A gang member convicted of two shootings less than three hours apart in Lennox, including one that left a man dead and two other people wounded, was sentenced Friday to 106 years to life in state prison.
Lebanon Fifita, 44, was convicted Sept. 27 of first-degree murder for the Nov. 9, 2015, slaying of Kenneth Campos, 37, and the attempted murder of his wife, who was wounded as the homeless couple was at the back of a door to a doughnut shop to pick up day-old doughnuts from a storekeeper willing to help them.
Fifita also was convicted of the attempted murder of another man, who was shot less than three hours earlier that day, along with possession of a firearm by a felon.
Jurors additionally found that Fifita personally discharged a handgun in the attack on Campos and his wife.
He was one of a half-dozen gang members tried for a string of South Bay shootings in late 2015 and early 2016.
Co-defendants Taniela Fonoifua, Fonuamana Ofeina Fuahala, Calvin Leonard Tonga, all 26; Samisoni Ilifeti Lauaki, 21, and Otoniel Ventura-Leon, 29, are awaiting sentencing next year in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
Fonoifua was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the Oct. 6, 2015, slaying of Sheila Gomez, 40, in Lennox and the Oct. 17, 2015, death of Adalberto Salcedo III, 15, in Carson, along with two counts of attempted murder involving a man with Gomez and a separate shooting on Jan. 26, 2016, in Gardena. Jurors also found Fonoifua guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and found true allegations that he personally discharged a gun during each of the crimes.
Lauaki was convicted of first-degree murder for Campos' killing, but acquitted of murder involving Salcedo's killing. Jurors also found him guilty of two counts of attempted murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
Fuahala — whom jurors also found to have personally discharged a handgun in the attack on Campos and his wife — was convicted along with Tonga and Ventura-Leon for Campos' killing.
The three men also were found guilty of two counts each of attempted murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
Jurors found true gang allegations against all six men.
Deputy District Attorney Heather Steggell told jurors during the trial that the six defendants are members of a "violent, ruthless criminal street gang" made up primarily of Pacific Islanders who committed a string of shootings in Lennox, Gardena and Carson.
"(They) go out hunting. It's sport for them," the prosecutor said in her opening statement.
Like other gangs, they commit "graffiti, robberies, burglaries, assault with deadly weapons and murder," but the difference with the defendants' gang is that they "will shoot anybody," Steggell told jurors.
Four of the victims were homeless.
Along with the three victims who were killed, four people were wounded in the series of shootings.


