Ablogination

Figured an ‘08 recap would be fairly useless. There are plenty of them already and for the most part, if you don’t know what’s been going on this past year you’re either brain-dead or willfully ignorant.

So let’s reflect on a few of our points from this year that will not go away with the coming one.

1) Tomorrow, Palestinians will still be busy being murdered by monsters and not nearly enough people care. Particularly amongst so called “Liberal Bloggers".
I guess even our end of the political spectrum is not without it’s cowards.

2) Tomorrow, we will still have an administration that has collectively committed treason and all too many care even less about that.

3) Tomorrow we will still have a very capable and well-meaning President Elect that happens to be testicularly challenged. I hope Barack Obama’s change motif included himself because if it doesn’t, we’re in for a disappointing 2009.

4) Tomorrow we will still have an energy crises and now that gas isn’t expensive, count on many to forget all about the need for alternatives.

5) Tomorrow we will still have the poor, the homeless, the unloved and the unwanted.
Question is, will we do anything about it this time?

6) Tomorrow we will still have troops in Iraq and over 4000 of them in the ground. And it will still be for absolutely nothing.

7) Tomorrow, somewhere in the country, another American will lose their freedom for smoking a joint or die on probation because they cannot take their medicine.

8) Tomorrow, another American will die from lack of appropriate, affordable health care.

9) Tomorrow, another corporate scumbag will poison another piece of precious environment, another form of wildlife, another child.

10) Tomorrow, another person won’t care.

Tomorrow should be the beginning of a harder, more resolute, far more aggressive push by the Liberals in this country to right all of these wrongs and then some, correct all of these shortcomings and more, and to hold our new President’s feet to the fire so that he performs his duty the way we expected him to when we voted for him.

Should be. Maybe.
We shall see.

Happy New Year? Your guess is as good as mine.

Once again, the rogue state of Israel is out of control. Resorting to ramming a civilian vessel is yet another display of the fact that the IDF simply have no problem targeting civilians. Unarmed, non-aggressive civilians.

Dignity

With Cynthia McKinney, 2008 Green Party Presidential Candidate on board, it would not be inappropriate for the US to consider this an act of war much like the attack on the USS Liberty in 1967 that killed 43 American service people.

From CNN:

(CNN) – An Israeli patrol boat struck a boat carrying medical volunteers and supplies to Gaza early Tuesday as it attempted to intercept the vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, witnesses and Israeli officials said.
The Dignity arrives in Tyre, Lebanon, after it was reportedly rammed by an Israeli military vessel Tuesday.

CNN Correspondent Karl Penhaul was aboard the 60-foot, Gibraltar-registered pleasure boat Dignity when the contact occurred. When the boat later docked in the Lebanese port city of Tyre, severe damage was visible to the forward port side of the boat, and the front left window and part of the roof had collapsed.

The Dignity was carrying crew and 16 passengers – physicians from Britain, Germany and Cyprus and human rights activists, including former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney – who were trying to reach Gaza through an Israeli blockade of the territory.

The captain of the Dignity said the Israelis broadcast a radio message accusing the vessel of being involved in terrorist activity. But Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied that and said the radio message simply warned the vessel not to proceed to Gaza because it is a closed military area.

Palmor said there was no response to the radio message, and the vessel then tried to out-maneuver the Israeli patrol boat, leading to the collision. Video Watch Penhaul describe the boat damage »

Penhaul said at least two Israeli patrol boats had shadowed the Dignity for about half an hour before the collision, moving around the vessel on all sides. One of the patrol boats then shined its spotlight on the Dignity while the other, with its lights off, “very severely rammed” the boat.

The captain of the Dignity told Penhaul he received no prior warning. Only after the collision did the Israelis come on the radio to say they struck the boat because they believed it was involved in terrorist activities.

“I would call it ramming. Let’s just call it as it is,” McKinney said. “Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and one on the side".
VIDEO

This must stop now.

This is like two spoiled children fighting over a toy, and the only way to stop it is to take their toy away.
A massive multi-national force should be employed and both Hamas and Israel relieved of their governments and order restored. Clearly neither are capable of being the slightest bit civilized.

The majority of the peoples on both sides overwhelmingly support co-existence and peace. Israel is the aggressor and only we (US) have the power to control them. Yet we do nothing short of encourage them.
The Neocon elements in both the US and Zionist governments thrive on war.
What does that leave us with?

Obama.

Time to stop hiding, Barack. Call Bush out in front of everyone and tell him to do something other than suck Israel’s Zionist, Terrorist ass.
You know what needs to be done.

1) Abide by all UN resolutions concerning Israel and do not veto sound UN decisions. Tell Israel that their money and arms depend on their compliance with every detail of all resolutions.

2) Tell Hamas they’ll be next after Afghanistan if this insanity doesn’t stop.

3) End the influence of AIPC, the ADL, the PNAC and other such Zionist Pigs on our own government. They are the true agitators of all these dots.

4) We’ve had Regime Change here in America, we need Regime Change in Israel too. The Likud is the Neocon element in Israel that must be disposed of.

If all else fails, Request the largest multi-national force ever assembled and use it. If there’s going to be war in the Holy Land, let it be the biggest and the last. An international Holy Land with a UN imposed government and permanent peace keeping force sounds good to me.

Twenty days, Barack. Whatcha gonna do?

The murderous Israel has gone too far. The action in the Gaza Strip is not “self defense", it’s genocide. Shoah, or Holocaust. That is the Zionist objective.
The Palestinian people, unarmed civilians, are being slaughtered by an occupying force that needs and deserves to be emasculated. By force if need be.

Sad is the fact that the US Government is too cowardly in nature to control the Beast. Instead it serves the diabolical abomination that is Israel. We are once again guilty of sitting idly by while innocent people are murdered with weapons and money we provide the criminal state with.

