Why to Just Say No to John McCain

When do you suppose was the last time McCain referred to Vietnamese as "gooks"? The 80's, 90's ? Yesterday? But oh no. No one should be offended when he called Barack Obama "that one". "That One" made Heinz 57 Caucasian Prissy gasp at the old man's ignorance in what he'd done.

Prissy wonders too why General Colin Powell said Sen McCain isn't prejudiced/biased. It just doesn't make sense...but then, neither did his UN presentation as Secretary of Defense.

Powell certainly used good reasoning while giving his endorsement, but he's still got some explaining to do as professional soldier who supported this war.

OK, you won't hear it much-so Prissy will do it...the forbidden subject as a military family-Johnny McCain's POW status and service to his country. Is he the kind of serviceman we as Americans can be proud of? Let's look a little deeper, since he is running on his service record. Being a POW doesn't prepare one for the office of the presidency, it just makes you a survivor-or a victim. (He also crashed five planes. Was Johnny a good pilot? )

There were thousands of American POW/MIA in Vietnam. It is a sickening thing to have never reconciled an end to the suffering for the families left behind. (It's OK for McCain to lie about Obama, the media says so)

Who obstructed this justice for his fellow POW/MIA's and their families? (Let's not forget he ditched the wife who waited for him)Or the fact that he graduated at the bottom barrel of his class, and most likely would have been a wash out, like Dubya-had his daddy not been an admiral. Or a senator in Dubya's case.

Now, why would we want a smart guy for prez? Cause the dumb one hasn't done enough damage to this country and her soldiers?

Sheesh...Barack Obama is a graduate that can make Harvard a credible institution of learning again. Finally, after Bush and Gonzo-a graduate they can brag about. Obama taught Constitutional law, for goodness sake.

Can you picture Duh-bya or raging McCain doing that? Are you laughing just picturing it? Prissy thought so...

Watch how republicans and other genuine people tell the story. The one corporate media never tells.

Hot Links

After being appalled at that, laugh at this. "The Vet Who Did Not Vet" Thank you to Iron Jawed Angel;):

Told Dr.Suess style.

Dearest Readers, we haven't even begun on Sarah Palin...coming soon, a special by Prissy Patriot and her former republican socialite friend, Belle Liberty...it will be one of the funniest things you've ever seen. We'll be right next ya Tina Fey, girlfriend!Nice scarf, Sarah...did you get it online at DemocraticPartyDesigns.com, ya lil ding-a-ling?

Maybe she didn't realize her party are the Elephants. Or is Sarah just used to wearing the Secessionist Party of Alaska's motif and forgot what it was?

Watch for Dubya to make one last effort to steal the vote here in Ohio-again...its too late. They are ALL onto him-even the former republicans know and refuse to help this time! They don't want to end up in jail like the ones from 04 did, with more to come... However, they are desperately throwing mud, pushing out the anti-American crap onto "the left". Once again trying to tell us,"Majority of Americans unAmerican"

Oh come now, that's such tired, old man/men talk...

And a word of warning to Bushites: Stop threatening our Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, an admirable, heroic woman doing honorable work for We the People. It must be the first time that Board of Elections has seen the real rule books in years...Bushites must be really stupid if they think all "liberals" don't firmly believe in the 2nd Amendment.

That shows the desperation involved of the republican party and united party of racism. You'll have that when there was treason involved at times...God forbid most Americans knew this is not what the founders ever intended and its time to dust off the Constitution and follow it-ignore these fake legal terms. Or maybe Bushies are "enemy combatants"?

No, no watch them cry and cling to our Constitution, weeping for it to save them- like Jack Abramoff did in the end. Let us not forget he helped write and push for the HAVA or "Help America Vote Act" and is now telling everything he knows. Jack is looking for time off for good behavior, you see...it would make a lot of sense to begin impeachment during the time Congress returns in Dec. No pardons with "that one" and oh, don't they know it...vote early and be an poll observer, Ohioans. We need them all over the state. Prissy can tell you how, what and where. It's easy, do it for your country and to preserve the integrity of the vote. Vote early so you will be available on election day. Contact Prissy Patriot at The Prissy Patriotfor more details. Bush overruled the Supreme Court-again, see below:

From The Public Record Bush Orders DOJ to Probe Ohio Voter Registrations

Bush forwarded to Attorney General Michael Mukasey a Republican request that he intervene in the battleground state of Ohio to force 200,000 new voters to either verify the information on their registration forms or cast provisional ballots, which are often thrown out after the voter leaves the polling place.

Similarly, two years ago when Bush feared Democratic victories in congressional races, the President “spoke with Attorney General [Alberto] Gonzales in October 2006 about their concerns over voter fraud,” according to a Justice Department Inspector General’s reported released earlier this month.

In 2006, the White House and some congressional Republicans also put pressure on the Justice Department and U.S. Attorneys around the country to bring last-minute indictments against pro-Democratic voter registration drives.

When some federal prosecutors balked because they found a lack of evidence, they were purged as part of an unprecedented firing of nine U.S. Attorneys, who were deemed not “loyal Bushies.”

Quotes of the Day

Prissy to Senator Obama, regarding a special prosecutor of what soon will be the next administration?

If America stands for justice, then that is the only way that could make this country whole again...prosecute the treasonists...either there is liberty and justice for all- or there is not...If there is not, so what then is America?

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.--John Fitzgerald Kennedy

But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for, Is their monument to-day, and for aye.--Thomas Dunn, English Quotes

The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war.--Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

And by the way:

The New Bell Curve...Whites Only?

Since most African Americans thought Dubya dumb from nearly the beginning, does that make them smarter than white people?

Dearest Readers, Prissy has been too busy to blog as of late. As far as the race for president, can't we just put race and gender aside?

Clearly the only democrat left who is worth voting for is Barack Obama... DUMB white guys...the smart ones baled out years ago.

Beautiful words of wisdom, please watch and pass along-to friends and enemies!

Hot Links

Nieman Watchdog The next president should open up the Bush Administration's record February 07, 2008 By Steven Aftergood

By now no one expects the Bush Administration to make itself accountable for its controversial and possibly illegal practices. But the next President will have a unique opportunity to reveal what has been kept hidden for the last seven years. Secrecy watchdog Steven Aftergood suggests a few questions for the presidential candidates about their willingness to disclose just what the current Administration has done.

