Sunday, July 30, 2006

52 killed in Israel strike on Qana

From Yahoo News:
QANA, Lebanon (AFP) - Fifty-two people have killed, more than half of them children, in an Israeli air blitz on the Lebanese village of Qana, triggering outrage around the world and warnings of retribution for Israel's "war crime."

The raid on Qana, which left homes in ruins and villagers trapped under the rubble, was the deadliest single attack since Israel launched its devastating war on the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah 19 days ago.

In Qana -- scene of another deadly bombardment 10 years ago -- rescue workers with only their bare hands clawed through rubble of flattened homes and an underground shelter to find survivors while mothers hugged their dead children in a final hopeless embrace.

Police put the death toll at at least 52 including 30 children.

"The bombing was so intense that no-one could move," said a distraught Ibrahim Shalhoub, 26. "I succeeded in getting out and everything collapsed. I have several members of the family inside and I do not think that there will be any other survivors."

Israel has given up any moral high ground they had with their heavy handedness and cavalier attitude towards all those innocent Lebanese women and children who have been killed. What outrages me is that those are american made bombs killing all those civilians. In the end Israel is only hurting itself. They're creating more terrorists as well as causing people to rethink their blanket support of Israel. They're also creating more hatred towards the US because of our supplying them with weapons and our President's support for Israels bombardment of Lebanon. If only Clinton were President we would have had a cease fire by now. This is like Hurricane Katrina all over again with Bush sitting on his hands while people are dying.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Bush turning US into a police state

From Dailykos:
A new AP report shows that Bush has now submitted a new terror bill which now says any U.S. citizen "suspected" of terror ties can now be held "indefinitely". Forget the Bill of Rights. Forget due process. Forget the courts of law. Welcome to our own Guantanamo Bay, right here inside the United States.

This is more in Bush and Rove's playbook to step around the ruling of Hamdan, rendering the Supreme Court irrelevant (when Scalia's opinion isn't in the majority).

With the November elections coming up a bill like this would be very useful. Just think about it. Bush could have Howard Dean or any other Democrat locked up just by saying he suspects that Democrat of having terror ties. I used to think Bush would never go so far as to literally declare himself dictator but now i'm not so sure. Rove and Cheney are probably getting scared that the Democrats might actually gain control of one of the Houses so they're getting desperate. With all the stuff that has leaked out about this administrations illegal activities so far you gotta figure there's a whole bunch more americans don't know about. If you have Democrats with subpoena power things could get really ugly for Bush and his cronies. I really fear a desperate Bush administration.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Taliban still influential in Afghanistan

From the Sunday Times:
AFGHANISTAN’S notorious Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which was set up by the Taliban to enforce bans on women doing anything from working to wearing nail varnish or laughing out loud, is to be re-created by the government in Kabul.

The decision has provoked an outcry among women and human rights activists who fear a return to the days when religious police patrolled the streets, beating or arresting any woman who was not properly covered by a burqa or accompanied by a male relative.

“This is a very bad idea at a bad time,” said Sam Zia-Zarifi, the Asia research director of Human Rights Watch. “We’re close to the edge in Afghanistan. It really could all go wrong and it is alarming that the United Nations and western governments are not speaking out on this issue.”

President Hamid Karzai’s cabinet has approved the proposal to re-establish the department, and the measure will go to Afghanistan’s parliament when it reconvenes later this summer. The conservative complexion of the assembly makes it likely to be passed.

It's only a matter of time before the Taliban regains control of Afghanistan. Perhaps if President Bush hadn't gotten sidetracked in Iraq more attention could have been focused on keeping Afghanistan out of Taliban control. Many parts of that country remain under the control of the Taliban and warlords. The Bush administration can't seem to do anything right.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

When will the madness stop?

I came across this pic from this site with the caption "Israeli girls write messages to their neighbors" followed by some very graphic pics of Lebanese civilians who were killed. Sure there are photos out there of Palestinian children dressed in suicide vests but we're talking about Israel, they're supposedly our greatest ally in the Middle East. Allowing children to write messages on bombs is no better then Palestinians dressing their children up like suicide bombers. This photo in a nutshell is why there most likely never will be peace in the Middle East. You have a hatred that's handed down from generation to generation on both sides. Israeli and Muslim children are taught to hate each other from an early age. It's a vicious cycle. How does Israel think the Lebanese people are going to feel about Israeli's after Israel is finished going after Hezbollah and Lebanon is left in ruins? How is the Lebanese prime minister supposed to reign in Hezbollah when support for Hezbollah will be at an all time high thanks to Israel's bombing of Lebanon's infrastructure? It's really too bad that this President won't take an even handed approach when it comes to Israel.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Charles Barkley, "I was a Republican before they lost their minds"

Courtesy of travelgolf.com:
When John Mellencamp let loose with a rip on the Bush administration in the middle of an celebrity golf tournament event concert, sending ex Vice President Dan Quayle marching for the exit, he may have shot a few shockwaves through the American Century Championship. But one of the biggest celebrities in the Lake Tahoe field - a man who used to be one of America's biggest Republicans literally - wasn't shedding any tears for Quayle.

"He's right," Charles Barkley said of Mellencamp. "The word conservative means discriminatory practically. It's a form of political discrimination. What do the Republicans run on? Against gay marriage and for a war that makes no sense. A war that was based on faulty intelligence. That's all they ever talk about. That and immigration. Another discriminatory argument for political gain."

In mid show Friday night, Mellencamp introduced a song with "This next one is for all the poor people who've been ignored by the current administration," according to witnesses.

Quayle almost immediately marched towards the exit from his high profile seat at the outdoor venue.