When the Israeli Terrorists attacked Beirut in 2006 they clearly and knowingly attacked civilians. They lost that war to Hezbollah, being sent home with their tails between their legs.
This time, Israel claims it is targeting Hamas and once again, the truth is exactly the opposite…

Those are NOT Hamas Soldiers. They are average, impoverished, Palestinian men, women, and obviously children.
The disproportionate use of firepower reflects the intense cowardice Israel is guilty of now and in the past. They are using fighter aircraft on unarmed civilians. There is no more prolific an example of cowards in action than we see in Gaza today.
If Israel ever had a right to exist, they have lost it now.
There is no excuse for murdering unarmed civilians with state-of-the-art weapons, starvation and disease. There is no excuse for Israel. They are simply a terrorist, oppressive state that must be stopped no matter what the cost.

May God be with and comfort the people of Gaza.

The Terrorist State of Israel

Reference:

Conflict History

Now, don’t think for one second that we are anti-TVA. The Tennessee Valley Authority is a great institution without which many of us may still be stump jumpin’ barefoot hillbillies living off the land, losing our teeth at 20 and dying at 35.

As with any machine in the system, the machine is only as good as those who run it. In the case of the Harriman, TN Coal Ash Disaster, the operator is to blame.

The “operator” in this case is Tom Kilgore, CEO, and Inspector General, Richard Moore.
We have a few questions:

What was the spill contingency plan? Did one even exist? Is that standard procedure, I mean, isn’t there supposed to be a plan?
When was the retaining wall last inspected? Did TVA just figure it would hold unlimited amounts of sludge for all eternity?
Who else is ultimately responsible for the lack of oversight that has allowed a preventable disaster to occur?
There is a need for a Federal Investigation. There may be a criminal issue involved and as it happens, Greenpeace is calling for exactly that. A criminal investigation.

The attempts by TVA to minimize the potentially deadly toxic aspects of the disaster are both expected and scary. Under Kilgore, a Republican, TVA’s first thought was to TVA. To keeping things quiet so’s not to lose face.
According to an AP article:

HARRIMAN, Tenn. (AP) – A southern environmental group wants authorities to issue stronger warnings about the danger a major coal ash spill in eastern Tennessee poses to residents.

State environmental officials have said there is no indication of immediate risk if residents come in contact with the mixture of coal fly ash and water.

But the executive director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy disagrees.

Stephen Smith says officials should encourage residents to avoid contact with the muck coating their neighborhood in Harriman, about 35 miles west of Knoxville.

State Environmental Officials are evidently idiots. Or liars. Go ahead, “officials", feed one of these to your family…

Clinch River: h/t ‘coma

The danger is real and is a mid to long term threat. Coal Ash is 100 times more radioactive than Nuclear Waste. Heavy particles sink. They sink into the ground and contaminate water and soil. Granted it’s not Hiroshima or Chernobyl, but contaminated water is contaminated water. The point is this didn’t have to happen. No oversight, no inspections?
Obviously somebody missed, or ignored, something.

In the mean time, Tom Kilgore is getting some of those GM type raises to the tune of 500′000 while our rates skyrocket…

From Knoxnews:

NASHVILLE - The nation’s biggest public utility is raising its chief executive’s compensation by nearly a half million dollars, a month after its largest electric rate increase in three decades took effect.

Tennessee Valley Authority President and CEO Tom Kilgore told board members meeting Thursday in Nashville that the rate could go down in January because fuel costs have decreased. He didn’t say how much the rate may decrease.

At the meeting, board members approved raising Kilgore’s bonus-driven compensation package from a potential $2.7 million to $3.27 million, effective the next fiscal year.

Kilgore’s base salary of $650,000 has remained the same since he became CEO in 2006. He said after the meeting that he would not decline the board’s offer to raise it to $850,000.

On Oct. 1, the TVA put a 20 percent electricity rate increase into effect, raising average residential bills by $15.80 to $19.80 a month. It’s the TVA’s biggest rate boost since 1974 and its second this year, following a 7 percent increase in April - all because of ballooning costs for fuel and purchased power.

It seems to us that Mr. Kilgore isn’t worth the money. Nor is Mr. Moore’s inspecting getting the job done.
It’s time for Kilgore to step down. No raise. Just go.

Tom Kilgore

Then we can give President Obama the opportunity to appoint a new board if needed and try to fix what’s so obviously wrong with TVA… Greed, ignorance, incompetence.

We need a system to keep our environment pristine, that is TVA’s job. Right now, under Kilgore, they’re doing exactly the opposite.
We see the exact same type of mismanagement at TVA as we’ve seen at GM, Wall Street, Enron. The state of Tennessee cannot afford to let this incompetence snowball into something even more disastrous in the future.
And if something isn’t done, it will.

Newscoma
Crone Speaks

Those of us who refer to ourselves as “Christians” should take this opportunity to re-read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and remember what Jesus taught.

What good is His blood if we don’t listen to his words?
What good is your faith if your deeds are contrary to the doctrine? Jesus never turned one single soul away that sought to know Him. He never said to turn anyone away. Why would we think that it was okay for us to do so?
Because Paul said it? Was Paul Jesus?
Who was the master and who was the servant?

There are those who profess non-belief because of the evil deeds they see so called “believers” do.
War and glorification of mayhem, casting derision upon others because you don’t like their lifestyle, their beliefs, their relations….this is evil. It drives people away from the glory and not to it.
We were taught to embrace those we hate. I did so only moments ago. Doesn’t change my feelings but I did that which is required of me.
Perhaps it changed their feelings. Perhaps not.

If you are a “Christian", when you drive a non-believer away from you, you drive them away from Christ.

He does not approve.