In 2005, then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey told colleagues at the Justice Department that they would be “ashamed” when a legal memorandum on forceful interrogation of prisoners eventually became public. In fact, however, disclosure of such secret Bush Administration documents may be the only way to begin to overcome the palpable shame that is already felt by many Americans at the thought that their government has engaged in abusive interrogations, secret renditions or unchecked surveillance.

The next President will have the authority to declassify and disclose any and all records that reflect the activities of executive branch agencies. Although internal White House records that document the activities of the outgoing President and his personal advisers will be exempt from disclosure for a dozen years or so, every Bush Administration decision that was actually translated into policy will have left a documentary trail in one or more of the agencies, and all such records could be disclosed at the discretion of the next President.

“Excessive administration secrecy... feeds conspiracy theories and reduces the public's confidence in government,” Sen. John McCain has said. “I'll turn the page on a growing empire of classified information,” said Sen. Barack Obama. “We'll protect sources and methods, but we won't use sources and methods as pretexts to hide the truth.”

Media Matters Print press repeats media mantra of McCain as "maverick"

Summary: Numerous print publications -- including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times -- continued a longstanding practice of referring to Sen. John McCain as a "maverick" in their coverage of the February 5 presidential primaries and caucuses.

Der Spiegel 'Bush Is Too Horrendous to Be Forgotten'

Talking about Obama:

SPIEGEL: For whites to consider him black, yes. But the question is whether the blacks consider him black.

Roth: They will once the election goes on. If he gets the nomination.

SPIEGEL: Do you actually believe that Obama could change Washington or could change politics?

Roth: I'm interested in what merely his presence would be. You know, who he is, where he comes from, that is the change. That is the same thing with Hillary Clinton, just who she is would create a gigantic change. As for all that other rhetoric about change, change, change -- it's pure semantics, it doesn't mean a thing. They'll respond to particular situations as they arise.

SPIEGEL: Are you interested in the Clintons as a couple? Are they literary figures?

Roth: Oh, this is the soap opera side. They're tremendously aggressive, I think they'll say or do anything actually that they can get away with, but no, they don't interest me as a couple. Bill Clinton was interesting as the president -- I don't know what he is now. I think they can overplay that hand, being aggressive, and people will be irritated by it.

WaPo -Dubya Gives McCain the Kiss of Death...Bush Rallies Republican Base Around McCain

Bush's endorsement of McCain's conservative credentials could carry some weight, since the two battled fiercely for the Republican nomination in 2000 and have quarreled in the seven years since over issues such as taxes, torture and the execution of the Iraq war.

In the waning days of his campaign, Romney sharply questioned McCain's conservative record by pointing out that the Arizona senator voted against Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. McCain now says he supports making those tax cuts permanent.

While Bush may be able to help close conservative ranks behind McCain, the Arizona senator may keep a certain distance once he shifts fully into general-election mode. Bush remains popular with the Republican base, but his overall public approval rating is mired at 33 percent in Washington Post-ABC News polls, making him one of the most unpopular presidents in modern times. Embracing him too tightly could be problematic in the fall, yet alienating him could cause problems within the party fold.

John McCain has an unhealthy love for his Dubya

New Yorker...ally Israel again...by way of deception, thou shalt do war Sy Hersh: Israel pressed me to agree Syrian site was nuclear What did Israel bomb in Syria?

Sometime after midnight on September 6, 2007, at least four low-flying Israeli Air Force fighters crossed into Syrian airspace and carried out a secret bombing mission on the banks of the Euphrates River, about ninety miles north of the Iraq border. The seemingly unprovoked bombing, which came after months of heightened tension between Israel and Syria over military exercises and troop buildups by both sides along the Golan Heights, was, by almost any definition, an act of war. But in the immediate aftermath nothing was heard from the government of Israel. In contrast, in 1981, when the Israeli Air Force destroyed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor, near Baghdad, the Israeli government was triumphant, releasing reconnaissance photographs of the strike and permitting the pilots to be widely interviewed.

Within hours of the attack, Syria denounced Israel for invading its airspace, but its public statements were incomplete and contradictory—thus adding to the mystery. A Syrian military spokesman said only that Israeli planes had dropped some munitions in an unpopulated area after being challenged by Syrian air defenses, “which forced them to flee.” Four days later, Walid Moallem, the Syrian foreign minister, said during a state visit to Turkey that the Israeli aircraft had used live ammunition in the attack, but insisted that there were no casualties or property damage. It was not until October 1st that Syrian President Bashar Assad, in an interview with the BBC, acknowledged that the Israeli warplanes had hit their target, which he described as an “unused military building.” Assad added that Syria reserved the right to retaliate, but his comments were muted.

Despite official silence in Tel Aviv (and in Washington), in the days after the bombing the American and European media were flooded with reports, primarily based on information from anonymous government sources, claiming that Israel had destroyed a nascent nuclear reactor that was secretly being assembled in Syria, with the help of North Korea. Beginning construction of a nuclear reactor in secret would be a violation of Syria’s obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and could potentially yield material for a nuclear weapon.

How quickly they forget. From Wiki, Fourth Geneva Convention:

Section I. Provisions common to the territories of the parties to the conflict and to occupied territories

Article 32. A protected person/s shall not have anything done to them of such a character as to cause physical suffering or extermination ... the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands. This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishments, mutilation and medical or scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment' While popular debate remains on what constitutes a legal definition of torture (see discussion on the Torture page), the ban on corporal punishment simplifies the matter; even the most mundane physical abuse is thereby forbidden by Article 32, as a precaution against alternate definitions of torture.

The prohibition on scientific experiments was added, in part, in response to experiments by German and Japanese doctors during World War II, of whom Josef Mengele was the most infamous.

Collective punishments-Article 33. No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited. Pillage is prohibited. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.

Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions collective punishments are a war crime. Article 33 states: "No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed," and "collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited."

Statesman Church court finds priest guilty of molesting boys again...

A church court has returned a summary judgment against the Rev. James L. Tucker for misconduct after hearing testimony from three men who testified that Tucker had repeatedly molested them in the 1960s while they were students at St. Stephen's Episcopal School in West Austin, according to one of the victims.

The nine-member ecclesiastical trial court convened in Houston on Thursday to hear testimony against the Episcopal priest, who worked as chaplain of St. Stephen's from 1958 to 1968. Tucker, who retired from active ministry in 1994, did not attend the ecclesiastical trial.