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Healing Ways Archive / Kick-Start Organ Vitality
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Kick-Start Organ Vitality
New Energy for the New Year
by Ronica A. O'Hara
Natali_ Mis/Shutterstock.com
With the merry-making furor of the holidays behind us, it's that time of year when our bodies are crying out for some detox and rejuvenation. Aside from getting back to the basics—a healthy diet and daily exercise—we can take a page from traditional Chinese and Indian medical practices and holistic approaches and use natural, organ-by-organ procedures to renew our bodies and restore inherent vitality.
"Strengthening our organs is critical because the organs create the vital essences of life, and our emotional and mental health depends to a great extent on how healthy our organs are," notes T. Caylor Wadlington, a doctor of Oriental medicine and acupuncture teacher in Denver. "In working to revitalize and re-energize the organs, we renew not just our physical body, but also our sense of well-being."
Here's a guide to a gentle fix-up campaign for the five organs considered vital for life in both Western and Eastern medicine:
Boost the Brain
"Stress can lead to imbalance of the brain's neurotransmitters, making it more difficult to focus, concentrate, relax and sleep—but it's reversible, and the brain can absolutely heal from these effects under the right circumstances," says integrative neurologist Ilene S. Ruhoy, M.D., Ph.D., of the Center for Healing Neurology, in Seattle.
Assess it: If you find it hard concentrating, sleeping, getting things done, remembering where things are and not being grouchy, the brain could be on stress-related overload. See a doctor if teeth grinding, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, fainting or dizziness develop.
Eat this: The top brain boosters are easy to swallow—dark chocolate, berries, nuts and avocados, along with oily fish, reports WebMD. Also, a five-year study of 950 seniors at Chicago's Rush University found that eating leafy greens once or twice a day slowed mental deterioration.
Drink this: Green tea is proven to reduce anxiety and depression, protect against mental decline and even correct stroke damage. In a Swiss study using MRI, people drinking green tea immediately had heightened activity in the working-memory part of their brain.
Supplement with this: Ruhoy recommends boswellia, long used in Asian and African medicine. It targets cerebral inflammation, stimulates the growth of neurons, enhances cognition, lowers depression and alleviates learning and memory problems.
Try this movement: Shake it. Alternating slow movements, or even rest with one-to-two-minute bursts of intense, all-out, heart-pounding moves like Zumba dancing, jogging or lunges increases important proteins called the neurotrophic factor that help brain cells grow, work and live longer, reports a new study from Canada's McMaster University.
Rejuvenate the Heart
Stress also increases hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which drive up blood pressure, blood sugar and inflammation, says holistic cardiologist Joel Kahn, M.D., of Detroit, author of The Whole Heart Solution: Halt Heart Disease Now with the Best Alternative and Traditional Medicine.
Assess it: Shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, anxiety, panic and swollen feet or ankles are signs the heart may be overloaded. Get medical help immediately if there is unusual deep exhaustion, unexplained weakness, nausea, dizziness, chest pain or pain that spreads to the arms.
Eat this: "The best foods for a stressed heart are those rich in magnesium. I like a giant green, leafy salad, often organic arugula, with blueberries, pumpkin seeds and walnuts," says Kahn.
Drink this: hot, golden turmeric milk, made with organic soy or nut milks, a heaping tablespoon of turmeric (a potent anti-inflammatory also shown to reverse Alzheimer's "brain tangles"), a pinch of black pepper and maybe an organic pumpkin spice mix.
Supplement with this: Hawthorn strengthens and tones heart muscles, suppresses deadly blood-clotting signals, fights inflammation and lowers heart attack risk, studies show. European doctors routinely prescribe it for managing mild heart failure, either alone or with drugs.
Try this movement: Hop on a bike: Cycling 20 miles a week slashes heart disease risk by half, reports the British Medical Journal. Also, do slow stretches every day: A Japanese study found a correlation between flexibility of the body and of the arteries.
Cleanse the Lungs
Family holidays may not always be unconditionally loving, which can induce stress, anger and sadness—emotions linked in laboratory studies to decreases in lung function. "You can actually give yourself a stress asthma attack," says Maui naturopath Carolyn Dean, M.D., ND, author of The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Women's Health.
Assess it: Trouble breathing, shortness of breath and a cough that won't go away are signs of stressed-out lungs. If there's coughing up of blood or mucus, or discomfort or pain when breathing, see a doctor.
Eat this: A 10-year study of 650 European adults found that eating apples and tomatoes two or three times a day, along with other fruit, speeds the healing of smoke-damaged lungs and seems to slow down the lungs' natural aging process.
Drink this: a juice combining cilantro, carrot, celery and ginger. According to the Lung Institute, cilantro helps remove heavy metals, carrots provide vitamin A to repair lung tissue, celery helps flush out carbon dioxide and ginger removes irritants from the lungs.
Supplement with this: vitamin D. Low levels seem to be linked to a higher risk of respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a review of clinical studies in Advances in Nutrition.
Try this movement: To loosen the airways when tense, the American Lung Association recommends slowly breathing in through the nose for two counts with the mouth closed. Purse the lips as if to whistle, and then breathe out slowly and gently through the lips to a count of four.
Detox the Kidneys
The kidneys are hard-working, fist-sized organs just below the back rib cage that filter waste and toxins out of 200 quarts of blood a day.
Assess it: Fatigue, feeling cold, shortness of breath, itchiness, swollen hands or feet, a puffy face, metallic-tasting food and ammonia-smelling breath are signs of growing kidney stress. See a doctor if experiencing kidney pain, weakness, lightheadedness, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, extreme thirst or decreased urination.
Eat this: Bone broth, wheat, millet, black sesame seeds, chestnuts, mulberries, raspberries, strawberries and walnuts are recommended by herbalist and acupuncturist Irina Logman of the Advanced Holistic Center, in New York City, to restore the kidneys.
Drink this: Water with squirts of lemon or lime. "The citrate makes water, as metabolized, more alkaline, which helps to remove acid from the blood, bring pH into balance and prevents bone, heart and further kidney damage," says Phoenix nephrologist Mandip S. Kang, M.D., author of The Doctor's Kidney Diet: A Nutritional Guide to Managing and Slowing the Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease.
Supplement with this: Dandelion tea helps to cleanse and strengthen the kidneys and a new study in Renal Failure reports that it also protects the kidneys from damage by certain toxins.
Try this qigong movement: Rub the palms together to warm them, and then place them on the kidney areas. Slowly massage in circular motions 12 times, and then reverse direction.
Shore up the Liver
"The liver is critical for detoxifying the body, but higher sugar and alcohol consumption over the holidays, as well as more stress, can increase toxin buildup that can damage the liver, which is why it's important to take steps to help it recover," says functional chiropractor Jennifer R. Welch, DC, of Iowa Functional Health, in Clive, Iowa.
Assess it: Itchy skin, easy bruising, musky-smelling breath, itchy red palms and mental sluggishness are early problem signs. Advanced symptoms that require medical care are yellowish skin, abdominal pain, swollen legs and ankles, ongoing fatigue, dark urine and pale stool.
Eat these: A Chinese study linked liver disease with low potassium levels, so consume sweet potatoes, tomato sauce, beet greens, beans, blackstrap molasses and bananas.
Drink this: Sip probiotic drinks like kombucha, kefir and yogurt-based smoothies. The probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus significantly lowered liver damage linked to excess acetaminophen in a recent Emory University laboratory study.
Supplement with this: Milk thistle has been shown in Italian animal studies to decrease and even reverse damage to the liver caused by medications, alcohol, antibiotics, pollution and heavy metals.
Try this yoga movement: With feet shoulder-width apart, make circles with the hips, pushing the torso farther and farther outward with each circle. Reverse direction.
Ronica A. O'Hara is a Denver-based freelance health writer. Connect at OHaraRonica@gmail.com. Photos by Maria Averburg/Shutterstock.com.
By taking a few forward-thinking steps, we can protect ourselves proactively from dangers to our vital organs:
Just say Om! Meditation enlarges parts of the brain concerned with memory, body awareness and emotional control, concluded a review of 21 neuroimaging studies from 300 meditators. InsightTimer.com, a meditation app, makes it easy to meditate for even five minutes a day.
Every night, write down two or three things to be grateful for. Heart patients at the University of California, San Diego, that did this for two months had reduced heart inflammation and improved cardiac biomarkers. "Appreciating even the littlest things builds a heart-protective habit of gratitude," says study author Paul J. Mills, Ph.D., a professor of family medicine and public health.
Many popular cleaning products contain dangerous chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOC) that several studies link to breathing problems, asthma and allergies. Check out the Environmental Working Group's toxicity information on 2,500 products.
To energize sluggish kidneys, try a quarter teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in water. In a British study of 134 people with advanced chronic kidney disease, this easy strategy reduced the rate of kidney decline to normal levels. Check with a doctor if under nephrology care.
Examine the ingredients in prescriptions and over-the-counter meds to make sure daily intake of acetaminophen doesn't exceed 3,000 milligrams; accidental overuse is the biggest cause of liver failure in the U.S.
Full-Body Boosters
A few daily to-dos that benefit the whole body:
Walking. A mere 20 minutes a day extends sleep up to an hour and lowers early mortality risk by 20 percent.
Adaptogens. Taking super-herbs such as astralagus, ashwagandha and rhodiola in tinctures, capsules or tea helps us adapt to stress.
Turmeric. An antioxidant and anti-inflammatory powerhouse proven to ward off cancer, heart disease and dementia.
Nature. A dose of greenery a day keeps the blues away—and also guards against heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and early mortality from all causes, a review of 140 studies shows.
Sources: Harvard University School of Medicine, Dr. Andrew Weil, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, ScienceDaily.com.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Stolen from my bud Nancy:
Ron Reagan, son of President Ronald Reagan, had this to say about Rush Limbaugh and his comments about Nancy Pelosi's looks:
"Limbaugh hasn't had a natural erection since the Nixon Administration; think he's compensating for something? Now, I wouldn't pick on him for any of this stuff, not his blubbiness, not his man-boobs, not his inability to have a natural erection—none of that stuff—to me, off limits until! until! Mr. Limbaugh, you turn that sort of gun on somebody else—once you start doing that, you're fair game, fat boy. Absolutely, you jiggly pile of mess. You're just fair game, and you're going to get it, too."
Heh. Good on ya, Ron.
As Economy Stumbles, the Zamboni Glides On
Gordon heads for town...
Story at EssEffChron.
PARAMOUNT, Calif. — At least one well-known American vehicle manufacturer is rolling out vehicles as usual. But before a Zamboni can take the ice, it hits the pavement on Colorado Avenue.
The neighbors are used to it by now, seeing one of the blocky ice-resurfacing machines rumble out of the low-slung Zamboni factory and trudge down the block — top speed: 9 miles per hour — toward the corner KFC. It whirls and comes back, is checked for leaks and fitted with studded tires.
Then the Zamboni is sent someplace like Dubai or Prague or Milwaukee. [...]
And, in this day, it may be comforting to know that Frank J. Zamboni & Company, still family owned and operated, is not asking for a government bailout.
"Not yet," [...]
Charlie Brown once said there are three things in life that people like to stare at: a flowing stream, a crackling fire and a Zamboni clearing the ice.
Ah, yes. Some things must never change!
The company also asks that Zamboni not be used as a noun (as it has been throughout this article) or a verb. The ice does not get Zambonied, then, and the vehicle is a Zamboni brand ice-resurfacing machine. Good luck with that.
Yeah, fat chance.
I've posted this song before. I'm doing it again. Different slide show.
Gear Daddies ~ Zamboni
Thanks to Dieler114, Austria.
Saturday Emmylou Blogging and some memories
Frank Reckard on the dazzling guitar work
Mr. Reckard had an odd habit. He would stash his lit cigarette under the strings up by the nut during a song. I saw him do it at The Palomino Club one time. That was the time I balked at paying $3 for a Bud longneck and snuck a sixer of 'em in in the deep pockets of my jacket. I ordered one bottle to make it look good and then put the empties back in the pockets. The waitress musta thought I was a real lightweight! Every time she came to our table she'd pick up my bottle to see if I needed a fresh one. I never did. I got pretty gooned up on that one bottle! Didn't get caught either. Heh.
