters continues unabated under he Bush administration. (Remember the Justice Department's investigation into ACORN in 2004 which was carried out because Bush had politicized the DOJ?) Is this another case of manipulating terror threat levels right before an election?
Another way you can tell it's an election is falling gas prices, which also happened before the 2006 election. There really hasn't been any major changes in the oil markets to indicate why this has happened, nor have we begun drilling offshore, yet gas prices have fallen almost a dollar or more in the last couple of weeks.
So besides these two things, along with lawns cluttered with signs (because I really care which way a homeowner is going to vote) and rampant vote theft by the GOP what are other indications this is an election year?

After The Election

While the right-wing propaganda machine begins making spurious claims concerning Iran's role in 9/11(because they worked so well with getting people riled up to invade Iraq) and the US shipping military equipment ill suited for Afghanistan's mountains regions to Afghanistan, one has to wonder, is an invasion of Iran George Bush's October surprise to help John McCain win the election?
The US has already began military operations in Pakistan with out that government's approval, now the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has called for military operations in Pakistan's tribal regions along the Afghanistan border, virtually a declaration of war. This will in effect have Iran encircled by the US army, in Iraq to the west, Afghanistan to the northeast, and Pakistan to the east. But is the Bush/Cheney (or Cheney/Bush, if you prefer) administration, so eager to confront Russia in Georgia, that eager to start all out war with Russia in Iran right before the election? After all George Bush will attack Iran if he is told.
The notion that the American people will fall in line with another war is somewhat ridiculous. If they would, the Bush administration wouldn't be sneaking round in Pakistan, hoping the majority of television watchers are too obsessed with the new television season to be concerned with the machinations of the Bush Doctrine. Even the new GOP VP pick isn't familiar with the Bush Doctrine. (While most citizens can be forgiven their ignorance on this issue, somebody running for the second most position in our political structure shouldn't need a journalist to define it for her)
A war with Iran will drive crude oil prices even higher than they are already, which is something the GOP doesn't need blamed on them right before the election. There's no way to spin the whole off shore drilling as a solution to a permanent perpetual war mongering effecting gas prices. However, after the election, no matter who wins (although, the GOP will do anything to suppress the voting rights of Democrats and ensure a Republican president), the Bush regime will surely make it's move against Iran.

Gator!!!

The admiral in charge of Guantanamo Bay (or "Gitmo" to the Spanish impaired mush-mouthed soldier sniffing shittoheads) says that detainees there are pretty much living in a frat house. Yeah, I imagine there's lots of toga parties, beer busts, and riding of motorcycles up the stairs, with detainees visiting the local Food King to hook up with underage girls or the dean's wife. Surely that's what most Americans think of when they think of frat houses.
Never do they think of the Omega house, where brutal hazing rituals are carried out, pledges stripped down to their skivvies and paddled hard on the ass by a sadistic sergeant-at-arms who delights in inflicting as much pain as he can get away with under the parts of the Geneva conventions we still adhere to. But that is probably closer to the truth, something more suitable to the members of the Skull and Bones society than to your average television watcher's idea of fraternity.

No Matter What, Don't Believe The Conspiracy

The Deborah Jean Palfrey case should have been the biggest news sensation ever. Bigger than Chandra Levy, Britney Spears, Rev Wright, Mylie Cyrus and Elliot Spitzer combined. The DC madam case had intrigue, sex, abuse of power, all the tawdry little things that keep most television watchers glued to their screens.
For instance, Dick Cheney was a client, but was crossed off the list by ABC/Disney. You think that would be newsworthy,, even if it occurred while CEO of Halliburton. Or the Federal government seeking to gag Ms. Palfrey should have raised some eyebrows, and would have made for some good television. Nope.
Now, it seems that Ms. Palfrey committed suicide (I wonder, did she tie her hands and feet, duct tape her eyes and magically appear floating in a lake?) even though she stated that if she was ever found dead, it wouldn't be a suicide. Now she will be added to the list of whistleblowers who ended up dead by "suicide". How convenient these people take their own lives.

Not Again!

Along with the financial burden of rising gas prices, rising food prices, increased inflation (due to the falling dollar) and the stock market dropping 256 points, now President Bush feels that we should feel that the Iraq war is a burden worth bearing. Funny, none of his family, or his cronies families are suffering, or serving overseas for that matter, but hey, the rest of us can shoulder that burden. Thank you!
But now, along with these burdens, get ready room on your shoulder for yet another. Dick Cheney feels we should start another war. Already, the propaganda has begun. Photos of "alleged" missile sites are being circulated,"unidentified" speed boats approaching naval patrol boats in the Gulf are being identified as Iranian by the corporate media propaganda machine and the neocons are using Gen. Petraeus's hearing as an excuse to attack Iran.
In my estimation, we will see a continuation of the anti-Iranian propaganda in the corporate media, a la the Iraq invasion. Smart people won't fall for it, but most of the idiot television watchers, with their shortened attention spans will eat it up with a side of citrus teriyaki wings and a Diet Pepsi Max to wash it down. At some point in time, after the Democratic candidacy is decided, an attack will begin, just in time to help John McCain sweep the election, riding a wave of renewed patriotism and rigged voting machines.