Diocesan officials did not return phone calls Thursday.

BBC tells us Putie is looking for a new arms race...Pravda tells us Putin points the finger back at Dubya aka "the West" USA to deploy thousands of its interceptor missiles globally

Sergei Lavrov said that the U.S. administration did not even intend to guarantee at least minimum restrictions for the deployment of its global air defense. The Russian minister said that it did not go about a dozen interceptor missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic alone. “The problem is a lot more serious. Does anyone really think that Russia will calmly watch the USA increasing its strategic potential near Russia’s borders?” the minister said.

President Putin touched upon the subject of NATO’s close presence to Russia at the latest session of the Council of State. “The new arms race that one can witness growing in the world today and the absence of any attempts on NATO’s part to find compromises on the problem push Russia towards making adequate decisions to defend its national security,” Putin said.

Vladimir Putin lambasted the West for its military expansion toward Russia's borders and laid out an ambitious agenda for his successor to restore the country's economic and military clout in a farewell address Friday as he prepared to step aside as president.

With less than a month remaining before the election, Putin's speech before dozens of top government officials, cultural figures, religious leaders and military officers served as a report card on his own achievements and a reminder of his wide popularity among Russians, the AP reports.

Quotes of the Day

Any society that values wealth above freedom will lose its freedom, and will ultimately lose its wealth as well.--W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

All Governments, including the worst on earth and the most tyrannical on earth, are free Governments to that portion of the people who voluntarily support them.--Lysander Spooner (19 January 1808 - 14 May 1887) was an American individualist anarchist, entrepreneur, political philosopher, abolitionist, supporter of the labor movement, and legal theorist of the 19th century.

All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self- justifying--a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings, if only for an hour.--Edward Abbey (January 29, 1927 - March 14, 1989) was an American author

An old woman is riding a crowded bus and has to stand with her heavy packages. Finally, someone in front of her gives up a seat and so she grabs it. "Thank God," she says.

A man in the seat behind her says "Excuse me comrade, but this is an athiest society. You should say 'Thank Stalin,' not 'Thank God.'" "Of course you are right," the old woman says. "Thank Stalin." She is silent for a moment, then says: "Comrade, I have just had a terrible thought: What shall we say when Stalin dies?"

The man behind her replies "In that case I think we can say 'Thank God.'"

A Merry Christmas Stocking Stuffer Special

Merry Christmas, Dearest Readers and a Happy New Year to you from all of us here at The Prissy Patriot. The following video was sent to Prissy from IJA. Santa teams up with the Center for Constitutional Rights. Cute, be sure and watch the very end.

A Few Hot Links

Human greed is a threat to the planet, warns Williams

A stark warning that human greed is threatening to destroy the environment was issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his Christmas message, while the leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales appealed to people to be more welcoming to immigrants.

Dr Rowan Williams appealed to Christians to do more to safeguard the planet, saying it should not be used "as a warehouse of resources to serve humanity's selfishness".

He told worshippers at Canterbury Cathedral yesterday that people should treat other people and nature with reverence. "More and more [is] clearly required of us as we grow in awareness of how fragile is the balance of species and environments in the world and just how our greed distorts it," he said.

The leader of the Anglican Church added: "When we threaten the balance of things, we don't just put our material survival at risk, more profoundly we put our spiritual sensitivity at risk – the possibility of being opened up to endless wonder by the world around us."

Lakota Freedom. Being a small part Native American, Prissy will be keeping tabs on this development. Legally speaking, it sounds like they are on some solid ground... Lakota Freedom Delegation

"The whole Lakota declaration of withdrawal from the treaty is vested on the power of the Lakota people and our children.

When we undertook the process of announcing the withdrawal, the capacity was far greater than most people anticipated about an individual. But throughout our history, the people have never excluded anyone within their own lifeway and when it becomes a listener's view that its about one individual, one individual does not represent the nation itself, the nation represents the individual, and that is Lakota.

The withdrawal is for the people, the Elders, mothers, fathers, and the children.

Throughout our history and through the enforcement of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, Congress said they would oversee the provisions of 1868 (Fort Laramie Treaty), but they failed to do so. Some minor provisions were kept, but overall the treaty was not honored. Because if the treaty was honored, we would not have this colonial catastrophe of alcoholism, drug abuse and poverty and we wouldn't have the overall high incarceration rate of the male and female in the prison populations. This leads to our children being taking away by Social Services which puts our children out of balance from learning the traditional lifeway.

AP Ft Lewis Soldier Granted Leave Time Extension with Sick Baby

Army Sgt. Chris Williams, 24, of Crown Point, now has until Friday to report for duty in the United States, after which he will be returned to his unit in Iraq. Williams has five months to go in his second tour there.

Williams' son, Gabriel Douglas, was born Dec. 18 and seemed healthy until he developed a lung infection that put him in the intensive care unit at Munster Community Hospital.

The soldier originally was due to return Dec. 22, just after his newborn's illness appeared. Military officials at Fort Lewis initially told Williams his leave had been extended until Jan. 3.

But the extension appeared to be rescinded, and it was unclear whether the Army considered him absent without leave, Williams' family said. The only official word they had was a message on Williams' home answering machine from a platoon leader in Iraq, urging him to return quickly.

Yahoo Israelis and Palestinians responding to a survey believe a recent U.S.-sponsored peace conference was a failure

Israelis and Palestinians responding to a survey believe a recent U.S.-sponsored peace conference was a failure and think their leaders won't manage to sign a peace deal in the next year, according to results released Tuesday.

Israelis were more pessimistic, with 74 percent saying the peace summit last month in Annapolis, Md., was a failure compared with 59 percent of Palestinians, according to the poll.

Only the parties doing the talks are failures or the people would have confidence in them...

Bush "hellbent" on War with Iran

‘Because you can see how dangerous this administration is, Bush continues to threaten Iran, which is prohibited under international law, which is covered in the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions. The facts don’t matter to the president, but it makes it more difficult for him to continue with his designs against Iran.’ —Former U.S. Attorney General, Ramsey Clark

Quotes of the Day

Santa Claus wears a Red Suit, He must be a communist. And a beard and long hair, Must be a pacifist. What's in that pipe that he's smoking? --Arlo Guthrie

Peace on earth will come to stay, when we live Christmas every day. --Helen Steiner Rice

I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.--Shirley Temple

You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.--Unknown

Never forget the troops

Happy Holidays , May the Merry Bells Keep Ringing, May Your Every Wish Come True...