Speaking of The Palomino Club, they used to have a prime rib buffet night. There was a little cover charge but single gals got in free. Me'n my boss took our wives one night and had them go in by themselves and then we picked 'em up in the buffet line like we'd never seen 'em before. The other folks musta either thought we were slicker'n shit (unlikely) or those gals were pretty easy! Heh again. Mrs. G will kill me if she sees that.
Eventually, we didn't need those kinda dodges to save money at the Palomino anymore. After we started working on the bouncer's Triumph we never paid a cover charge again.
This is at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in 1984.
Emmylou Harris & The Hot Band ~ Two More Bottles Of Wine & Luxury Liner
Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.
Just fer grins here's a little more about the Palomino from the wikilink above:
[...] The Palomino Club was notable because in addition to being the San Fernando Valley's premiere night club, it was a neighborhood working class bar (opening at 6am with a happy hour from 8am to 10am!) [...]
To serious drinkers, the 6AM opening is known as 'sick call'. The morning Happy Hour makes it 'socialized medicine'.
[...]The Palomino's dressing rooms and backstage areas were generally open to the public. Fans could ask if the artists were receiving visitors and most artists welcomed them, gladly signing autographs, etc. [...]
The 'etc.' covered a lot of territory. I think the high point of my musical career was smokin' a doob with Doug Dillard in that back room. He's best known in the non-Bluegrass world for bein' the banjo-pickin' Darling on The Andy Griffith Show. He has a world-class grin, and while we were tokin' up he said I had a good grin. That's like Jesus tellin' ya you're a good boy!
By the way, drunk, stoned, sober, or all three at once, Mr. Dillard played his banjo fast and precisely. Still does today.
The Palomino Club was an amazingly unique venue the likes of which will never be seen again.
Ah, memories. Memories of good times at the Palomino are all that's left of it. I doubt that I'm alone.
"Mancow Gets Waterboarded...Lasts Six Seconds"
He sure ain't gonna win no bronc ridin' contests with that time. His girlfriend probably thinks that's a good ride though. This is just so good I stole it in toto from Grandpa Eddie:
Tough guy conservative Chicago radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller had himself waterboarded today to prove it isn't torture. Well....now he says it is torture.
From Raw Story:
Chicago radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller decided he'd get himself waterboarded to prove the technique wasn't torture.
It didn't turn out that way. "Mancow," in fact, lasted just six or seven seconds before crying foul. Apparently, the experience went pretty badly -- "Witnesses said Muller thrashed on the table, and even instantly threw the toy cow he was holding as his emergency tool to signify when he wanted the experiment to stop," according to NBC Chicago.
"The average person can take this for 14 seconds," Marine Sergeant Clay South told his audience before he was waterboarded on air. "He's going to wiggle, he's going to scream, he's going to wish he never did this."
Mancow was set on a 7-foot long table with his legs elevated and his feet tied.
"I wanted to prove it wasn't torture," Mancow said. "They cut off our heads, we put water on their face...I got voted to do this but I really thought 'I'm going to laugh this off.' "
The upshot? "It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that's no joke," Mancow told listeners. "It is such an odd feeling to have water poured down your nose with your head back...It was instantaneous...and I don't want to say this: absolutely torture."
"Absolutely. I mean that's drowning," he added later. "It is the feeling of drowning."
"If I knew it was gonna be this bad, I would not have done it," he said.
The 42-year-old radio host is no stranger to controversy. In 2005, he was maligned for saying that then-Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean was "vile," "bloodthirsty," "evil" and "should be kicked out of America."
Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
It dawned on me upon some some reflection and joyous schadenfreude at this wingtard gasbag's awakening that I was being uncharitable. Sorry, it's a habit I've gotten into over the last 29 years. The guy did the right thing by admitting that waterboarding scared him and that he now realizes it is absolutely torture.
Therefore, I now have this much (holds thumb and forefinger far enough apart to let light through the gap) respect for him. He's still a wingtard gasbag.
"Fall out in skivvy shorts, shower shoes, an' a light coat of oil!"
That was an old joke in my Marine Corps days. Somebody finally did it!
EssEffChron
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says American soldiers have more than their military might and training on their side in the war in Afghanistan. Some have pink underwear.
Gates told an audience in New York about Specialist Zachary Boyd, routed from sleep by enemy fire on his post in eastern Afghanistan.
"He immediately grabbed his rifle and rushed into a defensive position clad in his helmet, body armor, and pink boxer shorts that said 'I Love New York,'" Gates said Thursday night.
"Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, an AP photographer was there for a candid shot," Gates continued.
The photograph by David Guttenfelder ran on the front page of the New York Times.
"Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage," Gates said, adding that Boyd may have hit on a new kind of psychological warfare. "I can only wonder about the impact on the Taliban. Just imagine seeing that — a guy in pink boxers and flip-flops has you in his crosshairs."
I get a visual of an Afghan fighter's last picture being of that as he gets drilled between the runnin' lights. Explain that in Paradise, chump. Heh.
A few notes for Specialist Boyd:
First, that was one fight you had to win! Can you imagine the propaganda value to the Taliban/al Qaeda/opium farmers/goat humpers if you had not? My sides hurt...
Second, be sure to call yer Mom and thank her for the nice underwear. It made ya famous! Unless they were a Valentine's Day gift from your squad leader. Don't ask, don't...
And, yer buddies'll stop kiddin' ya about this. Someday. If ya outlive 'em all.
Thank you for your service, son. That went above and beyond! Them shorts musta been hidin' a pair o' big brass ones for fallin' out for a fight dressed like that! I wouldn't have dared to wear 'em in the first place, but they do things different in New York I guess. Good on ya!
Note to Fixer: You must be extra proud of Noo Yawk soldiers today!
Cheney lied repeatedly in speech
Like, DUH! McClatchy via Raw Story:
American newspapers don't use the word "lied" as a matter of form -- preferring the more innocuous "false statements," which is supposed to be less biased. But a McClatchy newspaper article Friday says myriad elements of Cheney's terrorism speech Thursday were tantamount to lies -- positing that the former Vice President was guilty of "omissions, exaggerations and misstatements."
Go see.
And from commenter GM:
Cheney is on a media tour to taint the jury pool of his future prosecution for war crimes and crimes against humanity and nothing more.
Disclaimer: My initials are also GM, but that wasn't me. Nor am I responsible for the Chevy Vega, the Cadillac Cimarron, or making your family go live under a bridge when I canned them while taking $Billions of your money.
Fear of prosecution caused Cheney to speak out, daughter says
Gee, ya think?
Milk is a gateway drug to bourbon
You have never before seen -- nor will you ever see again -- FBI director Robert Mueller so thoroughly humbled in a discussion about drug policy before the United States Congress.
In this instance, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) gets Mueller to admit that marijuana has never killed anybody, then smashes into tiny bits the decades-old "gateway drug" argument with a unique analogy of milk and bourbon.
Go see the CNN video and read the comments.
I think things are looking up on the cheeb front!
RNC Hits Obama For Criticizing Slavery
On May 21, 2009, the RNC tweeted an out of context quote from Barack Obama regarding a flaw in the constitution. The "fundamental flaw" Barack Obama was referring to was slavery.
Apparently, the Repugs don't see it as a 'flaw'. The idea of actually paying the people who make them rich has never set well with Repugs. Cheaper to own them and abuse them. Damn that activist Lincoln!
Their idea of 'the rule of law' is IOKIYAR.
Greenwald:
... There's very little worth saying about the speech Dick Cheney delivered after Obama's ...
Indeed. The Mrs. and I are still trying to figure out what he's up to, being he's admitted to everything we've been accusing him of.
Jack ...
I don't care what anybody says, I love Jack Cafferty. He reminds me of my old man, with a better attitude:
The Bush presidency is thankfully over... but the damage he and Dick Cheney did continues to press on the nerve of the American people like an impacted wisdom tooth. And until the questions surrounding arguably the most arrogant and perhaps most corrupt administration in our history are addressed, the pain won't go away.
More and better quotes at Maru's.
A little adult Zydeco for The Dick
I've been saving this one for the right time, and this is as good a time as will come along.
This goes out to The Dick on the occasion of today's edition of a long line of failed attempts to save his own ass along with both of my middle fingers extended aloft. I don't speak French, but I think the title of this translates something like 'EAT ME', to which I add MOTHERFUCKER!
Rosie Ledet ~ Eat My Poussiere
Thanks to aNYCdj.
A Few Notes Regarding Today's Speech(es)
As luck would have it, the first analysis of Obama's speech today that I've run across is from my new hero and role model (I'm not worthy! Not worthy, I tell you!), The Rude One:
...Obama spoke today at the National Archives to say, more or less, "Stop acting like the other guy is still President, you poor, traumatized bastards."
[...] So there he was, slapping down the bases for torture, for Gitmo, for the prosecution of the retarded "war on terror," saying that he didn't run the car off the cliff, but he sure as fuck is gonna pick up the glass and mop up the blood: "In other words, the problem of what to do with Guantanamo detainees was not caused by my decision to close the facility; the problem exists because of the decision to open Guantanamo in the first place." [...]
Gee, when ya put it like that, even a dummy like me can get it.
Most stunning, though, was his assertion of how the government should deal with the crimes of the past administration, and it ain't a Truth Commission: "I have opposed the creation of such a Commission because I believe that our existing democratic institutions are strong enough to deliver accountability. The Congress can review abuses of our values, and there are ongoing inquiries by the Congress into matters like enhanced interrogation techniques. The Department of Justice and our courts can work through and punish any violations of our laws."
Do you get that? President Obama is telling the Congress not to be punk ass bitches about investigating, that the legislative branch should keep the executive branch honest, that punishing crimes is what we're supposed to do. Obama used this speech on national security to say that the way to be safe is to defend what makes America American and for everyone to do their fucking jobs.
Finally, he kicked Bush and Cheney in their taints at the close of his speech: "We will not be safe if we see national security as a wedge that divides America - it can and must be a cause that unites us as one people, as one nation. We have done so before in times that were more perilous than ours." Now that's how to stand tall and say, "C'mon, fuck with me."
Cheney, Briefly: Dick Cheney, wheezing his way through his speech, opened by talking about how he was cowering in a bunker on 9/11 and his horribly scarred psyche changed how he thought about the world. The fact that Cheney admitted that he was a PTSD sufferer and that's how he responded to the world pretty much negates everything he said after. Fuck him. He's not worthy to be called Cthulu or Satan anymore.
More, and more to come:
Back after El Dicko is done.
What he said. Later.
As leader of the Dirty Old Man contingent around here, I offer some words beyond his years from Mark Morford that may make you, er, desire to go read the rest of them:
Damn you kids! What with your hormones and your brazen sexual curiosity and your lithe nymphomaniacal little bodies that shine like gorgeous devil candy and mock Jesus as you lure unsuspecting politicians and religious leaders onto the sharp rocks of adultery and fantasy and doom!
Sounds fine ta me, whippersnapper...
...run in circles, scream and shout
Think Progress, obviously regular readers of the brain, follows up on Fixer's post just below:
When will the right wing insist the NYC synagogue bombers are 'too dangerous' for U.S. prisons?
[...] Given conservatives' recent hysterical declarations that U.S. prisons are unfit to handle terrorist suspects, Hilzoy challenges the right wing's talking points in regards to the imprisonment of these "homegrown" terrorists:
This raises the difficult question: what should we do with these would-be terrorists while they await trial? And if they are convicted, what then? I assume that if it's too dangerous to move people at Guantanamo to the United States, it must be much too dangerous to allow these jihadists to run loose in our prisons. After all, they might provide financing for other jihadists from their supermax cells, or radicalize other prisoners, or use special Terrorist Mind Control Techniques to create a whole army of brainwashed convicts under their complete control.
Prisons? Yeesh. Don't need no stinkin' prisons. L.A. County jail or Rikers Island'd have any jihadist beggin' for solitary confinement after five minutes in the gen pop.
I think one of the things the wingtards fear most is that our legal system might actually work. If it does, and it probably will, it will absolutely negate the fear-mongering and policies of the Bush years.
Worse for the Repugs, it might work on them too.
Good thing ...
We're "fightin' them over there":