A Cool Yule to all, both friend and foe.
From all at TN420.org

The always spot on Scott Thill, at Alternet, once again brings clarity where confusion exists.
As perplexed as I was at the though of Bosnia Betty being SoS, I failed to realize the obvious. It was right in front of my face and I was yet to see.

Bill Richardson is Commerce Sec…..Richardson is the Governor who signed New Mexico’s Medical Marijuana Bill into law with great enthusiasm and only the well being of his fellow Americans in mind.

This may work out after all…

Though Barack Obama has flip-flopped on the Legalize Marijuana issue, repeatedly, Bill Richardson has not.

“So what if it’s risky? It’s the right thing to do, My God, let’s be reasonable.” Sec. Richardson said of his decision to make Medical Marijuana law in the state of New Mexico.
Some of the purest words spoken on the issue to date by a major political figure right of Dennis Kucinich.

Obama?
“The war on drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws.” -Barack Obama, January 2004 (VID)

“I inhaled frequently, that was the point.”

-Barack Obama, November 2006 (VID)

Q: “Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?”

A: “President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.”

-Statement from Change.gov, the official website of President-Elect Obama, December 15, 2008

Well, that’s a politician for you. And as we see more clearly every day, a politician is all Obama is when it comes down to it. But then again, Medical Marijuana is the priority, and he never said he wasn’t in favor of medical.
Richardson’s influence, I believe, will be great.
Will this bring justice to the millions of people who suffer from ills that can be eased, or even cured, with Cannabis? Who knows? I’m tellin’ ya it looks a hell of a lot better than it ever has before.

Time to push even harder. Harder than ever before. And hopefully, somewhere along the line, sanity will prevail.

-captainkona

SOURCE: Scott Thill

SOURCE: Paul Armentano.

Time to take a look at the Obama cabinet as it stands. Overall there is obviously a problem, but in fairness, each pick should be assessed on an individual basis.

Reuters Fact Box gives us the generic, depth-deprived rundown.
We’ll give you the reality….

SECRETARY OF STATE

* Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama’s former Democratic Party rival for the White House, was named to the top diplomatic post. The move is seen as part of Obama’s effort to rebuild America’s reputation abroad. Aides have said Obama admires Clinton’s work ethic and also believes the former first lady’s star power would boost his vision of improving America’s global standing.

Obama’s first and worst choice. There are few positions if any that are as important, especially at this time, in our nation’s administration. And Obama fell flat on his face.

Hillary Clinton is an awkward specimen with no more experience in diplomacy than the average house wife.
Coming in behind the worst SoS in history is going to require more than the ability to throw a tea party and commit to smile and wave parades.
Clinton’s credibility is virtually zero after the Bosnia Betty lies and the latest revelation that her wife, Bill, has taken donations from numerous gubberments and blood splattered corporations like Blackwater Security.
They took money from India. How does that translate into diplomacy with Pakistan? They took money from the Saudi Royals. How does that sit with the average Arab, particularly the Shia who control Iran and Iraq?
The biggest chicken hawk hypocrite in the Democratic party and he makes her the Sr. Diplomat?

We warned you, Barack. The Clinton’s will waste no time in undermining your presidency. They want the White House and will work against you constantly behind your back.
This was a major mistake. One I hope the entire nation doesn’t live to regret.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

* Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, named by President George W. Bush in late 2006, is considered a moderate voice on the Republican’s national security team and embodies an important signal of continuity. Obama had said early on he would include Republicans in his Cabinet and the 65-year-old Gates has been lauded by members of both parties since taking over the Pentagon from Donald Rumsfeld.

Gates is a Republican, a NeoCon, and what’s worse, he’s still loyal to BushCo. Jack Reed or Chuck Hagel should have been offered this position and Gates stay on until his office is transitioned.

TREASURY SECRETARY

* Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, is Obama’s choice for the Treasury Department, making him Obama’s point person in dealing with the economic crisis. Geithner has helped lead efforts to stabilize financial markets and argued that banks crucial to the global financial system should operate under a unified regulatory framework.

Went to Dartmouth, young and enthusiastic, any replacement for BushBot, Henry Paulson, will be an improvement.

HOMELAND SECURITY

* Janet Napolitano, the Democratic governor of Arizona, was named to head the U.S. Homeland Security Department, a sprawling agency formed to bolster civil defense following the September 11 attacks.

First, the DHS is a useless waste of tax dollars and should be dissolved. Having said that, if we’re going to have a useless agency, Janet Napolitano could at least try and make it useful.
Unlike Michael Chertoff she is not (that we know of) a Nazi.
Probably as competent a choice as possible, we will have to wait and see if she continues Chertoff’s assault on liberty and record of failure in securing our borders.
Her exit from Arizona will also leave that state wide open and in Republican hands. Her veto pen will be missed there.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL

* Lawrence Summers, 53, has been chosen to head the council. He was treasury secretary for the final 1-1/2 years of the Clinton administration and has been a senior adviser to Obama for several months, helping to guide his response to the financial meltdown.

This is probably a good choice.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

* Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, the former top operational commander of NATO, was named by Obama to be his national security adviser. Jones is widely respected by both Democrats and Republicans and has avoided aligning himself with either party but is known to have been a strong critic of the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq war.

Jones wouldn’t be an issue if not for the fact that he would have been McCain’s pick also.
Jones and McCain are good friends. That doesn’t make Jones a bad choice, it do leave much to be desired of his taste in friends though.
Gotta keep a close eye on this cat. Real close.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

* Eric Holder, a former Justice Department official in the Clinton administration, will run the Justice Department. Holder has been a senior legal adviser to Obama’s campaign and helped vet his vice presidential candidates.