December 21, 2007-Dearest Readers, Prissy has been away Oh so long! Missing you all, with so many things to post-but no time to post them. Prissy is planning a holiday special on Christmas Day, so be sure and check back.

The blog is now open for comments, please keep it clean. Unless of course your talking smack about Dubya, his parents, his buddies OR telling Prissy how beauuuteefull she, Queen V, Iron J Angel and Betty Buckaneer are;)

Post below is from 2005...kind of interesting to look back. And look, Peter Pace was talking the same lines Gates is now attempting to sell us.

DEC 2005-Remember that old song, Happy Holidays? Today Prissy would like to wish her dear readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah. It is rare that holiday of the various religions and secular festivities happen on the exact same days, thus the lovely expression Happy Holidays to you.

So let us have a Happy Holiday today...May the New Year bring more peace, justice and democracy to our world. Prissy hopes the United States will come together and realize what we should treasure-the ideals we Americans were born with. The pursuit of happiness, with justice and liberty for all.

Prissy hopes God will Bless you and yours... (Photo below Malmoe, Sweden)

Hot Links

Two new ones from 2007:

Columbus Dispatch-and the only daily paper in Columbus,Ohio since the 1980's. The paper hasn't endorsed democrat for president in over a hundred years...family owned, don't ya know...War in Iraq no longer the primary concern (unless you are a military family?) Friday, December 21, 2007

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- An invisible line was crossed this week in New Hampshire. The war in Iraq is no longer the No. 1 issue among likely voters in the Jan. 8 presidential primary.

They are saying the war is not the No. 1 issue, but didn't say its tied for 1st Place, along with health care amongst Democrats. How could anyone still call themselves a republican without shame? Besides most voters these days will be voting democrat. The republican party is damaged beyond repair-look no further than the clowns the RNC is attempting to pass off as "presidential material."

Economics Briefing Tax Refunds Will Be Delayed Up To Seven Weeks December 20, 2007

Tax refunds will be delayed at the start of 2008 because of late passage of the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007, which Congress was apparently too busy to pass until now. President Bush is expected to sign the Act that extends the current AMT thresholds with a temporary one year “patch.”

Because this legislation comes so late in the year, e-filing and paper processing of tax returns for everyone may not start until February.

Some IRS instruction manuals will have to be redone because they are now outdated. IRS computers will have to be reprogrammed.

Twelve IRS forms are affected by the AMT including those for child and dependent care credits.

The resulting delay in refunds could be up to seven weeks. It is estimated that a postponement of tax refunds for 15 million taxpayers, including lower and middle class taxpayers who normally file for early refunds, is very possible.

That's the Bushite governments long answer of "the checks in the mail". The prez who believes the economy is "still strong" obviously isn't going to admit he spent our tax dollars like a drunken sailor on leave...

Barrons Editorial Calls for FISA Investigation RAW Story-12/24/05-Barron's editorial page editor Thomas G. Donlan penned a column for Monday's edition entitled "Unwarranted Executive Power" which calls on members of the House Judiciary Committee to investigate if the Bush Administration violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and to either change the law or consider impeachment, RAW STORY has learned.

Kazimierz, Poland - The Jewish Quarter

Federal agents' visit was a hoax-Student admits he lied about Mao book

The story's release came at a perfect storm in the news cycle. Only a day before, The New York Times had reported that President Bush had allowed the National Security Agency to conduct wiretaps on international phone calls from the United States without a warrant. The Patriot Act, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to allow the government greater authority to monitor for possible terrorism activities, was up for re-authorization in Congress.

There was an increased sense among some Americans that the U.S. government was overstepping its bounds and trampling on civil liberties in order to thwart future attacks of terrorism. The story of a college student being questioned for requesting a 40-year old book on Communism fed right into that atmosphere.

Nice job kid-for the neocons. The real Fourth Amendment violations cannot get into the main stream news and one student makes headline news by making one up...

The Selling of Brand Kurdistan Inter Press Service News

In a parallel strategic track, however, the Kurdish Regional Government appears to be keeping its options open, recently hiring Russo Marsh & Rogers -- a Sacramento, California-based public relations firm with close ties to the Republican Party -- to promote its interests.

Many political observers believe that the future of Iraq may see a full-blown civil war or possible partition. Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh recently wrote in The New Yorker magazine that a United Nations official involved in the elections told him: ”The election was not an election but a referendum on ethnic and religious identity. For the Kurds, voting was about self-determination.”

”Our job” with the Kurds, RM&R's Joe Wierzbicki told IPS, ”is to carry out a public relations campaign that will thank the American people for supporting the war in Iraq, and encourage Americans to visit and invest in the Kurdish region.”

Top US general: Iraqis want us out-Monday 26 December 2005 Al-Jazeera-

The United States' top military commander has admitted that Iraqis want US and other foreign troops to leave the country "as soon as possible".

General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said on Sunday that US troop levels in Iraq were being re-assessed on a monthly basis.

The admission by the top general follows a decision by the Pentagon to reduce its presence in Iraq by two army brigades, which amounts to about 7000 soldiers.

So bring them home!

the media -W beats Nixon !!!!

The "Good Old Days", aye, Dubya?

Yesterday afternoon i see on Yahoo that W's approval rating has hit a new low. Only 23% of Americans polled approve of the job George W. Bush is doing as President. (This is down from 31%.) And keep in mind that Prissy and Iron Jawed Angel were not called for this survey or W's numbers would sink even lower!!! I went online a few hours later to email this info to Prissy and guess what? It was gone - i could not find the article. There is nothing about these new low ratings in my newspaper today.

Why? My first complaint with the media-WHY do they continue to tell us W's APPROVAL rating when it is so low? Why do they not report that W's DISAPPROVAL rating of 77% shatters the previous record held by Richard M. Nixon. I'm bad at math but even i know that 77% is over 3/4ths of the people questioned. Wow! Congratulations W!!! History will remember you as the worst president ever.

(Readers! Get your collector item shirts saying just that at http://www.bartcop.com/. )

In July 1974, just before Nixon left office, his disapproval rating was only at 66% and he had the intelligence to resign, quit. Gee, IJA never thought she would see worse than Nixon. To get in trouble over what Nixon lied about seems tame by todays standards don't you think?! Think about this - no president has ever had lower approval ratings and IJA wonders why this is not reported by the mainstream media. Do we really care more about Brittany and her kids or Ellen and her dog?