Intimidation and Spying:Our Government At Work

The IAEA recently "reaffirmed such an unprecedented, resolute voluntary cooperation, beyond Iran’s obligation in accordance with the comprehensive Safeguards agreement (INFCIRC/214), “clearly reflects the peaceful nature of Iranian nuclear program.” . Despite this fact, the UN has imposed more sanctions on Iran. If they haven't been proven to be doing anything wrong, how can they be punished for it?
According to the Chilean envoy to the UN the Bush administration threatened trade reprisals against friendly countries who withheld their support, spied on its allies, and pressed for the recall of U.N. envoys that resisted U.S. pressure to endorse the war.

In the aftermath of the invasion, allies loyal to the United States were rejected, mocked and even punished" for their refusal to back a U.N. resolution authorizing military action against Saddam Hussein's government

The book written by Heraldo Mu¿oz, Chile's ambassador to the United Nations,"A Solitary War: A Diplomat's Chronicle of the Iraq War and Its Lessons", details a list of intimidation and spying by the US to get what it wanted from it's allies. It even dangled the U.S.-Chilean free trade agreement as incentive to comply with the Bush administration's wishes. In other words, your job was traded for a war.
So following the logic that if the Bush administration is spying on the American people, and spying on it's allies in the UN (the book details an account of a meeting in the German embassy's secure room, much to the consternation of the Bush regime), I would safely say that they are also spying on members of Congress, and using damaging information to get what they want from our representatives. And, one would surmise, they are doing this to gain justification for another war, this time with Iran.
What Iran has done is started selling it's oil in denominations other than the dollar, which is the same thing that Saddam had started doing in November 2000 and what Hugo Chavez has started to do that has made him a member of the US terrorist list.

Democrats Disappoint Again

So Nancy Pelosi (remember her? the Democrat in charge of the House who gained power riding in on a wave of "change"?), when greeted with impeach Cheney and Bush activists sticks to her position that impeaching the two criminals would be "divisive". God forbid the Democrats actually behave as if they are truly an opposition party. I guess asking for an investigation into the many crimes perpetrated by these criminals is asking too much.
Meanwhile, the criminals in charge try to bury a pardon for the crimes they may have committed into a bill.

I think we need to "change" the Democratic party for a real opposition party, not just the other half of the War Party. You may vote for them this November, but I'm going to follow the sage advice of one Mr. Peter Townshend

The Official "Terrorist" Act

Today, on the radio as they discussed the bridge collapse in Minnesota, the hosts described how the major (corporate) news outlets had to go to the Department of Homeland Security to see if this was an act of terrorism. This, of course, caused me to start thinking, what did they mean? Wouldn't the local law enforcement on scene be a better source than a government bureaucrat thousands of miles away?
Everday we arewarned of impending doom from a department that wants to intrude even more on our privacy. This isn't the first time we've been warned of imminent terror attacks, it seems almost evry summer a warning is issued, which comes to pass with no attacks, but people forget because they're too distracted gearing up for the next season of American Idol. Is the reason the media needs official confirmation because they know that in order for the official terrorist attack to occur, it has to be allowed (or be another government black op) like 9/11.
Make no mistake, the next attack won't benefit terrorists, but will benefit the corpocracy, defense contractors, neocons, and Israel-firsters like John Hagee. The people of the Middle East, if they wish to attack the US, need only to wander into Iraq (like most of the anti-Americans over there are doing anyway) to strike at us.

The Numbers Are Growing....

Despite the best efforts of the corporate media to downplay the Bush Crime Family's illegal and unethical behavior, Nearly half of Americans favor impeachment of Bush, while more than half support an impeachment of Cheney. Of course, more than 75% of Americans bleieve in ending th war in Iraq, which leads me to wonder, why haven't the Democrats done anything that they were voted in to do?
Even now, with anew election cycle around the corner, more and more Republican senators are jumping ship and calling for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq, while timid congressional Democrats refuse to back Dennis Kucinich's call for impeachment of Cheney. Way to drop the ball again, Democraps!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who'll Clean Up L'il Georgie's Mess?