This appointment is a mistake. Why? Eric Holder is a sleazy kinda guy, that’s why. First we have the Marc Rich pardon, which Bill Clinton is guilty of and Holder an accessory.
In 1983, financier Marc Rich was indicted for evading more than $48 million in taxes, and charged with 51 counts of tax fraud, as well as running illegal oil deals with Iran during the 1979-1980 hostage crisis. During his last week in office, President Bill Clinton pardoned Rich, who had fled the U.S. during his prosecution and was residing in Switzerland. Clinton’s eleventh-hour move, along with pardons of his half-brother, Roger, and former business partner Susan McDougal, outraged Republicans and Democrats alike. The Rich pardon prompted an investigation into the possibility it was bought by the hefty donations Rich’s ex-wife, Denise, had given to the Clintons and the Democrats. In the end, investigators did not find enough evidence to indict Clinton.

Then, we have Holder’s association with the Chiquita Corporation. And the Death Squads they employed.
In 2004, Holder helped negotiate an agreement with the Justice Department for Chiquita Brands International in a case that involved Chiquita’s payment of “protection money” to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a group on the U.S. government’s list of terrorist organizations.In the agreement, Chiquita’s officials pleaded guilty and paid a fine of $25 million. Holder represented Chiquita in the civil action that grew out of this criminal case.

John Kerry should have been offered this position.

SECRETARY OF ENERGY

* Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics, is Obama’s choice for secretary of energy. Chu was an early advocate for finding scientific solutions to climate change and guided the Lawrence Berkeley laboratory to become the world leader in alternative and renewable energy research.

This is an excellent choice. Period.
Someone with a brain for a change.

SECRETARY OF INTERIOR

* Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado, who once practiced as an environmental lawyer, was named to head the Interior Department. The son of Americans of Mexican descent, he is one of two Hispanic people named to Obama’s Cabinet. He will be a key member of Obama’s energy team who would oversee the leasing of federal lands for oil and gas drilling.

Another huge mistake. Salazar’s voting record is an essay in BushCo/NeoCon appeasement. A DLC Jellyspine, Salazar has voted against Democratic, progressive legislation consistently.

Salazar voted against increased fuel efficiency standards for the U.S. automobile fleet, voted to allow offshore oil drilling along Florida’s coast, voted to allow the Army Corps of Engineers to ignore global warming impacts in their water development projects, voted against the repeal of tax breaks for Exxon-Mobile, voted to support subsidies to ranchers and other users of public forest and range lands, threatened to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when its scientists determined the black-tailed prairie dog may be endangered and fought efforts to increase protection for endangered species and the environment in the Farm Bill.

Salazar also endorsed William Myers III as Federal Judge. Myers was a former Interior Department Solicitor and lobbyist for the ranching industry. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., called him ‘’the most anti-environmental candidate for the bench I have seen in 37 years in the Senate.” Bizarrely, Salazar praised Myers’ “outstanding legal reasoning” regarding endangered species, Indian affairs, federal lands and water, timber, and fish and wildlife issues. The American Bar Association rated Myers as “not qualified.” Salazar later supported Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General, introducing him at his Senate confirmation hearing. (HT to “blindpig” at DU)

COMMERCE SECRETARY

* New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, 61, a former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, had been an early supporter of Obama after dropping his own presidential ambitions. Richardson is of Hispanic origin.

This pick is both good and bad. Good because Bill Richardson is a great guy and a highly experienced leader. Bad because he should have been Sec. of State.

As long as he’s there.

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT COORDINATOR

* Carol Browner, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration, was named to a new position coordinating White House policy on energy, climate and environmental issues. The new position was expected to spearhead climate change policy.

Browner has more experience than anyone in the nation and a pair of big brass ones to boot.
Good choice.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR

* Lisa Jackson has served as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection in New Jersey and was named to hold a similar U.S. position in the Obama administration. Jackson worked at the EPA for 16 years at the headquarters in Washington and in New York City.

No problem there.

SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

* Shaun Donovan, the head of New York’s housing department, was nominated by Obama to run the department charged with providing affordable housing to all Americans. Donovan worked in the department under former President Bill Clinton and has focused his career mainly on affordable housing issues.

Good.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

* Tom Daschle, a key early supporter and savvy former U.S. Senate leader, was selected by Obama as secretary of health and human services. The high-profile selection signals that the push to extend health coverage to the 46 million uninsured Americans will be a high priority for Obama.

Can’t help but think that there would be a more high profile role for Tom Daschle, but what the hell. He’s a good dude and will serve his country with honor as he has always done.
Daschle, on the receiving end of Dick Cheney’s famous “go fuck yourself” comment on the Senate floor, has a long history of, get this, intelligent decision making.

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION

* Arne Duncan, head of the Chicago public school system, is Obama’s pick for secretary of education. Duncan, a fellow Harvard graduate and longtime friend of Obama’s, has earned a strong reputation at the helm of the country’s third-largest public school district, tackling problems including teacher quality and failing schools.

Classic case of Obama giving a “buddy” a job. Duncan is one of Obama’s bestest buddies, so he’s a good pick for Barack. But he’s a bad pick for education.

Read Greg Palast sometime….
Duncan is not an educator. He’s a Lawyer.
Oh, he’s been in the educational system. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley charged him with the task of cleaning up the national disaster called the Chicago Public School system. And from bad to worse it went.
What’s really interesting? Barack and Michelle sent the First Rugrats to the Laboratory School where Duncan’s views are considered dangerous to the learning establishment.
Obama doesn’t trust ol’ Slam Duncan with his kids but he trusts him with ours?
Duncan is backed by teacher-union busting Republicans. Duncan’s biggest fan? David Brooks, the New York Times’ Republican columnist.
Why? Simple. Duncan is a staunch supporter of No Child Left Behind. The already failed Bush policy.

If you open your eyes and see dark, Barack. That’s because you have your head up your ass.