Four men have been arrested and charged in a plot to detonate explosives near at least one synagogue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and to shoot down military aircraft, authorities said Wednesday night.
Three of the suspects are U.S. citizens and one is Haitian, Gov. David A. Paterson said last night, adding that the plot was considered "a serious threat."
We'll see if this was a Bush-style (a couple morons basically set up by an FBI "informant") propaganda event or a real homegrown threat soon enough. The Republicans should be screaming Obama can't "keep us safe" any second now.
I'll say this; good thing for them the cops caught 'em and not the Rabbi. Heh ...
Stop the snivelin' ...
What'd I say almost 6 months ago?
There is no problem with closing Gitmo. If there's admissible evidence (not coerced through torture), try them in a U.S. court and sentence them. If there's evidence inadmissible in the U.S., take them somewhere far away and kill them (quietly, and make sure the bodies are never found). If there's neither, let them go. Period.
So now comes the big sturm und drang from the Rethugs, and the Spineless Dems are whining about what to do with the 'detainees' at Gitmo. Tell me, over the past 8 years, did the Rethug Congress ever cut the legs out from under Bush? To steal a quote second hand from Gord:
To be honest, it's getting to the point where about the only thing that makes me proud to be a Democrat is the fact it proves I'm not a Republican.
Digby says:
I just have to laugh at the sight of Republicans defending our good clean All American killers against some SuperVillain Afghan farmer who "killed Americans or tried to kill Americans." I'm sure the American killers will happily vote Republican with that kind of endorsement (if they are ever let loose and Americans are "exposed" to them. )
This isn't even a debate. It's a pageant. A sick, stupid pageant
Greenwald says:
The "debate" over all the bad and scary things that will happen if Obama closes Guantanamo and we then incarcerate those detainees in American prisons is so painfully stupid even by the standards of our political discourse that it's hard to put into words, and it also perfectly illustrates the steps that typically lead to America's National Security policies ...
Comrade Misfit says:
90 lily-livered pantywaists in the US Senate ...
Yeah, that's about right.
GOP whores
On Saturday, the Dallas Morning News published an article about the battle between Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry for the Republican spot in the Texas gubernatorial election. In the article, a political consultant to Perry said that Hutchison is making the GOP into a "whorehouse":
He's a little late in coming to that realization! The GOP has been a very expensive pretty much 'whites only' whorehouse, and not in the good way, for many, many years. It's unique in that its patrons pay the whores to fuck everybody but them.
Perry political consultant Dave Carney said the Republican governor agrees the party should welcome new voters.
"But that doesn't mean you take your principles and throw them out the door and become a whorehouse and let anybody in who wants to come in, regardless," Carney said.
Like people of color and realists, I suppose, or maybe just less than ideologically 'pure' Aryans. Pretty big talk coming from one of the towel boys.
Just as a disclaimer, I think the aptly named Carney has insulted brothels. I draw the line at the word 'whore' being used as a synonym for 'prostitute'. A prostitute is a working girl who provides a service that is beneficial. A whore is a low-class person, and while there are women who sell themselves who are whores, the Repugs are most decidedly whores of the lowest sort who are not beneficial to anybody except Big Money.
How War Caused the Crash
The Existentialist Cowboy with a 'recommended read':
US government crimes against the people of the US amount to organized high treason! Millions are now out of work amid declining prospects. US troops still occupy Iraq, a war of aggression that the US has not begun to pay for. Unfortunately, neither people nor media have made the connection. Even worse, the US has yet to either win or pay for any war waged since World War II. Since World War II, Republican regimes have run up the highest debts and deficits in US history. What John Maynard Keynes stated the US has proven: war transfers wealth upward! Wealth flowing upward equals economic depression. (my em)
GOP regimes compounded the problem by cutting taxes first for the upper quintile and, later under Bush Jr, it was only the upper one percent who benefited. The rich elites wage wars of naked aggression from which only they benefit. It is the poorer classes who pick up the tab.
Debt was simply rolled over --but so were you! The rich were given a tax cut and everyone else got the bill and the accruing interest! As Gen. Smedley Butler put it: "War is a racket!" You were rolled over, screwed and ridiculed by the leaders of the 'right wing'! You are not expected to be smart enough to understand when you have been fucked over!
Oh, but we are. More and more as time goes by, too.
In times past, traitors were hanged or beheaded. Today they are allowed to barricade themselves behind several multiple rings of secured walls in exclusive 'neighborhoods' and bank their booty offshore untaxed. One might conclude that these elites are fortified and actually prepared for revolution.
They'd better be.
The term 'victor's justice' is associated with Herman Goring! Now --we have become Goring or, at least, the best evidence that he was correct. We have become the hypocrites he said were were. Our so-called 'government' has done this by lying to the world, lying to the American people, lying to itself! If the US government is prosecutable under the principles we established at Nuremberg, then we have become the Nazis. We have become the Nazis. We have lost World War II.
The ruling one percent got rich with unjust tax cuts affecting only their 'class'; it did so by defrauding congress, funding and/or buying right wing politicians, supporting the use of illegal 'weapons that melt the skin off children' or poisoning them in the womb. The US became a Nazi nation by targeting civilians, journalists, and hospitals. The government did it with your money. The government believed it their right to shake you down! The ruling elite pays no taxes. Paying taxes, supporting US atrocities with money --that's YOUR job!
Liberals, the media, the 'left wing' are demonized in a transparent smokescreen, an act of mis-direction while those who are enriched by the industries of mass murder, war and war crimes get away with it. The 'real killers' are the MIC [prominently: Halliburton, KBR et al] , K-Street, political whores in Congress, Bush Jr, the Bush crime family and anyone else who has made a buck lying about US intentions and actions in Iraq.
[...] The ruling elites --it would appear --have committed the perfect crime, a crime in which the victim does not understand what and how was done and by whom!
Whoever's in office, the ruling elites still rule. The old pols know this very well and Obama's finding out.
WTF, Harry?
The Last Chance Democracy Cafe takes a whack at answering a question that seems to be popping up an awful lot of late:
When did Democrats become such freaking wimps?
I'm there, dude.
But the real final straw that ended any sympathy I have for the spinelessness of congressional Democrats was Harry Reid's moronic (and I choose that word carefully) statement about closing our disgraceful prison at Guantanamo Bay. [...]
"Can't put them in prison unless you release them"? What does that even mean? Isn't locking someone up the opposite of releasing them?
At this point, the only difference between Reid's ridiculous remarks and those of Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is that Reid is smart enough to know and acknowledge reality. Otherwise, the arguments are identical. In this sense, the Majority Leader's nonsense is considerably worse, and far more insulting.
Republicans make demonstrably stupid arguments suggesting the US military is incapable of keeping a couple hundred bad guys locked up and, right on cue, Democrats quake in fear.
What a bunch of losers
If there's any one thing we know how to do in this country, it's incarcerate people. What the hell is going on?
The Rude Pundit weighs in, with links to Glenn Greenwald and Supermax, among others:
[...] But this ain't about the general failure of the American penal system or the blatant racism that inflicts this whole discussion. (And, you know, if these were a bunch of white guys from Europe at Gitmo, wouldn't this have been over years ago?)
No, this is about our punk ass politicians.
No shit.
In other words, the Rude Pundit doesn't give a grunting pig fuck about potential risks in bringing Gitmoians to the United States. The short-sighted Democrats who put the kibosh on the funding for closing the camp forget that that act is actually about restoring the United States's standing in the world.
But when some craven Republican he-whore exclaims that about the Gitmo detainees "They get better health care than the average American citizen does" and then proudly stands in the way of Americans getting health care coverage, well, what's the real threat to the United States? What and who do we really need to be afraid of? What's an actual national security issue?
Read the rest. He talks maybe a little (cough) dirty sometimes, but he knows what's goin' on.
Dear CCCs*,
Listen to me. I own 2 cards, Visa and Amex. For convenience, we use 'em like cash, paying off the bills every month, on time (or early). I have no qualms cutting them up and using a debit card the same way. The only reason we do use your cards is for the points we earn (the Amex is a "Delta SkyMiles" version where we get points on the Mrs.' business travel and use 'em for vacation travel - business class to London this September, free round trip to Ft. Lauderdale this past February).
If you decide to cut the benefits (or ream me .060 oversize without lubrication by trying to raise my interest rate) there's no point in bothering with your little shitty pieces of plastic.
That's just me. I'm sure a lot of other folks in my position are thinking the same thing right about now. You might want to reconsider:
They really are a brilliant bunch. What successful business model relies on giving the shaft to your best customers? Forget the excuse about being forced to deal with risky customers because that's exactly what the industry wanted for years and now they're being asked to clean up their mess. They were sending out pre-approved credit card applications to anyone including the baby daughter of my friend. The industry has been foolish for years and now they will continue the stupidity with this. If they really want to discourage good customers from using credit, go for it and see how long their beloved shareholders tolerate that model.
No skin off my ass if you lose your shirts.
*Credit Card Corporations
The Cheney Doctrine
Will Durst on torture at YubaNet. Brain bleach alert!
[...] So pretty much everybody agrees, Dick Cheney speaking on torture is redundant.
He called the enhanced interrogation techniques used at Gitmo regrettable but necessary. And you got to love that phrase: "enhanced interrogation techniques." Sounds like instructions on how to turn on the fluorescents at a job interview. He's not being tortured, he's being solicited to provide easy answers to exceptionally difficult questions. In bad lighting. And those car-battery cables attached to his nipples are "nervous system awareness amplifiers."
The best way Dick Cheney could help this country is to creep back to that undisclosed location of his, and maybe take Joe Biden with him. Still haven't figured out why Cheney is so obsessed with selling the positive merits of torture. Though there is that old axiom about one man's torture being another man's S&M turn-on, so maybe that explains more about the Cheney Doctrine than we really need to know. TMI. You want torture? Dick Cheney in fishnets. Try to pry that image out of your mind.
The Rude Pundit Exposed
El Rude-O is the bass player in this "Free Torture Report dot com" spoof. I think he's 'F Yoo':
The man is on fire today too. On Cheney at the ball game:
No doubt the man is contemplating all his sins as he stares at the mock fence, wondering how he become so bereft of humanity, that he perhaps deserves to be surrounded by gates and bars and razor wire, with a tattoo that reads "Property of the Aryan Brotherhood" on his right ass cheek. Yes, the weight of all that he has done must push heavily on him every day and every night, and perhaps he thinks he does not need an actual fence to punish him for he is imprisoned by the pain in his soul.
Nah. Probably just has to take a gigantic dump after sucking down two chili cheese dogs and a bucket of beer, and he's wondering if he can get the skin of a dead Afghani villager to use to wipe his ass. Only the best for the man.
And on Neut:
In a confluence of incompetence and evil the likes of which hasn't been seen since, well, probably this year's Republican National Convention, former Speaker of the House and possible Future of the GOP Newt Gingrich appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Fox "news" show. It was not unlike watching two drunk guys stare at themselves in a mirror as they perform self-fellatio and then insist that they're totally not gay.
Gingrich was there to sing his new single, "Boom Boom Pelosi," [...]
In other words, titanic asshole Newt Gingrich thinks that if Nancy Pelosi says the CIA misleads Congress, it doesn't mean that there should be hearings into the substance of what she's alleging. It means she should resign as Speaker of the House. But when he was Speaker of the House and saying to the media that the FBI was incompetent and a threat to Americans, it didn't mean he was undermining the FBI agents' morale and he should resign. No, then it meant that Congress ought to investigate.
Could someone, somewhere tell this tubby, hypocritical fucker to go the fuck away? Wait, no. Instead, please let him run for president in 2012.
I think he should get the Nobel Prize for Snark!
Tesla teams with Daimler
We have done several posts about the Tesla over at Fixer & Gordon. This is pretty big, I think:
German automaker Daimler said today it had bought an almost 10% stake in Tesla, giving a financial boost to the California-based electric car company.
Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, didn't disclose the amount of the investment, saying only that, when priced in euros, the amount was in "eight figures."
Teaming with Daimler will give Tesla access to the German company's "engineering production and supply chain expertise," Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a statement.
I bet they're creamin' their jeans at Tesla over 'access' to good Kraut stuff like that!
The deal expands Daimler's access to Tesla lithium-ion battery technology. Under the agreement announced in January, Tesla agreed to provide 1,000 of the advanced batteries to Daimler this year and next.
I bet they're happy in Germany too! Sounds like 'Win-Win' to me.
Win for MedWeed
I put that graphic up because I think it's beautiful. So is common sense, even though it's rare in government.
The Supreme Court refused to hear a case Monday contesting California's medical marijuana law, in a win for medicinal marijuana advocates.
"The courts have made clear that federal law does not preempt California's medical marijuana law and that local officials must comply with that law," Joe Elford, chief counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a national medical marijuana advocacy group, said in a release. "No longer will local officials be able to hide behind federal law and resist upholding California's medical marijuana law."
Medicinal use of marijuana is legal in thirteen US states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
It's also legal for medical use in Canada, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Finland and Portugal.
Gee, this is great! We're catchin' up to reindeer herders...
The Crux of the Biscuit ...
Digby:
The Bush Doctrine is the source of all this horror. The idea that you can invade another country simply because they might pose a threat someday is nothing more that than the illegal concept of preventive war (which the Bushies simply rebranded as "preemptive" war.) And it's what leads to the idea that you can torture and imprison indefinitely in the name of that war. You don't need a real ticking time bomb, just the belief that there might be one someday.
Torture, therefore, is an intrinsic feature of the Bush Doctrine. It all flows from there.
This is why we need an investigation and prosecutions. The conventional wisdom cannot remain that once you gain power in America, you are free to do whatever you please without consequence. There are too many people in this world who believe that power means immunity from law and regulation. It might work in a tin horn dictatorship but it must not work here. Not if we want to remain 'America' in its best connotation.
Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Briefings
This isn't crazy, or terrifying: alongside Robert Draper's GQ piece on Donald Rumsfeld being called out by former colleagues, they're running covers of his White House morning defense briefings. You have to see these.
Draper notes that the briefings were "a daily digest of critical military intelligence so classified that it circulated among only a handful of Pentagon leaders and the president; Rumsfeld himself often delivered it, by hand, to the White House."
Words fail me.....
Helmet tip to Gawker.
Posted by Morrigan at 15:56
The "We Did Nothing Wrong, & Nancy Should Have Stopped Us" Song
From Mad Kane's Political Madness page of her site:
Republicans are truly gifted at changing the subject, and the media falls for it every time. Take CIA torture, for instance. Is the media focusing on who in the Bush administration broke the law and ordered torture? Of course not! Instead, the topic's morphed into whether Nancy Pelosi is lying when she says the CIA misled Congress about torture.
Following Republican logic is never an easy task. But from what I can gather, here's the Republican position: Bush's CIA did nothing wrong, & Pelosi could have and should have stopped them.
In honor of the Republicans tortured position on torture, I've written them a theme song to the tune of Stephen Foster's Camptown Races:
The CIA did nothing wrong.
Doo-da, Doo-da.
Pelosi knew and went along.
Oh, de doo-da day.
5 more verses.
Yeah, Doo-da, doo-da...
The right's tortured shell game
Media Matters, with a video full of demented wingtard loonies.
This week one thing became abundantly clear: Media conservatives want to talk about torture -- well, not really; they want to blame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for failing to stop the Bush administration's torture policies. You know, the policies conservatives contend worked great to keep us safe. Have trouble following their logic? That's sort of the point -- a shell game is designed to confuse the audience, forcing members of it to select the wrong shell and lose whatever money they've thrown on the table. There's little difference between that curbside gambling and what we're seeing now from conservatives.
My best advice about shell games is to walk on by, but you can win every time if you can back your play physically. While the guy is suckering you into betting money on his con, he may let you win a game or two so you can tell yourself your eyes are quicker than his hands. Don't believe it.
As soon as the money is on the table, the guy will shuffle the shells around just like before, but when they come to rest, the pea or bean or whatever will be safely in his palm. It will never be under the one you choose because it isn't under any of them, but it will miraculously re-appear under the one he wants.
Here's how you win: Declare that the pea is under, for instance, the center shell. The trick is to simultaneously pick up the other two shells and turn them over and say "isn't it?". What's he gonna do? He knows you've got him. Now you can either have a good laugh or demand your 'winnings'. This is when the fight will start. Heh.
In essence, you've called the con man's bluff, and this is exactly what we have to do with the Repugs.
It's too bad the Dems don't have anybody with the balls to back their play.
"Tell that sonofabitch you got a headache..."
The title is the punchline of an old joke that probly doesn't fit, but it sprang unbidden inta my head when I saw Jesse talking to Miss California the blond wingtard bimbo.
A lot more people watch this show than watch Keith or Rachel. It's good that this is getting to a wider audience.
I only watch it because I got the hots for Joy Behar.
Thanks to sigmonkeyataol.
$2.4 Billion in Budget for "Clean Coal"
Much of it to study long-term effect of oxymorons.
Social Security, Medicare Funds to Run Out Much Sooner Than Thought
You may want to consider turning the heat off in grandpa's room.
Corporations Protest Obama Plan to Crack Down on Tax Dodging
Call paying taxes "creeping socialism."
Traces of Cocaine Detected In Air of Madrid, Barcelona
According to Spain's Tourist Bureau.
The Editors via Mr. Mass Transit:
... We've got what amounts to a reverse Nuremberg defense, where Bush administration officials are let off the hook because they were only giving orders. I'm not sure that's such a great idea.
Counterpoint ...
To Gord's redneck music. Heh ... A little latin jazz for your morning:
Jesse Cook - Havana
Have a good Monday!
Notre Dame ...
Excellent speech by Barry yesterday* (I had it on while I was working), handling the 'controversy' with as much class as we've come to expect from an intelligent man (nice change from the last idiot).
He spoke of dialogue and an exchange of ideas, the necessity to prevent unwanted pregnancies and, in turn, the reduction of abortions (I don't know anybody who likes the idea of abortion), and I applaud that. Thing is, that's about all talking will get him, a little applause.
You see, the conversation will shut down as soon as you take it to the next step. There are two ways to prevent unwanted pregnancy aside from abortion - abstinence and birth control. So, while agreement might be reached in principle on the broader subject, ain't shit gonna change as long as the 'Jesus people' believe their god frowns on birth control.
While Barry might be eloquent and rational, and make great arguments for easy access to birth control and sex education, he's up against a higher power. The Almighty. You can't argue against 'God's will'. And that's why there will never be a compromise.
I don't know about you, but every 'god's mouthpiece' I've ever met (in whatever religion) believe the Word of God can't be wrong, ever. God is perfection beyond our understanding - supposedly - and to compromise that would mean compromising one's faith. That would be a sin (maybe a mortal one - abortion and birth control are tantamount to murder, aren't they?) and would relegate the compromisee (my word) to an eternity in some very bad place.
So I ask you, how the fuck do you compromise with that?
There are only two options for the god people, condone murder or outlaw it. How are you supposed to get them to meet you half-way? How can you get them to approve of anything but abstinence in the joint effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies? To approve of easy access to condoms and birth control pills (especially the RU-486 "Morning After Pill") and devices would be to approve of random murder. The hard core won't cross that line.
As long as god's henchmen here on Earth equate abortion and birth control with mass murder from the pulpit, there will be no compromise. The only thing they will accept is the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the abolition of sex education classes in school, and the disuse of birth control. In this climate, finding "common ground" will go only as far as the initial premise, "to reduce unwanted pregnancies". After that, Barry's on his own.
*Though I will take exception to his words about 'conscience clauses'. You know, those things that allow doctors and pharmacists to deny care and medications to people because of their religious beliefs. You know, like me telling my boss I won't work on German cars because of what they did during the war. You know where I'd be, standing on the curb with my toolbox. If doing your job conflicts with your 'principles', get another fucking job.
Sunday Crazy Redneck Music Blogging
Buck and Billo sings "Fishing In The Dark" by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
A little country wisdom about love after the song. Heh.
Nice history of the Dirt Band. Click on the video after it starts.
Also, notice the lovely backdrop. I've done that off a coupla docks too, and once off the Santa Monica Pier. Not always at night either, and I ain't talkin' about fishin'...
Buck and Billo of the BCB Band ~ Fishin' In The Dark
Thanks to buckandbilloshow. These guys have more channels than Rupert Murdoch!
38D ain't a IQ
This goes out to all our women readers. We love you.
Richard Thompson on Sierra Center Stage
Richard Thompson ~ Hots For The Smarts
Thanks to ScrapsG, Israel.
Obama Can't Turn the Page on Bush
Daddy Frank with a rare MUST, MUST read:
TO paraphrase Al Pacino in "Godfather III," just when we thought we were out, the Bush mob keeps pulling us back in. And will keep doing so. No matter how hard President Obama tries to turn the page on the previous administration, he can't. Until there is true transparency and true accountability, revelations of that unresolved eight-year nightmare will keep raining down drip by drip, disrupting the new administration's high ambitions.
There are many dots yet to be connected, and not just on torture. This Sunday, GQ magazine is posting on its Web site an article adding new details to the ample dossier on how Donald Rumsfeld's corrupt and incompetent Defense Department cost American lives and compromised national security. [...]
Pops cites a couple more instances of Bush-Cheney administration malfeasance, then gets to the point:
But the new administration doesn't want to revisit this history any more than it wants to dwell on torture. Once the inspector general's report on the military analysts was rescinded, the Obama Pentagon declared the matter closed. The White House seems to be taking its cues from the Reagan-Bush 41 speechwriter Peggy Noonan. "Sometimes I think just keep walking," she said on ABC's "This Week" as the torture memos surfaced. "Some of life has to be mysterious." Imagine if she'd been at Nuremberg!
The administration can't "just keep walking" because it is losing control of the story. The Beltway punditocracy keeps repeating the cliché that only the A.C.L.U. and the president's "left-wing base" want accountability, but that's not the case. Americans know that the Iraq war is not over. A key revelation in last month's Senate Armed Services Committee report on detainees — that torture was used to try to coerce prisoners into "confirming" a bogus Al Qaeda-Saddam Hussein link to sell that war — is finally attracting attention. The more we learn piecemeal of this history, the more bipartisan and voluble the call for full transparency has become.
And I do mean bipartisan. Both Dick Cheney, hoping to prove that torture "worked," and Nancy Pelosi, fending off accusations of hypocrisy on torture, have now asked for classified C.I.A. documents to be made public. When a duo this unlikely, however inadvertently, is on the same side of an issue, the wave is rising too fast for any White House to control. Court cases, including appeals by the "bad apples" made scapegoats for Abu Ghraib, will yank more secrets into the daylight and enlist more anxious past and present officials into the Cheney-Pelosi demands for disclosure.
I'm not a fan of Washington's blue-ribbon commissions, where political compromises can trump the truth. But the 9/11 investigation did illuminate how, a month after Bush received an intelligence brief titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," 3,000 Americans were slaughtered on his and Cheney's watch. If the Obama administration really wants to move on from the dark Bush era, it will need a new commission, backed up by serious law enforcement, to shed light on where every body is buried.
Hear! Hear! You tell 'em, Pop! And the sooner the better.
"Fall out in skivvy shorts, shower shoes, an' a li...
The "We Did Nothing Wrong, & Nancy Should Have Sto...


