"They did everything they were trained to do[: murder]"

From the AP:

Eight Marines were charged Thursday in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians last year during a bloody, door-to-door sweep in the town of Haditha that came after one of their comrades was killed by a roadside bomb.

In the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to come out of the Iraq war, four of the Marines — all enlisted men — were charged with unpremeditated murder.

[...]

The most serious charges were brought against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, a 26-year-old squad leader accused of murdering 12 civilians and ordering the murders of six more inside a house cleared by his squad. He was accused of telling his men to "shoot first and ask questions later," according to court papers released by his attorney.

[...]

Defense attorneys have disputed that, saying their clients were doing as they had been taught: responding to a perceived threat with legitimate force.

"There's no question that innocent people died that day, but Staff Sergeant Wuterich believes, and I believe, they did everything they were trained to do," said Wuterich's lawyer, Neal Puckett.

click here for all of it

As these Marines' attorney said, they were doing what they were taught. The Marines have been taught to shoot every single target they can find in the vacinity of an attack, no questions asked. That doesn't sound like spreading democracy to me. What are we doing over there?

Iraq troop buildup idea worries generals

From the AP via Yahoo! News:

A White House laboring to find a new approach in Iraq said Tuesday it is considering sending more U.S. troops, an option that worries top generals because of its questionable payoff and potential backlash. President Bush said he is ready to boost the overall size of an American military overstretched by its efforts against worldwide terrorism.

The military's caution on shipping thousands of additional troops temporarily to Iraq is based on a fear that the move could be ineffective without bold new political and economic steps.

Commanders also worry that the already stretched Army and Marine Corps would be even thinner once the short-term surge ended. Bush's newly expressed interest in making the military larger would have little impact on that worry because it will take much longer to add substantially to the size of the military.

Generals also question whether sending more troops to Iraq would feed a perception that the strife in Iraq is mainly a military problem; in their view it is largely political, fed by economic distress.

click here for all of it

Like I said in the previous post, he's the worst ever. We shouldn't send more troops, take it from the generals. They know a little more about war than the president, that's what they're there for. Bush has been notorious for doing the opposite of what his generals say, and putting his owns words in their mouths. Almost any time they talk about his strategy, it's like a negative critique. Isn't that tendancy a bit of a clue?

WORST EVER!

By far the worst

President Bush said today that he plans to put more troops in Iraq.

Who does this guy think he is? He's stuck in 2003 or something. This is absolutely, inarguably, undeniably, grounds for impeachment.

I'm stunned he thinks he can get away with this.

Does anyone still feel like explaining why it's dumb to still have toops in Iraq? Is it pointless to explain why we never should have gone in there?

"The search is on"

From the AP via Yahoo! News:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Kip Davis and Jay Robison saw what they believed was an ivory-billed woodpecker on Thursday, one of thousands of reported sightings piling up as leaves in an east Arkansas swamp drift down.

[...]

Connie Bruce, a spokeswoman for Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology, which is researching the possible re-appearance of the ivory-billed woodpecker, said the search continues despite no evidence being turned up last winter.

"The search is on," Bruce said. "This is very important to us. We all want to locate this bird."

click here for all of it

Seriously, if you've seen this woodpecker anywhere, please contact your local animal control office. This is a problem we've got to address. We're losing too many soldiers in Iraq as it is, we can't afford to lose this woodpecker.

America's Injustice System is Criminal

From Counter Punch by way of RealArt:

The Christmas season is a time to remember the unfortunate. Among the most unfortunate people are those who have been wrongly convicted and imprisoned.

The United States has a large number of wrongfully convicted. There are many reasons for this. One is that the US has the largest percentage of its citizens imprisoned of all countries in the world, including China. One of every 32 US adults is behind bars, on probation or on parole. Given a wrongful conviction rate, the larger the percentage of citizens in jails, the greater the number of wrongfully convicted.

According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College in London, the US has 700,000 more of its citizens incarcerated than China, a country with a population four to five times larger than that of the US, and 1,330,000 more people in prison than crime-ridden Russia. The US has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prisoners. The American incarceration rate is seven times higher than that of European countries. Either America is the land of criminals, or something is seriously wrong with the criminal justice (sic) system in "the land of the free."

click here for all of it

This is pretty wild. He gives a few examples of people who've been convicted with no evidence. This article mentions a whole bunch of specific issues regarding injustice, though not citing examples for all of them. It's a good read, but some of it is pretty arguable.

Calif. company faces immigration charges

From the AP via Yahoo! News:

A Southern California fence-building company and two executives pleaded guilty Thursday to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a combined penalty of $5 million. The executives could also go to prison.

The penalty is one of the biggest fines ever imposed in an immigration case, and the case represents a rare instance in which prosecutors brought criminal charges over the hiring of illegal immigrants.

[...]

The two men admitted hiring at least 10 illegal immigrants.

[...]

Hirsch said prosecutors plan to ask for six months behind bars for the two men at sentencing March 28. The maximum sentence is five years. Prison time is unusual in such cases.