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

* Tom Vilsack, a former governor from the major U.S. farm state Iowa, is Obama’s choice to be agriculture secretary. Vilsack backs tighter farm subsidy rules and new-generation biofuels. One of his major issues as governor was bringing more high-tech agribusiness to Iowa.

Tom Vilsack is a moderate but actually a damn good pick for this post.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

* Rep. Ray LaHood, a Republican, has been offered the job of transportation secretary, a senior Democrat told Reuters. LaHood hails from Obama’s home state of Illinois and is said to have a rapport with the president-elect. LaHood is expected to accept the Cabinet position, the Democratic official said.

Hood is a Republican. ‘Nuf said.

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

* Mary Schapiro, a veteran financial market regulator, is Obama’s pick to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Schapiro currently leads the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business with the U.S. public. She is a former SEC commissioner and former chairwoman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

May work, my not. Who is this person anyway?

SECRETARY OF LABOR

* California Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis, 51, has been chosen to lead the Labor Department, a Democratic official said. Solis, who represents a Southern California district made up largely of Hispanic and Asian voters, is among the most liberal members of the U.S. House of Representatives and has taken a lead on both environmental and labor issues.

Solis is an excellent choice. Labor will get results and get them quick. Solis is the first genuine Liberal appointed to the Obama cabinet.
:D

U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

* Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk has been selected to be U.S. trade representative, according to a person familiar with the decision. Kirk, a partner at the Houston-based law firm of Vinson and Elkins, is little known in Washington trade circles and became Obama’s pick after his first choice, Rep. Xavier Becerra, a California Democrat and member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, turned down the job.

Probably not a bad choice, but Barack Obama has bad trade policies to begin with so it’s basically a wash.
Free Trade is bad for the American worker and the country in general. Beyond that fact, it doesn’t really matter who’s in charge.

Basically, we have Obama picking his cabinet on a tit-for-tat basis. A NeoCon here, a Jellyspine there, a Left-Leaner or two as a cynical diss to those who voted him into power.

We can only hope that the President Elect’s actions and decisions post-inauguration will reflect far more courage and honesty than his pre-inauguration choices have.

Seven bummers, ten bright spots, a few in-betweens….
Could be a lot better.

There you have it. The reason Bill and Hillary Clinton refused to show their donors during the Democratic primary. The Saudi Royals, the murderous Blackwater Security…

Neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton deserve to be in public service. They are every bit the NeoCon vermin we have always said they are.

Well, Barack. You seem to have little difficulty making an ass of yourself lately. So why not keep Hillary and her diseased, blood spattered Blackwater money as Secretary of State?
You’ve embraced every other Right-Loving Centrist hypocrite you could find. Lieberman, Salazar, Nelson, Warren…why not the biggest hypocrites of them all?
Bill and Hillary Clinton and their NeoCon backers.

Where are your guts, Barack? Where is your decency?
Why have you digressed from this courageous leader of the new way into just another Centrist with your lips planted firmly in Right-Wing ass?
That fluid, rubbery feeling in your back would be your spine turning to jelly, if you didn’t know.

Barack Obama, you don’t have a hair on your ass of you don’t dump Hillary and Bill once and for all.

From The Associated Press:

Saudis, Blackwater among Clinton foundation donors

By BETH FOUHY and SHARON THEIMER – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton laid out a list of big-ticket donors to his foundation Thursday that is heavy with foreign governments and business interests sure to have a stake in the policies that Hillary Rodham Clinton carries out as secretary of state.

Saudi Arabia and other foreign governments gave at least $46 million, while corporate donors included the Blackwater security firm that protects U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

The contributions went to the William J. Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit created by the former president to finance his library in Little Rock, Ark., and charitable efforts to reduce poverty and treat AIDS. President-elect Barack Obama made Hillary Clinton’s nomination as secretary of state contingent on her husband revealing the foundation’s contributors, to avoid questions about potential conflicts of interest.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gave $10 million to $25 million to the foundation, and other government donors included Norway, Kuwait, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, Italy and Jamaica. The Dutch national lottery gave $5 million to $10 million.

The Blackwater Training Center donated $10,001 to $25,000. The State Department will have to decide next year whether to renew Blackwater Worldwide’s contract to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq. Five Blackwater guards have been indicted by a U.S. grand jury on manslaughter and weapons charges stemming from a September 2007 firefight in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square in which 17 Iraqis died…..

No shortage of blog on this, but we all have a duty to make ourselves heard when outrage is employed in the name of bi-partisanship.

Barack Obama has chosen to allow a complete and total Circus Preacher to deliver the invocation at the inaugural shindig.
There is no reason, none whatsoever, for pandering to the Right-Wing, snake handler fringe.

Rick Warren is a money preacher. He’s there for the pay day. This is no secret to anyone.
He represents a fringe group of ignoramuses that have no political significance in the modern process. Basically the American Taliban is what we have here.

You’re lucky McCain and Hillary are such putzes, Barack. Were it not for that fact I might be regretting my vote by now. Please keep your lips away from Righty’s ass, it doesn’t help the “change” motif, or your chances in 2012, in the slightest.

Guess what…..

Should come as no surprise. The only reason you expel a UN human rights investigator is if you have something to hide.
The thought of Israel having something to hide is particularly disturbing due to the fact that some of the earth’s most heinous atrocities have been committed by Israel and in a manner that is plain to see.
What they could be hiding should be of concern to all the world.

Israel is like a wild dog, and someone needs to put a leash on it post haste.

By way of Common Dreams:

Published on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 by The New York Times
UN Rights Investigator Expelled by Israel

by Isabel Kershner

JERUSALEM - Israeli authorities on Monday expelled Richard Falk, a United Nations investigator of human rights in the Palestinian territories, saying he was unwelcome because of what the government has regarded as his hostile position toward Israel.