Harry and Nancy - you two might want to take notice that the approval ratings for Congress are even lower than W's.

IJA is hoping for single digits where Congress is concerned unless they grow a backbone, i'm not holding my breath. The house cannot even come up with the votes to override Bush's veto for poor kids health care?? Can someone please tell me how W can get away with what he is getting away with? Congress is not following the job description that the Constitution lays out for them! W says he vetoed that bill due to $$? What a crock of **** that is when we think about the $10 billion dollars PER MONTH we are spending on his war. Do the math - $10 billion a month = $2.5 billion a week which = $1.33 million a minute which = $22,200 dollars EVERY SECOND.......can we even fathom that?

What could we do with that kind of money here in the U.S.? As a teacher in a public school system don't even get me started on that thought. Why does he not have a problem with money for war but he does have a problem with money for health care or kids?

Quotes of the Day

Samuel Butler (1612-1680)

The most important service rendered by the press and the magazines is that of educating people to approach printed matter with distrust. George Orwell (1903-1950)

Early in life I had noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b.1918)

Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic diseases of the twentieth century, and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press.

Sept 15th DC Protest Photos...Finally

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Dearest Readers, Prissy apologizes for being away so long. So long, in fact, a regular Dearest Reader has been blogging to get the message out. Thank you to her.

Prissy is pleased to announce a new blogger Iron Jawed Angel to The Prissy PatriotShe teaches government-AMERICAN government. You can feel free to write to us with any questions you may have.

Finally figured out how to get the protest photos off of the PDA, so here they are. A few important announcements and articles at the bottom of the blog.

The new job has been taking up so much time, but Prissy hopes to be blogging again soon. Always looking for good (and free;) help...Thank You and Welcome Iron Jawed Angel!

Iron Jawed Angel attended the September 15th protest too. A.N.S.W.E.R. was the sponsor and contrary to various news reports, the police IJA spoke with explained how he estimated the march at 100,000 plus. Shame on the media, dropping the ball on democracy-as usual.

Veterans at the front of the line in Washington. Some other orgs spread the ugly rumor that veterans were not allowed to lead the march in 2005. Not true then or now-more like disagreements about speakers...but you should be aware A.N.S.W.E.R. does not support the occupation of Palestine.

A side note: The CIA Leak case is NOT said and done...only Scooter's part. Normally, a prosecutor would use a guy like Libby to flip on the others. Maybe Mr. Fitzgerald was not expecting Libby to take the fall-and then not fall. Who was- besides Bush/Cheney and of course Scooter?

Since Scooter didn't flip, we go to the next stage and on to the other officials unnamed in Libby's indictment. You know, the ones who actually outed Ms Plame for her husbands OpEd piece that started the whole thing. Prissy is here to tell you, its not over...she can smell the fear coming from the White House.

Remember this?

Libby's lawyers argue that since the primary focus is on Libby's state of mind as to whether or not he intentionally lied, "decisions made by certain reporters and their attorneys to challenge grand jury subpoenas and contempt orders are not [relevant] to Mr. Libby's state of mind."

Libby's lawyers also seek to prevent the government from providing evidence that information from the National Intelligence Estimate was illegally disclosed, or that Valerie Plame's status with CIA was classified or covert and that disclosing Plame's status caused damage.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald petitioned the court on Monday to exclude evidence or arguments regarding the government's decision not to file other charges against Libby or not to charge other people connected with the case.

Gee, why do you suppose he was willing to exclude evidence and arguments about the others? Think he's a republican partisan hack? Oh my, Prissy is laughing with mirth at the thought. Bye, bye Dick... Neocon sunrise, by artist Stephen Pitt

Family for Peace

Very creative,that's why protests are so much fun. Even if they aren't very effective-short of getting a million out into the streets.

Ohio is NOT a red state,here's proof!

So much for Rover's campaign to make protesters appear anti-military!

Nancy and Harry best pay attention-their job security isn't looking so good...

Still looking for the hippies those right-wingers keep telling us about...

Ron Paul supporters. Not a bad guy, even if he doesn't like the Dept of Education. Given four years, he would end the war and revive the Constitution -Prissy could live with that. Note: A RP sign on an Ohio road side, was returned to its place after the state workers mowed!

Indeed, Dick with a bullseye on his back. Get him, Fitz!

See this, Nancy? Dearest Readers, Ms. Nancy doesn't understand she is supposed to be a LEADER, not Dubya's ADVOCATE.

End of the line, protesters take a rest outside the Capital building. The arrests you heard about were pre-planned...

Hot Links

The Guardian The man who knew too muchHe was the CIA's expert on Pakistan's nuclear secrets, but Rich Barlow was thrown out and disgraced when he blew the whistle on a US cover-up. Now he's to have his day in court.

Once again, Barlow was able to bounce back. In January 1989, he was recruited by the Office of the Secretary of Defence (OSD) at the Pentagon to become its first intelligence analyst in WMD. For a man uncomfortable with political pragmatism, it was a strange move: he was now in a department that was steeped in realpolitik, balancing the commercial needs of the US military industry against America's international obligations. Within weeks, he had again built a stack of evidence about Pakistan's WMD programme, including intelligence that the Pakistan army was experimenting with a delivery system for its nuclear bomb, using US-provided technology. "Our side was at it again," Barlow says.

Still optimistic, still perhaps naive and still committed to the ideal of thwarting the Pakistan programme, Barlow convinced himself that his experience in the CIA was untypical, the work of a handful of political figures who would now not be able to reach him. When he was commissioned to write an intelligence assessment for Dick Cheney, defence secretary, giving a snapshot of the Pakistan WMD programme, he thought he was making headway. Barlow's report was stark. He concluded that the US had sold 40 F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in the mid-80s - it had been a precondition of the sale that none of the jets could be adapted to drop a nuclear bomb. He was convinced that all of them had been configured to do just that. He concluded that Pakistan was still shopping for its WMD programme and the chances were extremely high that it would also begin selling this technology to other nations. Unbeknown to Barlow, the Pentagon had just approved the sale of another 60 F-16s to Pakistan in a deal worth $1.4bn, supposedly with the same provison as before.