Another uniquely designed water feature with a different take on our popular Copper Wave with twin copper descent panels. Water clings and shimmers over the beautiful copper. Splash free and self contained.


text:
Q: Can I log in to my site from my iPhone app? I'm trying to make a log in or sign up feature for my web site in my iPhone app. My website is a content management system, and like any other CMS, it has log in and registration features. It also has permmissions, dependent on the user account. I think I would have to use UIWebView for this.
Are there any examples or tutorials I can examine?

A: Check out the documentation for NSURLRequest (and NSMutableURLRequest): you can use it to make a POST request to your login and registration pages, just like a web browser. You can write the form UI in Cocoa/Objective-C and then send the data to the server.
As far as displaying the result to the user, you'll have to figure out a way to either parse the returned HTML (bad idea) or modify your CMS to return JSON or XML to iPhone requests (better idea).
Edit: Here's some sample code, taken from an app I'm working on (it submits data to Last.fm using POST):
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://example.com/"];
NSString *str = @"This is my example data!";

// everything below here is directly from my app:
NSMutableURLRequest *request = [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:url];
[request setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];
[request setHTTPBody:[str dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
[request setValue:kLastFMClientUserAgent forHTTPHeaderField:@"User-Agent"];
[request setCachePolicy:NSURLRequestReloadIgnoringLocalAndRemoteCacheData];
[request setHTTPShouldHandleCookies:NO];