[Richard Falk speaking in Istanbul in 2005. His positions have angered Israeli officials. (Cem Turkel/A.F.P. — Getty Images)]Richard Falk speaking in Istanbul in 2005. His positions have angered Israeli officials. (Cem Turkel/A.F.P. — Getty Images)
Mr. Falk, an American, arrived in Israel on Sunday. He was held at the airport and placed on the first available flight back to Geneva, his point of departure. A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Mr. Falk had been informed in advance that his entry would be barred. Mr. Falk was not immediately available for comment.

Mr. Falk, a professor of international law at Princeton, has the title of United Nations Human Rights Council special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories. He has long been criticized in Israel for what many Israelis say are unfair and unpalatable views.

He has compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to Nazi atrocities and has called for more serious examination of the conspiracy theories surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks. Pointing to discrepancies between the official version of events and other versions, he recently wrote that “only willful ignorance can maintain that the 9/11 narrative should be treated as a closed book.”

In his capacity as a United Nations investigator, Mr. Falk issued a statement this month describing Israel’s embargo on Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, as a crime against humanity, while making only cursory reference to Hamas’s rocket attacks against Israeli civilian centers. Israeli officials expressed outrage.

When his appointment was announced by the Human Rights Council last spring, the Israeli representative said it was “impossible to believe that out of a list of 184 potential candidates,” the members had made “the best possible choice for the post.”

The American and Canadian representatives also expressed concerns about Mr. Falk’s possible bias. The Palestinian representative said it was curious that Israel was “campaigning against a Jewish professor” and called the nomination “a victory for good sense and human rights.” Israel objects to the mandate of the special rapporteur on grounds that it ignores all human rights violations by Palestinians, either against Israelis or against other Palestinians. More specifically, it objects to Mr. Falk.

Continued at source….

Whatever Israel is hiding, their clear and undeniable record of terrorism, oppression, Zionist aggression and complete and total disdain for basic human rights such as food, shelter and medicine convicts them regardless. There is no excuse for apartheid in the Holy lands.
Israeli racism, paranoia and religious zealotry is the cause.
As Americans, we must push our gov’t to bring an out of control Israel to heel.
As Liberals, we cannot condone the systemic genocide through starvation that Israel is perpetrating in Gaza.

The US, England and other nations must stop funding and arming Zionist aggression. Israel must be politically and militarily quarantined by the free world if there is ever to be peace in the Middle East.
They must return Palestinian land to the true Semitic people.

The Drug War is America’s longest running war. It began in the days of Richard Nixon and has been proliferated by every President since.
The violence that is the most harmful by-product of prohibition is greater than ever today.

Drug smugglers kill innocent people, cops kill innocent people, drug smugglers kill cops, everybody kills everybody. Maniacal gangs such as MS13 and their legions of murderers have power only because prohibition gives them power. No one ever died over a kilo of cocaine. They died over the money the kilo is worth.
The money must be taken out of the equation. No money, no death.

It has to stop.

The failed and frivolous Drug War is costing lives. It’s costing the American people Billions in wasted dollars. It’s costing good people their freedom.
Over three quarters of a million Americans have been jailed this year for Marijuana “crimes” alone.
Nearly two million for general, non-violent drug “crimes".

Those Billions could buy a lot of health care.

TN420 would like, at this time, to join our friend Matthew Elrod, of Drug Sense, in endorsing founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, Ethan Nadelmann, for Drug Czar.

Ethan Nadelmann

The reasoning is simple.

1) You will find no more prolific an expert on the issue than Nadelmann. Candidates with his intellect and heart are few and far between.

2) John Walters and every other clown to ever sit in that seat is a liar and a failure. Nadelmann will provide truth where none exists.

3) The American people deserve to be safe from the Stalinesque police tactics employed by Right Wing zealots occupying gov’t offices in the name of the Drug War. Nadelmann will provide sanity where none exists.

The War on Drugs is insanity. It is perfect failure. Every bit the failure we see in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Such is the finale of all wars operated by all the wrong people for all the wrong reasons.

Please, follow this link and sign the petition to promote Ethan as Drug Czar…
PETITION.
Then visit http://change.gov and let President Obama know how you feel. He seems to be listening.

We call upon President Obama to take the evil, and thus the crime, out of the Drug War. Replace the ONDCP puppet, John Walters, with Ethan Nadelmann and do not tie his hands with politics. Let this madness finally come to an end.

-captainkona

Normally we would rejoice at the prospect of child murdering mercenaries getting their just reward, but as nice as the headline reads, there’s something amiss here and we feel that ultimately, justice will not be served.

Blackwater Murder Incorporated

According to CNN,

From Kevin Bohn
CNN

(CNN) – Five former security guards from Blackwater Worldwide have been indicted on charges of voluntary manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter and weapons violations, Justice Department officials announced Monday.
Dustin Heard, an ex-security guard from Blackwater Worldwide, surrenders Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Dustin Heard, an ex-security guard from Blackwater Worldwide, surrenders Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The 35-count indictment charges each of the former guards with 14 counts of manslaughter, 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.

If convicted, the defendants would face a maximum of 10 years in prison for each manslaughter count, seven years in prison for each count of attempted manslaughter and a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence for the firearms charge.

The men named in the indictment are Donald Ball, 26, of West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, 27, of Maryville, Tennessee; Evan Liberty, 26, of Rochester, New Hampshire; Nicholas Slatten, 24, of Sparta, Tennessee; and Paul Slough, 29, of Keller, Texas.

A sixth former security guard – Jeremy P. Ridgeway of California, 35 – has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter.

It all sounds good, and we hope these cowards get every second of the maximum sentence.
But the fact that:

1) These vermin are so eager to surrender, and the proceedings are being rushed, leaves us wondering about Bush pardoning them.

2) And the fact that Blackwater it’s self has been excused is a travesty of justice in and of it’s self.