"Officials at the OSD kept pressurising me to change my conclusions," Barlow says. He refused and soon after noticed files going missing. A secretary tipped him off that a senior official had been intercepting his papers. In July 1989, Barlow was hauled before one of the Pentagon's top military salesmen, who accused him of sabotaging the new F-16 deal. Eight days later, when Congress asked if the jet could be adapted by Pakistan to drop a nuclear bomb, the Defence Department said, "None of the F-16s Pakistan already owns or is about to purchase is configured for nuclear delivery." Barlow was horrified.

On August 4 1989, he was fired. "They told me they had received credible information that I was a security risk." Barlow demanded to know how and why. "They said they could not tell me as the information was classified." All they would say was that "senior Defence Department officials", whose identities were also classified, had supplied "plenty of evidence". The rumour going around the office was that Barlow was a Soviet spy. Barlow went home to Cindy. "We were in marriage counselling following my fall-out at the CIA. We were getting our relationship back on track. And now I had to explain that I was being fired from the Pentagon."

Great Blog, Indict Dick Cheney Blogspot

it seems at least some of the documents unsealed on wednesday, in the 10th circuit court of appeals, in denver, support mr. nacchio's extremely bold-faced assertion that he was pressured -- prior to 9/11 -- to grant arguably unconstitutional law-enforcement warrantless access to wholly innocent americans' private telecom records, and conversations. . .

[his contention seems to be that he was then targeted by the government, for refusing to "knuckle- under" to these unconstitutional spying demands. . .

And...this will be fascinating -- and i will post portions of the best unsealed documents right here -- for the world to see -- that cheney, and his one-trick-pony-george-dubbya were well on their way to shredding our constitutional rights, long before the mantra of "nine-eleven- changed-everything" even existed. . .

we shall see -- and learn -- much from this particularly throaty, if felonious, canary, joe nacchio. . . he did run a telecom, you know.

Military wives saying End the WAR!

WaPo, telling it like it really is-for a change WALTER REED AND BEYOND A Wife's Battle When Her Soldier Returned From Baghdad, Michelle Turner Picked Up the Burden of War

The government's sweeping list of promises to make wounded Iraq war veterans whole, at least financially, has not reached this small house in the hills of rural West Virginia, where one vehicle has already been repossessed and the answering machine screens for bill collectors. The Turners have not been making it on an $860-a-month disability check from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

After revelations about the poor treatment of outpatient soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center earlier this year, President Bush appointed a commission to study the care of the nation's war-wounded. The panel returned with bold recommendations, including the creation of a national cadre of caseworkers and a complete overhaul of the military's disability system that compensates wounded soldiers.

But so far, little has been done to sort out the mess of bureaucracy or put more money in the hands of newly disabled soldiers who are fending off evictions and foreclosures.

In the Turner house, that leaves an exhausted wife with chipped nail polish to hold up the family's collapsing world. "Stand Together," a banner at a local cafe reminds Michelle. But since Troy came back from Iraq in 2003, the burden of war is now hers.

Military children for peace. Their father is permanently disabled from his reserve tour in Iraq.

Dearest Readers, please bookmark this organization and tell your friends. Veterans and Military Families for Progress looks out for the rights/benefits of veterans AND their families. Dubya and his neocon buddies don't care who pays the price of their war, but others do.

True Story of the Day

I met a Staff Sgt career vet and his lovely wife. He was injured on his 2nd and 3rd tour-now looking at med retirement. They were age mid 30's. He had the opportunity to tell Bush off-TO HIS FACE!

He was still in a wheelchair at Walter Reed (back surgery, much better, walking now) and was told to go downstairs, then to stand up for Bush. He said no, I'm going back to my room before I'll stand up for that man. So he did. He shared a room with a Marine. So Bush comes up to his room.

He said Bush got to the door way and Sgt said (he's an African American man with booming voice) "Get the fuck outta here." Bush looked like "what did he just say?" He goes on "You heard me, get the fuck outta here-we don't like no bitch's around here." Bush looks at the Marine-Marine says "that's right, we don't like no bitch's around here." Bush left.

Needless to say I thanked him for ALL of his service!! What a great moment in history that shouldn't go untold!

Are You an Ameri-CAN or Are You an Ameri-CAN'T?

For our friends abroad, if we Americans have any left...

Dubya and Cheney want more, more more...Prissy is convinced they could regulate our lives like a prison camp of KBR, and it still would not be enough control for them.

Get to Washington this September. Call your representative and let them know you support military families opposed to the war.

Don't let this be your next bumper sticker

If you call between Sept 15th through the 29th, ask them if they have bothered to become aware that military families and veterans are currently in Washington protesting this war.

Do you love the Constitution and Declaration of Independence? The Prissy Patriot and Betty Buccaneer are calling for a new Constitutional convention. We need a few good lawyers to help! Please contact Prissy if you are interested.Email me!

National March on Congress September 29, 2007 National March on Washington - Encampment in Front of Congress

Prissy is wondering what on Earth happened to the Larry Flynt investigation. Larry hasn't given us any updates on his blog. Prissy predicts he will drop them all at once. Maybe there are more than 20 "notable names" on the list? Stay tuned...

Hot Links

BBC Outbreak source 'linked to lab' (an American owned private lab?)

But either the private company Merial, or the state-run Institute for Animal Health, both based at the Pirbright site, could be the source, they said.

The Health and Safety Executive found there was a "negligible" risk it had been spread by the wind or flooding.

But its report said the disease could have been the result of human movement or "accidental or deliberate transfer".

The National Farmers' Union has said there is "incredulity and shock" that a research facility that works to protect against disease could have been the source of the outbreak.

Remember the Anthrax attacks? Could this be another case of neocons letting Brown know who is boss? Dubya/Dick is terribly disappointed Gordon Brown won't be a good poodle, like Tony was...Prissy is telling you, put nothing past them. The fact that they may get caught or even convicted is no deterrent to these crooks...(see Libby case)

The cabal acts like they aren't being watched. Do they think they are the only ones who spy?

Did you see Rummy's testimony on C-span regarding the Pat Tillman case? The ole boy is senile, couldn't recall much, despite the initial email Rummy sent out to the DOD, when Tillman joined the Army. The email talked about what an example Tillman set, and how "we should keep an eye on him."

And sheesh, you'd think Rummy would have at least taken a shower before appearing on live television. His hair was noticeably greasy, and he probably didn't smell very good. (not that Prissy wants to get close enough say for sure)

Reuters, UK. Grow your own, Dearest Readers. U.S. issues new botulism warning for green beans

Consumers should not eat certain brands of French-cut green beans because of concerns they could be tainted with the toxin that causes botulism, U.S. health officials warned on Friday.