*connection = [[NSURLConnection alloc] initWithRequest:request
                                              delegate:self
                                      startImmediately:YES];

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Brazilian fighter Geronimo dos Santos was forced out of UFC 153: Silva vs. Bonnar outdoors. UFC officials announced the withdrawal of fighters on Thursday, but did not specify the reason.
Fight your way the ranking of the Brazilian circuit for many years, Santos was making his Octagon debut against Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 153 on Oct. 13 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Having mixed results in his career, dos Santos has been very busy over the past two years, fighting 14 times in two years.
He is 13-1 in that period, including a victory in the last 12 fights, he directed his shot in the UFC.
The Brazilian fighter is an explosive knockout power, but we have to wait a little longer 'to appear in the Octagon.
It is not known at the time of publication of the UFC would be able to secure a new opponent for UFC 153 Gonzaga.


The vehicle tax disc which has been used by UK motorists for over 90 years could be axed under new guidelines from ministers.
The historic vehicle tax disc is currently displayed on 36 million vehicles which proves a motorist has paid their vehicle tax.
Ministers have now said that scrapping the paper disc would cut costs and streamline services to motorists. A digital version could indicate that the Government are moving with the times in terms of how the motoring industry is changing.
Officials have spoken out about the possible axe of the tax disc saying there is no need for the paper disc to be displayed. Reasoning behind this is that Police can now check a vehicle via the DVLA computer database and can instantly check if a car has been taxed or not.
Motoring groups have now being speaking out about the scrapping of the tax disc saying it will put an end to a motoring era.
As it stands it is not yet known if the vehicle tax disc will be axed for good until discussions are undertaken by the DVLA and Ministers.
It seems as though the motoring industry will be making changes to reform Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency as the way that motorists will be communicated to by the DVLA could also see changes. It is expected that reminders about renewing vehicle tax could be via email and text.
Among other plans to change motoring rules is the paper part of a driving licence is due to be axed by 2015.
AA president Edmund King said: "Traditionalists will mourn the tax disc's passing', motoring and vehicle information is increasingly going online.


Germany's reputation for medicine is globally admired, while the historic city of Heidelberg attracts tourists from around the world. ATOS Clinic Heidelberg thus combines both our beautiful city and our reliable medical services to warmly welcome our patients who've arrived from all over.
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If you live abroad but you're seeking medical treatment in Germany, each of our International Office employees are happy to be your contact point and provide you with all necessary information. We're also happy to speak with expats or those who've been living and working in Germany for some time now and are considering receiving medical treatment here in Germany.
We understand that the decision to seek medical treatment abroad can be daunting – we all prefer to have someone by our side on whom we can rely. While family members often accompany our patients from abroad, we know the importance of having a permanent contact who knows the ins and outs of the treatment processes and is eager to help with the organization of your visit. That's where our International Office comes in. Whatever your concern, we've got a solution!
Do you need help organizing your trip or visa?
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Ask us anything, our international office is here to help!
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text:
Atlantic City Casino Strike Avoided With Last-Minute Agreement
Written By Chris Imperiale on July 1, 2022
As the July 1 deadline loomed, 4,500 Atlantic City casino employees reached a deal late Thursday to prevent a strike. Local 54, of the Unite Here union, came to terms on new contracts with four of the Atlantic City, NJ casinos, providing a peaceful Fourth of July weekend.
The MGM-owned Borgata, as well as Caesars Entertainment's Caesars, Harrah's, and the Tropicana, all secured agreements before Friday's deadline.
The Hard Rock features a different strike cutoff of Sunday, July 3, but this news is likely to also move that one along.
The announcement stops the first strike from happening in AC since 2016, when health care and pension issues arose at the former Trump Taj Mahal.
Besides averting conflict, the deal reportedly includes "historic" raises for workers, something the union sought during these difficult times.
NJ casinos avoid labor dispute
There were only a few hours left on the clock when union workers in AC agreed to preliminary terms of a new contract. While the deal's exact details must still release, union president Bob McDevitt didn't hold back his excitement. According to the Associated Press, he said:
"This is the best contract we've ever had. We got everything we wanted and everything we needed. The workers delivered a contract that they can be proud of for years to come."
This is highly beneficial for casino employees who pushed for sizable wage increases. Hopefully the additional funds give some assistance in handling the inflated prices everywhere you look.
Caesars Entertainment released a statement on Friday explaining its "commitment to the community." The operator stated:
"Under the proposed agreement, our 3,500 Unite Here team members will see historic wage increases and evidence that they are heard, that when issues arise, they are taken seriously and addressed. The Fourth of July holiday weekend historically marks the beginning of our busiest season. We are optimistic, knowing we go into it with a landmark agreement clearly demonstrating our commitment to reinvest in our valued team members and ensuring we are poised to deliver extraordinary service and experiences for the 2022 summer season."
Although everything appears set, there is still a need for a ratification vote from all union members. That said, there shouldn't be any other issues going forward.
Atlantic City casino workers celebrate success
Ronnette Lark, a Harrah's employee, also showed her enthusiasm for the latest agreement. Lark said:
"I'm super excited. I've been here 24 years and we've never gotten a raise like this. We got big raises."
The Garden State's overall gaming revenue growth helped provide more for workers. It hit $1.8 billion through five months in 2022, an increase of more than 49% from the same time frame before the coronavirus in 2019.
The Hard Rock and its personnel still have some time before its deadline on Sunday. Strike pay signup starts this weekend, in front of the building, on the AC Boardwalk.
Photo by AP Photo/Wayne Parry
Chris Imperiale
Chris Imperiale covers legal sports betting and casino gambling in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He has a journalism degree from Rutgers University and was formerly on staff at Bleacher Report.
View all posts by Chris Imperiale


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Amphiura polyacantha är en ormstjärneart som beskrevs av Christian Frederik Lütken och Ole Theodor Jensen Mortensen 1899. Amphiura polyacantha ingår i släktet Amphiura och familjen trådormstjärnor. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Trådormstjärnor
polyacantha

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


How many times recently have you felt really deeply connected and supported by your partner? Has communication become difficult and feeling understood almost impossible lately? Have you started feeling lonely even when you are in the same room as your partner?
Sometimes clients come to see me and they are embarrassed that they don't already have good communication skills. Where were you supposed to have gotten them? There is no shame in gathering new tools.
Gottman Method couples therapy is a solid solution to your relationship issues for learning new conflict resolutions, communication building, and feeling heard and understood.
I'm a genuine person and I want our time together to feel like you are having a conversation with a trusted confidant. I have no agenda or desire to figure who is wrong in the relationship. My advanced training in the Gottman Method ensures you have the best opportunity possible to strengthen your relationship.