Erik Prince, Blackwater CEO and Religofascist coward is ultimately responsible for all that Blackwater does. He is the leader of these pigs and should be on trial along with his Brown Shirts.

We’ll keep a close eye on these “indictments” and see if justice can indeed be served while Fascists are still in the White House.
We got a little with Enron. Now with a little help from God’s grace, these mercenary baby killers who made our troop’s efforts so much more difficult and perhaps cost some of our soldiers their lives will be locked up forever along with all the other vile and disgusting criminals of our time.

A friend once told me, “you’d be amazed what you can accomplish with a can of paint". I took him up on it. Went to the local paint store and grabbed up a gallon of latex and a brush. Then proceeded to the basement and chose the ugliest wall. Decaying, moldy, very unpleasing in it’s very nature.
I spent about an hour painting this hideous wall. He was right. I never felt so good about that wall and the other three never looked so bad.

I was pleased. But only until I realized that behind that pretty white paint was the same old nasty, decaying, putrid wall of cinder blocks that was there when I began. Nothing had changed. Other than immediate appearance that is.

And so the effort begins for BushCo to try and white wash the most miserable excuse for a President, and a first family, this nation has ever known.

Denial Tour ‘08 is the last stitch attempt by BushCo to lie their way to a legacy that excludes some of the worst crimes any leader has ever committed.

It will not work.

Last week, Charlie Gibson of ABC interviewed the incompetent boob 8% of Americans view as President of the United States.
Want a lesson in bold-faced lying from the world’s foremost authority? Just read this….

From ABC:

GIBSON: When you add it all up, you’ve got about $7.5 trillion in funded and unfunded backing of securities now.

BUSH: Yes.

GIBSON: And that’s about half of what our economy is in its whole. Does that scare the willikers out of you?

BUSH: What scared me is not doing anything, which would have caused there to be a huge financial meltdown and the conceivable scenario that we’d have been in a depression greater than the Great Depression.

On the other hand, a lot of the – you know, these – some of these are investments. I’ve got faith that the economy will recover. As a matter of fact, I’m confident it will recover. I can’t tell you exactly the moment, but when it does recover, a lot of the assets now owned by the government will be sold. And I can’t guarantee that we’ll get all our money back, but it’s conceivable we could.

And the question is, is it worth it to save the system, to safeguard the system? And I came to the conclusion, along with other smart people, that it is.

GIBSON: Do you feel in any way responsible for what’s happening?

BUSH: You know, I’m the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President.

Huh? LOL

GIBSON: Let’s talk a little bit about eight years as being President. What don’t the American people know about being President? What would surprise them the most?

BUSH: That’s an interesting question. I think, at least from my administration, I think they’d be surprised at how our team has worked so closely together. Some days we’re not so happy, some days happy; every day has been pretty joyous, though – that when you have a purpose in life, that no matter what it may look like from afar, that we’re a highly motivated group of people that are honored to serve.

In other words, I think people look at the White House and say, oh, man, what a miserable experience it is to be President. You know, there’s a lot of noise, a lot of criticism, a lot of name-calling, a lot of this, a lot of that. But I think people would be surprised when they walked in the Oval Office and the White House to see a highly motivated group of people that really enjoy what we’re doing.

No, people look at the White House and say oh, man, what a miserable experience it is to have a President who’s an idiot.

We’re surprised to see a psychotic group of Fascist Pigs who really enjoy murdering innocent people and driving their own nation into the ground.

BUSH: Oh, yes. As I said, some times are happy, some not happy. I don’t want people to misconstrue. It’s not – I don’t feel joyful when somebody loses their life, nor do I feel joyful from somebody loses a job. That concerns me. And the President ends up carrying a lot of people’s grief in his soul during a presidency. One of the things about the presidency is you deal with a lot of tragedy – whether it be hurricanes, or tornadoes, or fires, or death – and you spend time being the Comforter-in-Chief. But the idea of being able to serve a nation you love is – has been joyful. In other words, my spirits have never been down. I have been sad, but the spirits are up.

“Comforter-in-Chief"? Maybe the most arrogant lie this miserable loser has ever told.
Anyway, long interview. If you’re really bored and don’t mind suffering the words of a fool read the rest yourself.

Suffice to say that BushCo has their work cut out for them trying to paint the wagon Bush is riding into the sunset.
All they have to do is find a way to say words like TREASON, MURDER, TROOP ABUSE, CHILD ABUSE, COWARDICE, BLASPHEMY, INCOMPETENCE and PURE EVIL with a nice sugar-coating that will keep the demented fucktards that still worship this sorry bastard and his depraved family happy and lost in their own pathetic little worlds.

Worst President Ever. No matter how they paint him.

Strange. Last summer we were facing record gas prices. We were told, with plenty of help from the media, that with lots of cars on the road “demand” for fuel kept prices so high.

Really?

We just finished a weekend of busy holiday traffic.
Gas is still 1.62 per gallon. No rise from the last drop in prices that occurred when Big Oil executives realized that with Democrats in total control they may soon find themselves on their way to prison for lying about the price of oil to the nation and gouging at the pumps.

Where is this “demand” of which the forked tongue doth speak?
Same place it was before, non-existent.

In spite of whatever lie the Right Wing might put forth, Bush had nothing whatsoever to do with prices coming down and “supply and demand” has nothing to do with the 5.00 gas we saw.
As Big oil reaped record profits, the by-product was average Americans started using less gas as it hit their wallets.
There was no issue of supply and demand and the high price of the oil. Even the Saudis said that if there were an increase in demand, they would have increased the supply. They said there was no large increase in demand and that they had nothing to do with the price increase in the oil.
Seems today that this is true.

It was pure speculation that drove the price up. Speculators. Paid by the oil companies.
It was all a ruse. They lied about the price per barrel and hopefully they will pay dearly for it.