The green beans were manufactured by Lakeside Foods Inc. of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and packaged in 14.5-ounce cans, the Food and Drug Administration said.

Express UK 4,000 PEOPLE A WEEK TRYING TO LEAVE UK

BRITAIN is facing a mass exodus of people looking to escape the crime and grime of modern living.

The country’s biggest foreign visa consultancy firm has revealed that applications have soared in the last seven months by 80 per cent to almost 4,000 a week. Ten years ago the figure was just 300 a week.

Most people are relocating within the Commonwealth – in Australia, Canada and South Africa. They are almost all young professionals and skilled workers aged 20-40.

Project on Government Oversite Another Security Breach at Los Alamos

An incident involving the unauthorized release of classified data via email occurred last week at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The incident, which has been confirmed by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), is rated among “the most serious threats to national security.”

The incident follows the Department of Energy’s (DOE) July decision to slap the Lab with a $3.3 million fine, and to threaten the Lab with another fine if it failed to comply with security rules. The fine was levied because of the October 2006 incident in which classified information was discovered during a methamphetamine drug bust. The discovery was originally revealed by POGO. Last week’s breach follows a series of other incidents in recent months (see links below).

This most recent breach was originally rated an Impact Measurement Index-1 (IMI-1), which is the most serious level security violation. In an attempt to minimize the problem, the breach was downgraded to a less severe category of IMI-4. After another review, however, it was elevated back to IMI-1.

“LANL has been fined, lab officials have been fired, and the lab was even closed for a number of months so that it could get its act together,” said POGO Senior Investigator Peter Stockton. “It’s clear that it just can’t.”

Financial Times The US-UK relationship Q&A with John Bolton, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former US ambassador to the UN, in the Financial Times.

Let me turn the question, Mr Bolton: Can America have two best friends? Is the UK, in turn, America’s best friend, or is that Israel? Which of these two is America’s real best friend? Is it consistent, fair and reasonable for a country to have multiple best friends? And are the rules different for America? Karl Weibye, Edinburgh, UK

John Bolton: As writers of op-eds will tell you, we don’t write the headlines for our articles. The FT wrote ”Britain cannot have two best friends,” so you should address your question to the newspaper. ....................................................................

Considering Sarkozy’s election in France is expected to usher in a new age of French-American relations, and there is a fear of Gordon Brown distancing the UK from the US, what type of implications does this have for the US in terms of its relations with other EU members? Is it a possibility that the US could form stronger ties with France than the UK in the near future? Carl Fitz, Texas, US

John Bolton: My experience in diplomatic dealings with France over many years is that France unfailingly pursues what Paris sees as its core national interests. While such an approach has often put France at odds with the United States, it is at least straightforward and intellectually honest. I respect it.

By contrast, too often in recent years, and frequently in the United Nations, the UK position, as defined by the FCO, has been ideological rather than national, pursuing what the international High Minded set calls ”global governance.”

Independent UK Celebrity priest' in paedophilia probe

A "celebrity" priest, founder of an organisation with more than 280 drug rehabilitation centres around the world, is under investigation in central Italy for alleged paedophilia.

Don Pierino Gelmini is one of the church's best-known faces on Italian television, a close friend of top politicians including former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, a rent-a-quote figure with right-wing views on drugs and family values.

In 2004, while still Prime Minister, Mr Berlusconi made the 80-year-old priest, founder of "Comunita Incontro", a public gift of 10 billion lira (£3.5m) for the organisation's work.

But yesterday La Stampa newspaper revealed that the priest has been under investigation, on suspicion of sexually molesting young people, for more than six months. "It seems that the accusations are numerous and coherent," the paper reported. "They revolve around a closed community in which a figure of enormous charisma seems not to have restricted himself to taking care of souls."

ABC News, telling on Thompson The Fred Thompson Watergate Myth

"He gained national attention for leading the line of inquiry that revealed the audio-taping system in the White House Oval Office," his official bio says (LINK).

But the reality is far more complicated than conventional wisdom and campaign puffery would have it.

While some Democrats on the committee to this day profess respect and admiration for Thompson, he was seen as others as a "spy" for the Nixon White House -- an accusation buttressed, at least in part, by Thompson's own writings, which confirm that he tipped off the Nixon White House about internal happenings on the committee.

Moreover, new transcripts from the Nixon White House tapes reveal that the Nixon administration regarded Thompson as a useful idiot -- "dumb as hell," in President Nixon's words, but "friendly." At one point, the White House counsel told Nixon that Thompson insisted he wanted to help the president more than his patron and boss on the committee, Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn, would let him.

Hat tip to Valerie's hubby,BBC Losing track of guns, losing track of Iraq?

The report comes from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which is an independent US government agency that is essentially the watchdog and investigative arm for the US Congress.

The GAO says that, of some 185,000 assault rifles and 170,000 pistols that the Pentagon says it supplied to the Iraqi security forces, it can account for less than half: there is a discrepancy of 110,000 in the case of AK-47s, and 80,000 pistols.

The gaps in the figures for body armour and helmets are even bigger - only 80,000 out of a total of 215,000 sets of body armour accounted for, and only 25,000 out of 140,000 helmets.

The report does not say it knows what has happened to the weapons - only that there are gaping holes in the records.

UK Times Outrage over betrayal of Iraqi interpreters

The 39-year-old officer, who is a director at Lazard bankers, used the interpeter as his “eyes and ears” when he was given the job of trying to restructure the economy of southern Iraq. “He was invaluable to me and took great personal risks, and these sort of people need our protection,” he said.

He fought his case and even appeared on an asylum tribunal in support of him, eventually winning the argument for him to stay in Britain.

“But it was a real struggle. The people on the tribunal didn’t seem to know what was going on in southern Iraq, they didn’t realise that Basra is now as dangerous as it is in Baghdad,” Major Alderson said.

The interpreter, “Mr Ali”, now living in Britain, told The Times: “Anyone who works for the Americans or the British in Iraq gets a visit from the militia and is told to leave the country or face assassination. I had to leave immediately and left everything behind.”

New Scientist Environment Eight-million-year-old bug is alive and growing

Whereas the young ice contained a variety of microorganisms, the researchers found only one type of bacterium in the 8-million-year-old sample. It also grew in the laboratory but much more slowly, doubling only every 70 days.