Like a cat who cries when it's litter box is full, the US has pressed the Iraqi government to clean up the sectarian violence. You know, the violence that started after the US occupation based on claims of WMD that were never there. In other words, if we had just lefy Iraq alone, there would be no sectarian violence there.
Also, 3528 soldioers would still be alive, over 655,000 Iraqi civilians would still be alive, and two million Iraqi refugees would still have homes. But don't expect the US administration to be held accountable for any of this, we're talking about a president who probably never had to clean up a danged thing his entire life. So better to point the finger of blame at the Iraqi government. As is always the case with the Republican party, personal responsibility is something they expect from the other guy.

The Very Definition Of Insanity

Some people never learn. After years of covert US operations around the globe, the Bush administration authorized new covert operations against Iran. Maybe this time things won't get totally fucked-up, but given Bush's track record, if I was a wet dream, I'd be pretty fucking scared right now. No wonder so many people want to get rid of Bush.
The thing is, the IAEA has still to find all the things the corporate media has claimed Iran is guilty of. But that won't stop the US from starting another war. I guess they can always call in the UN after they totally botch that war, too

Audioslave-Doesn't Remind Me

The Refuge Of Scoundrels

The Bush ADDministration has failed to comply with two subpeonas issued by Congress in two separate matters. The first, dealing with the US attorneys firings of which Attorney General Gonzales was scheduled to be "grilled" on today, until the shooting at Virginia Tech conveniently occurred.

Now Gonzales' testimony will occur Wednesday, while under the non-stop coverage of the tragedy (I'm not saying this was a black op) is played out for the next couple of months as the corporate media exploits and examines every angle of it until the next runaway bride or mass murder occurs. And anything incriminating Gonzales may say will be second to the big story.
Back to the subpeonas, the Justice Department failed to comply with a subpeona issued by John Conyers for documents relating to the case, with requested documents not supplied, or in redacted form. Which is the complete opposite of what the oversight committee asked for from them. Although I can't say for sure, the reasons that Justice will give will likely be the old dodge of the Bush regime, "national security".
In other subpeona news, Condaleeza Rice may face a subpeona if she fails to comply with an oversight committee's request for information on intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq, and other issues. Although, once again, the information will not be released, not because it's detrimental to the Bush regime (which it most certainly would be), but for the refuge of scoundrels, "national security" issues.
How convenient it has been for this administration to have an excuse to destroy the Constitution, as well as start many wars planned before they stole their power, and commit any number of crimes, then have the whole "national security" smokescreen to hide behind. Almost makes you think they may have had something to do with the whole thing. Either that, or fortune has smiled upon them more times than they deserve.

Someone Still Doesn't Get It

In a speech before the Heritage Foundation today, Dick Cheney compared the Democrats stance on Iraq to the far left stance of the Democrats on Viet Nam in the seventies. While at least he is beginning to acknowledge the war in Iraq is as unwinnable as the quagmire that was Viet Nam, he still doesn't get it.
For instance, he blasted Democrats as big spending when the war in Iraq has cost the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, with nothing more to show for it than 3297 dead US soldiers, 655,000 dead Iraqi civilians, and, no matter what Cheney may thinkl, no ground is his so-called "war on terrorism".
He also blew off the will of the people, claiming the sweeping change of last November's election as "minimal". claiming a minimum of 3600 votes would have kept the Senate iGOP hands and fewer than 100000 votes would have kept GOP control of the House (forgetting of course that it only took 57000 black voters purged from voter rolls in Florida that put his sorry soggy ass where it is today, and with that they claimed to have a mandate.
Cheney also continued on with his deluded notion that we are fighting terrorists in Iraq, when in reality, we are an occupation force dealing with an insurgency. Cheney would just as soon keep US troops there indefinitely than send "a message to our enemies that the calendar is their friend, that all they have to do is wait us out -- wait for the date certain, and then claim victory the day after." Unfortunately for Cheney, the claendar is not his friend, come January 2009 we will have a new president, and hopefully it won't be one more concerned with lining the pockets of their corporate buddies than dragging out a pointless war based on lies.

It's Just A Matter of Time

Well, another war is almost upon us, as evidenced by the comment on to day's Free Beer and Hot Wings Show advocating the nuking of Iran for exercising their right to nuclear power. I'm sure that will only result in millions of deaths of people who don't trust their government anymore than most Americans do, while their leaders are safe in some undisclosed location, much like the one Dick Cheney was cowering in on 9/11. And of the course, the resulting radiation will only spread throughout much of the Middle East, especially Iraq, where many of the soldiers supported by yellow ribbon magnets will be downwind from it.
Another sign that we're almost ready to shoot ourselves in the foot again is the announcement that Halliburton has wound up it's Iranian contracts giving it's people time to scramble back to Washington to get more no-bid contracts to rebuild Iran after we blow it to pieces. All we need is a reason.
Thank God that void is being filled by the corporate media, who took this article from Reuters containing this little dandy:

Bleichwehl said troops, facing scattered resistance, discovered a factory that produced "explosively formed penetrators" (EFPs), a particularly deadly type of explosive that can destroy a main battle tank and several weapons caches.

from a story about soldiers in Iraq (who should receive some sort of commendation, except, well, they exposed the Bush administration as liars). That's where the Washington Post came, and took the story and changed it to better suit Bush regime lies:

One of the bombs was an explosively formed projectile, a particularly deadly type of device which Washington accuses Iran of supplying Iraqi militants.