Exxon/Mobile = Enron

….As long as Congress and Barack Obama do the job we put them there to do.

Israel is an illegitimate state. Israelis are not Semites. They are not indigenous to Semitic land as are Palestinians, Iraqis, Kurds etc. They are a terrorist state that has occupied and imposed suffrage on the Palestinian people.

Israel NOT Semitic

Long guilty of countless atrocities against civilian populations, Israel has now resorted to one of their favorite tactics, starving the impoverished and destitute men, women and children of Gaza.

You have to wonder, why won’t the Israelis actually fight Hamas? Hamas, the democratically elected government of Palestine are labeled “Terrorists” by the US and Israeli gov’ts. Though guilty of atrocities themselves, Hamas is ultimately in the right.They are defending an oppressed people.
Israel does not belong where they are. It is and has always been Palestine.
Israel is an invader and an occupying force.
They are indeed a terrorist state.
That much is made obvious by the fact that Israel is content to kill and torture non-combatant civilians while seemingly afraid to go in and take on Hamas head to head.
Israel has state of the art weaponry, supplied by us, and personnel trained (by us) to use it. Hamas has a few rockets and rusty rifles. Little more.
So what’s the problem?
Why does the IDF only fight children with nothing but rocks and courage for weapons?

Perhaps Israel is simply afraid of losing. Recently, Israel attacked Lebanon and was soundly defeated by Hezbollah. Israel used fighter aircraft, but much of that fire was directed at civilians. Why? Who knows? As is evident in Gaza, Israelis seem to enjoy killing the unarmed while doing all they can to avoid direct combat with armed, experienced fighters. It also seems that torturing civilians with starvation is a favored tactic for Israel. A sick, twisted, Godless tactic that only the most evil and depraved would engage in….

From VOA:

Israel Turns Back Libyan Ship Carrying Aid Supplies to Gaza
By VOA News
01 December 2008

The Israeli navy has ordered a Libyan ship carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip to turn back.

Libyan workers load food and medical supplies into Al Marwa boat under a giant Palestinian flag a day before it sailed from Sabratha port to Gaza strip, 24 Nov 2008
Libyan workers load food and medical supplies into Al Marwa boat under a giant Palestinian flag a day before it sailed from Sabratha port to Gaza strip, 24 Nov 2008
Officials say the ship, the Al Marwa, was carrying some 3,000 tons of aid when it was stopped by the Israeli navy.

Israel says there was no physical confrontation when it ordered the ship to turn around.

Palestinian officials say the ship is now sailing to the Egyptian port of El-Arish….

This, of course, is not the only instance. The United Nations recently blasted Israel for the humanitarian crises in Gaza that is 100% their creation…

From Harretz:

UN blasts Israel for plight of Palestinians
By Shlomo Shamir , Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies

NEW YORK - The human rights situation for Palestinians has deteriorated to a new low, a United Nations rights expert said yesterday, blaming the West for contributing to the “tragic” situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

John Dugard, a South African civil rights lawyer, said Israel is largely responsible for the “intolerable” situation of the Palestinians.

“I hope that my portrayal of hardships experienced by such people will trouble the consciences of those accustomed to turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the suffering of the Palestinian people,” Dugard told the UN Human Rights Council.

“Gaza is a prison and Israel seems to have thrown away the key,” Dugard said. Itzhak Levanon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, rejected Dugard’s allegations as “one-sided” and not reflecting reality.

“What Israel chooses to describe as collateral damage to the civilian population is in fact indiscriminate killing prohibited by international law,” Dugard said.”

“This report is characterized by errors of omission as well as distortions of both fact and law,” he said, adding that Dugard described the situation in the territory of the Palestinian Authority in an “oversimplified manner.”

Dugard, an anti-apartheid civil rights lawyer in the 1980s, was appointed by the now defunct UN Human Rights Commission in 2001 to investigate only rights violations by the Israeli side.

Dugard also criticized Western nations for cutting off funding to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas’ victory in legislative elections in January.

“In effect, the Palestinian people have been subjected to economic sanctions - the first time an occupied people has been so treated,” Dugard said. “Palestinian people are punished for having democratically elected a regime unacceptable to Israel, the U.S. and the EU.”

So, why won’t Israel just go into Palestinian strongholds and fight Hamas instead of starving women and children? Simple. Jews learned form the Nazis, who starved them to weaken them while in captivity, just how effective this tactic is.
Jews taking from the Hitler playbook? Absolutely.
The word is “Shoah". Yiddish for “Holocaust"…

From The Guardian:

An Israeli minister today warned of increasingly bitter conflict in the Gaza Strip, saying the Palestinians could bring on themselves what he called a “holocaust”.

“The more Qassam [rocket] fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves,” Matan Vilnai, Israel’s deputy defence minister, told army radio.

Shoah is the Hebrew word normally reserved to refer to the Jewish Holocaust. It is rarely used in Israel outside discussions of the Nazi extermination of Jews during the second world war, and many Israelis are loath to countenance its use to describe other events.

The minister’s statement came after two days of tit-for-tat missile raids between Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli army. At least 32 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed since the surge in violence on Wednesday.

That’s why the starvation tactics. That’s why an IDF soldier has no problem killing an unarmed Palestinian child.
“Shoah". That’s what Israel wants. A Holocaust of the Palestinian people.

Israel has become what they hate. Nazis, in the tradition of Adolph Hitler and his hordes. The US must stop funding and arming Israel. They’re murdering people who have no way of defending themselves.
American tax dollars fund Zionist aggression. Our soldiers have died fighting Israel’s battles in Iraq.
Our support of this terrorist state must stop.
Israel must be forced to allow humanitarian relief to reach the people of Gaza.
Anything less is terrorism.

This video is not for the squeamish.