Among Golden State Fence's projects in recent years was construction of part of a 14-mile border fence in San Diego in the late 1990s.

Last year, in one of the biggest cases of its kind, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $11 million to end a federal investigation into the use of illegal immigrants at stores in 21 states.

Companies are rarely hit with criminal charges for hiring illegal immigrants.

[...]

The illegal hiring took place between 1999 and 2005.

[...]

Golden State, which has 750 employees, saw sales soar from $60 million in 1998 to $150 million in 2004, according to a biography of Kay provided by the company.

The plea bargain comes just days after federal authorities raided meat processing plants in six states as part of an investigation into the stealing and selling of identity documents so illegal immigrants could get jobs.

clickhereforallofit

That seventh little paragraph says it all. Companies rarely get busted for this because the government just isn't that concerned with illegal labor, though this article seems to show that the government is suddenly cracking down on this issue, which is what I've always said the government needed to do. I'd still like to hear this side of the illegal immigration debate more often, even though I can't stand the illegal immigration debate because it was so obviously sparked recently to distract us from Iraq.

Anyway, I'm right, always have been, thanks for stopping by, say no to corporate labor abuse.

Bush: I won't be rushed on Iraq

From the AP via Yahoo! News:

President Bush said Wednesday he would "not be rushed" into a decision on a strategy change for Iraq, saying that in a round of consultations he heard both some interesting ideas and some "ideas that would lead to defeat."

"And I reject those ideas," Bush said after meeting with top generals and Defense Department officials at the Pentagon. He said those ideas included "leaving before the job is done, ideas such as not helping this (Iraqi) government take the necessary and hard steps to be able to do its job."

clickhereforallofit

"Ideas that WOULD lead to defeat?" We're there Georgie! Get the fuck out!! There's no victory when there's no plan, and you can't decide on a plan! You keep changing your plan, you keep changing the whole fucking purpose of this "war." Get the fuck out!

"Before the job is done?" Give me a break and get the fuck out. Of Iraq. Right now.

Police: Ill. gunman [not terrorist] angry over invention

From the AP via Yahoo! News:

Joe Jackson, 59, made at least one other attempt Friday to enter the offices of the intellectual property law firm Wood, Phillips, Katz, Clark & Mortimer, but was turned away because he didn't have an appointment, said Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline.

The next time he returned, Jackson had a revolver, knife and hammer hidden in a manila envelope, Cline said. He forced a security guard at gunpoint to take him up to the 38th floor, where shooting victim Michael McKenna, 58, rented office space. Jackson carried McKenna's business card in his pocked, Cline said.

click here for all of it

I don't mean to ignore the actual story, but I am. I've posted this to point out that Joe Jackson is not a terrorist, he is a gunman. He was angry, shot some people, his religion, or lack thereof, is irrelevant. Even the word "terror" is nowhere to be found on the entire web page.

Also in Illinois:

A Muslim convert is in custody accused of trying to trade two stereo speakers for a 9 mm pistol and the grenades authorities say he wanted to carry out an attack on holiday shoppers.

[...]

The imam of the Muslim Association of Greater Rockford, Shpendim Nadzaku, commended authorities for intercepting the alleged plot and reiterated "the Muslim community's condemnation of terrorism in the name of Islam."

click here for all of it (also from the AP via Yahoo! News)

This web page had "terror," "terrorist," and "terrorism," in several places, though the article itself only used the word "terrorism" once, but it was okay because a Muslim said it...

Joe Jackson the gunman actually killed some people, Derrick Shareef the terrorist never got the chance to.

I dunno about you but I'm about to saddle up for the War on Gumanism.

Bush's Meeting With A Murderer

From Tompaine.com (Dec. 4th, 2006) by Robert Dreyfuss:

President George W. Bush meets today with Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the [...] leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a Shiite fundamentalist party that is strongly tied to Iran. In so doing, the president is meeting with someone who, perhaps more than anyone else in Iraq, is responsible for trying to destroy Iraqi national unity, prevent national reconciliation among Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian mix, and push Iraq into civil war.

click here for all of it

Whats the difference between harboring terrorists and shaking hands with them?

I guess going and meeting with them on their turf takes a little more work, or maybe lack thereof. Enough joking, Bush is literally shaking hands with the enemy, with a real "evil doer," as he calls others. How does he continue to get away with this shit?

or

Just watched V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta is one of the best movies ever. I am pumped right now! Wish I had seen it in theaters. Why didn't people revolt after that movie? It's so perfect, it lays out exactly whats wrong with several governments right now, it's basically a re-telling of Orwell's 1984, a story that still needs to be told. Every day. Until people wise up.

I'm gonna go torch some buildings now.

I coined 'turban street'

In the next few days you may hear various versions of a joke that I posted in a myspace bulletin with the punchline of "turban street."

I am using this blog to publish the joke and have concrete proof that I said it first.

The joke:

Jen: (after several emergency vehicles zoom by the cafe) Man whats going on?? They've caught Osama bin Laden in New Orleans!

Me: Yeah, they caught him on TURBAN STREET!

Just wait, turban streets gonna be HUGE, you'll see.