See? You can always rely on the corpocracy to cover up each others lies. I have a standing bet with a co-worker that we'll be at war with Iran before the end of the summer (just in time to drive up oilprices for the summer driving season, imagine the windfall oil companies will make from that), but she doesn't think that the Bush regime has the support for another war, but I say they don't have the support for the one they're in now, and it hasn't stopped them for continuing to fight it. Just give the corporate media a little time and they'll have the beer swilling NASCAR watching mouth breathing brain damaged jackanapes up and arms against Iran in no time.

Victims Of The Policies Of Idiots

Freed British sailors today revealed abuses by the Iranian government, including waterboarding, being set upon by dogs, being forced to strip naked and lay on top of each other, and, oh, wait a minute, these are abuse charges against the United States ! It seems the worse the British soldiers had to endure was *gulp*, blindfolding, isolation and a seven year jail sentence if they failed to confess to something they had actually done. Makes the Iranians seem quite civilzed compared to the policies of the Bush administration.
And that's the point. The people of the "coalition of the willing"(to break international law, as well as numerous treaties) can't complain about the way our soldiers are being treated when captured because we have treated our prisoners so shoddily. Saying it's okay for us to do so makes one look like a hypocrite, which is what most war supporters have become.
Bush has called the recent bill passed by Congress which sets a date for troop withdrawal a signal to the terrorists, but we are not fighting terrorists in Iraq, if we were really serious about fighting terrorists, we'd be bombing the mountains of Pakistan where alQaeda is hiding out, regrouping, and rallying more people to it's cause. Luckily for them, they're located in a place that doesn't have a large oil reserve underneath. Because that's what the "war on terror" is all about. Recent rumors of a US led attack on Iran caused oil prices to rise above $70 a barrel (just in time for the millions of Americans heading to Florida for spring break, thank you), proving that we don't actually have to invade a country for the oil monopolies to profit from it.

Through The Looking Glass

It looks like the Evil Empire's dirty trick squad is up to something. First came the report of a break in at Minnesota's DFL headquarters, in which a lap top was stolen. This was followded up by reports of break-in at New Hampshire's Democratic headquarters, which came five weeks after a Manchester Democratic headquarters was broken into as well. Hmmmm. Curioser and curiouser.
Could it be someone is seeking dirt on the Democrats? Maybe to justify the firings of all them federal prosecutors? Bush has already stated he will fight Congressional subpeonas of his staff in the ever growing attorney firing scandal. Perhaps learning his lesson following the perjury conviction of I. Lewis Libby, Bush said he would allow them to testify in private and not under oath (kinda sorta like his and Dick's testimony before the 9/11 commission. Am I the only one seeing a pattern here?), in other words, giving them carte blanche to lie to Congress (Hell, Bush did it, why not his staff?). Can we start impeachment yet?

"True" Tortured Confessions

The Same Guy?

Nothing could be more embarassing to the Bush administration following the tortured confession of who they allege to be Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, than this story, which purports the KSM trotted out by the Bushites is in fact an impostor. The claim is that in fact the man we see in photos is actually Ahmed Abdul Qudoos,the man in the above photo on the left. I'm not saying they are the same guys, there is enough discrepancy for me to be doubtful, but then there is the story that KSM actually died in a shoot out on September 11, 2002. If this story is true (and really, who believes the lies of the Bush administration any more?), then who is the man that they claim is KSM?
Even more disturbing is the story that the CIA also has KSM's two sons,aged seven and nine at time of kidnapping, in custody, in case the waterboarding doesn't work, you can always torture the children because what parent would stand by and watch their children be tortured by the assholes who represent our country. Suddenly, it sounds like we're not the good guys anymore when we stoop to that level, in fact, it makes us downright evil, and how any free thinking citizen of the US could justify these acts in the name of "freedom" or "democracy" shows just how far we've strayed in the past six years under the Bush regime.
But all that is irrelevant, since the whole "confession" has backfired on the US (although it has got the beer swilling NASCAR watching tube jockey's attention away from the US attorney scandal brewing in Washington, as well as the Plamegate trial)since in any civilized court, any confession derived under stress (a/k/a torture) is inadmissable, (which is just as well, since one of his confessed "terrorist acts" was towards a bank that wasn't even founded until after his arrest) under new rules adopted by the Bush regime and it's rubber stamp Republican congress, it's all fine and dandy.