By examining the average length of DNA fragments found in all the ice samples, the researchers determined that frozen DNA is progressively degraded as time passes. Its half life is 1.1 million years – that is, after 1.1 million years half the original DNA has been degraded.

The researchers believe the DNA is degraded by cosmic rays, which are particularly strong at the poles where the Earth's magnetic field is at its weakest.

Paul Falkowski of Rutgers University, who led the study, describes the ancient bacteria as small round cells that had been in a "suspended state of animation for 8 million years". He says the increasingly rapid flow of glaciers into the ocean as a result of global warming could release new organisms into the sea but he does not believe this is cause for concern because marine bacteria and viruses are typically far less harmful to human health than, for instance, those found on land.

Salon It's easy for soldiers to score heroin in Afghanistan

Just outside the main gate to Bagram airfield, a U.S. military installation in Afghanistan, sits a series of small makeshift shops known by locals as the Bagram Bazaar. For Afghans, it is the place to buy American goods, but the stalls that make up the heart of the bazaar are also well known for what they provide American soldiers stationed at Bagram. Walking through the bazaar it takes less than 10 minutes for a vendor in his early 20s to step out and ask, "You want whiskey?" "No, heroin," I tell him. He ushers me into his store with a smile.

The shop is small, 9 feet wide by 14 feet deep, and dark. The walls at the front are lined with dusty cans of soda, padlocks and miscellaneous beauty supplies. As we enter, a teenager is visible at the back, seated in a chair next to a collection of American military knives and flashlights. The shopkeeper speaks to him in Dari. The teen stands and heads for the door, where he stops and asks my Afghan driver a question. My driver translates, "He wants to know how much you want? Twenty, 30, 50 dollars' worth?" From past experience, for I have arranged this same transaction a dozen times in a dozen different Bagram Bazaar shops, I know that the $30 bag will contain enough pure to bring hundreds of dollars on the streets of any American city. Afghanistan, after all, is the source of 90 percent of the world's heroin. I say 30 and the teen jogs off.

The true extent of the heroin problem among American soldiers now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan is unknown. At Bagram, according to a written statement provided by a spokesperson for the base, Army Maj. Chris Belcher, the "Military Police receive few reports of alcohol or drug issues." The military has statistics on how many troops failed drug tests, but the best information on long-term addiction comes from the U.S. Veterans Administration. The VA is the world's largest provider of substance abuse services, caring for more than 350,000 veterans per year, of whom about 30,000 are being treated for opiate addiction. Only preliminary information for Iraq and Afghanistan is available, however, and veterans of those conflicts are not yet showing up in the stats. According to the VA's annual "Yellowbook" report on substance abuse, during Fiscal Year 2006, fewer than 9,000 veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) sought treatment for substance abuse of all kinds at the VA; the report did not specify how many were treated for opiate abuse.

Remind Prissy again how different this war is from Vietnam...

Time Why It's Time for Maliki to Go

It's time for Nouri al-Maliki to go. In the 14 months he's been in charge, Iraq's Prime Minister has only ever had tenuous control over his country, but now even that has slipped out of his grasp. To paraphrase what everybody's history teacher used to say about Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire, Maliki's "national unity government" is not national, not united and now, not even really a government.

The resignations of Sunni and secular members of his cabinet only confirm what Iraqis have known for months, but the Bush Administration has steadfastly refused to acknowledge: that Maliki is himself a hindrance to national reconciliation. Even his severest critics in Washington seem to think Maliki is guilty only of incompetence — that he lacks the political skills to bring together Iraq's warring communities. But it's not that he can't reach out to the Sunnis: he just won't.

Reuters Testimony ends in Padilla's terrorism trial

Padilla is heard on only seven calls played for the jury. He did not use any coded language on the calls, the FBI's lead investigator testified, and mostly discussed issues such as the sale of a car he had left in Florida and divorce proceedings with his ex-wife.

Padilla, 36, was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare Airport in May 2002 upon returning from Egypt and was accused by the Bush administration of plotting to set off a radioactive bomb.

President George W. Bush declared him an "enemy combatant" in the war against terrorism and ordered him imprisoned by the military. Padilla was held without charge for three years and eight months before being indicted in a civilian court in November 2005 on charges that make no mention of a bomb plot.

The bomb allegations came from alleged al Qaeda operatives who claim they were tortured before being sent to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Padilla's constitutional rights were violated, ala Bush/Cheney rules of law (making them up as they go along)

Telegraph 'Over the top' security sees pilots revolt

Many have registered their anger on the Chirp website, the UK Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme. Although independent, it is sponsored by the Civil Aviation Authority and approved by the Department for Transport.

One pilot said: "When dealing with the police one has certain rights and a well-defined procedure if you are not treated correctly. This is not so with airport security who seem to be a law unto themselves using the knowledge that you are on a tight time schedule to ride roughshod over any rights that you might have."

Feelings are running so high that some pilots have claimed they were prepared to refuse to fly rather than run the gauntlet of what they regard as "over the top" security.

Bloomberg Former Brocade Chief Convicted in Backdating Fraud

Gregory Reyes, the former head of Brocade Communications Systems Inc., was found guilty of all charges in a trial related to the backdating of stock option grants, becoming the first chief executive convicted by a jury as part of a broad U.S. crackdown on the practice.

A jury today convicted Reyes, 44, of 10 counts including conspiracy and fraud after a five-week trial and six days of deliberations in San Francisco federal court. The former chief executive officer faces as much as 20 years in prison for the most serious charges and millions of dollars in fines. Sentencing is set for Nov. 21.

The U.S. ensnared at least 50 companies in its probe of backdating, a practice by which companies change the grant date to a day with a lower stock price, giving recipients built-in profits when they exercise their right to buy stock. Unless disclosed and recorded as an expense, the practice is illegal because it hides costs, prosecutors said during the trial.

Reyes lost a bid to have the conviction set aside when U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, following the verdict, announced that he had decided Aug. 3 to deny an earlier defense motion to throw out the case. The judge had questioned whether prosecutors presented enough evidence that Reyes understood accounting rules.

Quotes of the Day

Humor to a man is like a feather pillow. It is filled with what is easy to get but gives great comfort.--Irish proverb

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.--Italian proverb

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." -- George Washington

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." --William Pitt in the House of Commons November 18, 1783