"I didn't appreciate the comment and besides I didn't think the show was very good," Quayle told an observer as he bolted.

Barkley argued that attacking George W. Bush is a waste of energy that frustrates him, but he wasn't going to dispute the premise.

"The Democrats have done a horrible job," Barkley said. "A really crappy job. They spend all this time and energy getting on George Bush. They're going after a guy who's on the way out in two years no matter what they say anyways. He can't run again. He can't get fired. Why are you worrying about him?

"Democrats have wasted the last two years going after this guy and two years from another election, we don't have a frontrunner or a plan."

Hearing Barkley saying "we" with the Democrats would be surprise to many. For years, the NBA Hall of Famer was a very public card carrying member of the Republican party.

"I was a Republican until they lost their minds," Barkley said.

Charles Barkley is right, the Republican party has become the party of intollerance and discrimination. While he's partly right about the Dems going after a guy who can't run again, the Democrats should do all they can to tie the Republican party to President Bush. Bush is after all supposed to be the head of his party. Republicans who support this President are every bit as responsible for the mess this country is in as Bush is. Republican Congressman and Senators need to pay a price at the polls come November for their support and enablement of one of the worst Presidents in our history.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

The Middle East Mess

Looks like World War III is about to begin in the Middle East with Israel bombing Lebanon. In my opinion this is an intense overreaction on Israel's part. Just because they have all that military might doesn't mean they should be so quick to use it. Dropping bombs all over the place terrorizes innocent civilians and galvanizes support for that country's government. If Israel further escalates the situation and bombs Syria or Iran then all hell will break loose in the region with the US in the middle. Israel needs to realize that they're supposed to be on morally superior ground compared to the terrorists. Just because terrorist groups murder innocent civilians doesn't make it right for Israel to do the same. When it comes to innocent civilians being killed, it's equally appalling whether it's a Jewish child or a Muslum child who is killed. I know there are those that will argue that Israel doesn't purposely target civilians but Israel knows that when they shoot a missile at a car driving on a busy street, innocent civilians will be killed along with the terrorists.

Of course the US government is in no position to lecture Isreal about high moral standards when our own government has approved of torture and went to war with a country based on lies. It's really ashame we don't have a President who has an understanding of whole Middle East region like President Clinton did. This President will not stand up to Israel which means Israel has the green light to unleash their military superiority on their Muslim neighbors. While i have no sympathy for the terrorists, i do have sympathy for all those innocent civilians which will be killed as a result of Israel's actions. It's really ashame that the extremist on both sides are the ones that will determine the outcome of the latest crisis in the region.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

George W. Bush like a painful rash

From Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist:
It is like some sort of virus. It is like some sort of weird and painful rash on your face that makes you embarrassed to walk out the door and so you sit there day after day, waiting for it to go away, slathering on ointment and Bactine and scotch. And yet still it lingers.

Some days the pain is so searing and hot you want to cut off your own head with a nail file. Other days it is numb and pain-free and seemingly OK, to the point where you think it might finally be all gone and you allow yourself a hint of a whisper of a positive feeling, right up until you look in the mirror, and scream.

George W. Bush is just like that.

I suppose the ever shrinking percentage of Bush appologists will read Mark Morford's column and think to themselves that he's just another Bush basher. I guess they never stop to think that there are very real and legitimate reasons why many people feel the way Mark Morford does about this President. The November elections can't come fast enough. With a Democratically controlled Congress Bush will be stopped in his tracks from doing any more damage to this country than he already has.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Michelle Malkin tries to outdo Ann Coulter

MALKIN SMEARS DEAD WOMAN, SAYS SHE'S A "CORRUPTOCRAT."

Terror suspects entrapped by FBI?

From the NY Daily News:
An FBI informant urged seven terror suspects to target FBI offices throughout the country - including one in New York - and even helped the men scout the buildings, law enforcement sources told the Daily News yesterday.

The suspects, who also allegedly schemed to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, were denied bond in a Miami federal court yesterday as sources shed light on the FBI effort to ensnare them.

Last December, the FBI arranged for an undercover informant posing as an Al Qaeda terrorist to meet with alleged ringleader Narseal Batiste, who authorities say had already recruited six men to help bring down the landmark 110-story Chicago office tower.

But in March, in an effort to solidify his "terrorist credentials," the informant suggested the men widen their aims to attack FBI offices in Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington and New York, a law enforcement source said.

Batiste and his followers readily agreed, even taking an Al Qaeda oath at the suggestion of the informant, Justice Department sources said. Soon, Batiste and the agent began a surveillance operation of the FBI office in Miami - while the bureau watched their every move, sources said.

"The FBI made sure the informant suggested Bureau buildings and not, say, airports, in order to maintain an element of control," said a law enforcement source. "The FBI knew exactly what was going on and was in complete control."

The terror suspects never performed reconnaissance on the Sears Tower or any other FBI office, including the one in lower Manhattan that was also targeted in a 1993 plot to blow up New York landmarks. They also never acquired any of the explosives to carry out their attacks, authorities said.

It wouldn't surprise me if these so called terror suspects are eventually let go provided they have a competent attorney. This is looking more and more like a Bush administration political operation to show that something is actually being accomplished on the war on terror. How hard could it have been to get some poor angry black americans to vent some anger towards our government? My guess is not hard at all considering Bush's approval ratings among african americans. My take on this is that these guys never had the knowledge or the resources to carry out any terrorist operations. If this is the standard by which you can arrest someone for planning terrorist attacks, then Ann Coulter should be in prison for stating that the New York Times building should be blown up.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

The difference between right wing and progressive bloggers

Progressive bloggers will admit to their mistakes.