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NYT's Maureen Dowd talks to Daniel Craig
Posted on September 7, 2013 by Bill Koenig
Daniel Craig in Skyfall
Maureen Dowd, one of the star columnists of The New York Times, has AN ARTICLE in the newspaper where she talks to 007 star Daniel Craig.
Dowd's piece covers a lot more than just Bond, including the play Betrayal, where he'll appear with his wife Rachel Weisz. But Dowd's piece does contain what's emerging as one of the main talking points of Bond 24, due out in the fall of 2015. Mainly, that Bond 24 should lighten up compared with the actor's first three 007 films. Here's an excerpt:
Since the dazzling "Skyfall" — which earned $1.1 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Bond film ever and the most profitable movie in British history — Mr. Craig is enjoying the role more. He, the director Sam Mendes (an ex-boyfriend of Ms. Weisz's) and one of the "Skyfall" screenwriters, John Logan, are all on board for the 24th Bond film, due out in the fall of 2015.
Mr. Craig hopes that, without returning to Pink Pantherville, they can start to instill a bit of the arch humor of Roger Moore, the first Bond he saw at the age of 7.
"We've got it all to play with, and we should play with it, and we should have some fun with it," he said.
He draws a distinction between acting and modeling (though he concedes that he does both as Bond). "There's a lot of modeling in films now,' " he said, adding wryly: "I do a movie where I have to turn around a lot. I want to kill myself sometimes, but sometimes you have to go, O.K., right, this is the moment when I have to turn around."
Dowd primarily writes about politics, but often segues into entertainment. Her ENTRY IN WIKIPEDIA says, "Dowd, who perceives her columns to be an exploration of politics, Hollywood, and gender related topics, often uses popular culture to support and metaphorically enhance her political commentary."
To read the entire story, titled, "The Vulnerable Mr. Bond," CLICK HERE.
To read more about Maureen Dowd, check out, THE REDHEAD AND THE GRAY LADY, a profile in New York magazine published several years ago.
UPDATE: The New York Times Magazine's Web site has a slide show called "The Bond Market." You can view it by CLICKING HERE.
UPDATE II (Sept. 8): Maureen Dowd has a longer article about the stage production of Betryal titled TWO'S COMPANY, THREE'S A SHOW. Here's an excerpt:
Will audiences be able to wrap their heads around James Bond as a cuckold?
"I hope they won't be able to," Mr. Craig says, appearing delighted at the thought. "I hope they'll get unnerved by it."
The 45-year-old Mr. Craig is notoriously private about his romance with the 43-year-old Ms. Weisz: They wouldn't be interviewed as a pair; when I talk to them and their fellow Briton and co-star, Rafe Spall, they avoid sitting next to each other; when the photos are taken, Mr. Craig chafes at looking too lovey-dovey.
"Someone called us a power couple the other day," he marvels. "I was like, what the" — he drops in an expletive — "does that mean? We just keep ourselves to ourselves."
Filed under: James Bond Films | Tagged: Betrayal, Bond 24, Daniel Craig, James Bond Films, John Logan, Maureen Dowd, Rachel Weisz, Sam Mendes, Skyfall, The New York Times |	Leave a comment »


The project Luciano Berio's Musical Theater is the result of a collaboration between the D.M.C.E. (Dramaturgie Musicale Contemporaine en Europe), Université de Paris VIII; the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice and the Centro Studi Luciano Berio; it is directed by Giordano Ferrari with scientific coordination of Talia Pecker Berio, Gianmario Borio, Angela Ida De Benedictis, Giovanni Morelli and Gianfranco Vinay.
Each meeting is dedicated to one theater work: the first day's study of Passaggio was hosted at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, on the 25th of September 2010 (for more information on the program, click here). The second appointment was host in Paris on the 17th and 18th of November 2011 at the Citè de la Musique, and it will focus on Opera and La vera storia. The contributions to the first seminar are now published on the D.M.C.E. website, at this link: http://www2.univ-paris8.fr/DMCE/page.php?page=9 (it is necessary to sign into the website to download the texts). With the gradual publication of the contributions, we will obtain a comprehensive overview of Berio's theatrical process, which at the end of the project will result in the publication of the acts in book form. The last meeting will be an additional seminar, in which prominent academics will make presentations synthesizing the contributions made by participants in the preceding seminars. Each seminar will comprise a general presentation of the theatrical work along with talks dedicated to the musical and dramaturgical analysis of individual theatrical productions, to relative aesthetic context, and to the different questions implied by each piece.


Thank you to participants, sponsors, volunteers and friends! You made the Inaugural EAU Dance Tutu Trot for ALS a success. Check out the photos from the 2016 Trot and stay tuned for the 2018 event information.
Route: The 4.3 mile walk route travels around Reeds Lake. Beginning in Manhattan Park, the TUTU TROT follows the Reeds Lake boardwalk, Waterfront Park trail, and residential sidewalks on Reeds Lake Blvd, Hall Street, Lake Drive, and Lakeside Drive.
Become a sponsor or in-kind donor.
Contact EAU Dance to support the TUTU TROT for the ALS Association – Michigan Chapter.
The Inaugural EAU Dance TUTU TROT is a 4.3 mile brisk walk around Reeds Lake to encourage physical fitness, build community awareness and raise funds for the ALS Association – Michigan Chapter. The TUTU TROT welcomes walkers of all ages, strollers, and furry friends.
After losing her grandmother to ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in July 2015, EAU Dance Director, Emily Underwood was motivated to organize an event that would inspire people of all ages to raise awareness and funds for ALS, while promoting health and wellness within the community. The family-friendly TUTU TROT captures Grandma Mary's zest for life and her love of the lakeshore in a way that brings people and families together … in tutus.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord resulting in the loss of muscle control and eventual death.
Mission: Leadi ng the fight to treat and cure ALS through global research and nationwide advocacy while also empowering people with Lou Gehrig's Disease and their families to live fuller lives by providing them with compassionate care and support. The Michigan Chapter supports people living with ALS and their loved ones through services and education. No stone is unturned in search for the cure of this progressive neurodegenerative disease.
EAU Dance is committed to supporting community organizations in the health, wellness, and medical research related fields.
Children ages 4 and under are free and do not require registration.
Child/Youth participants must be accompanied by an adult registered in the walk.
Strollers and baby joggers are welcome. Dogs must be on a leash at all times. Dog owners are responsible for cleaning up after their pets.
Registration refunds are not allowed. No event day registration. Official TUTU TROT swag bags, tutus, and t-shirts are not guaranteed for last minute event registrations received on July 29. In the case of event cancellation due to inclement weather, no refunds will be allowed.
EAU Dance is located at Pilates in East.


Great videos (the up-and-down movement just made me feel like I was there). I guess it's your monarchs that will head to Mexico for the winter and then to start the cycle all over again.
Chocolate would totally make it better. I hope your Mom delivers. I feel your pain. I am not a winter person at all.
MB--I hope they make it to Mexico! I wish these were the ones that came back, that'd be neat.
K--She brought my favorite brownies!
SG--It was VERY quick, that's for sure. There're better vids on youtube.
Ben, thank you especially for that first video. I managed to miss the drop out of the chrysalis casing of Little Miss Monarch, although I saw it just as she cleared it. Tomorrow is the day when we try another release so she can get on her way to Mexico, hopefully!
Isn't this just the most wonderful thing to witness?


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Plumbing woes can be extremely unpredictable. They often don't have any warning signs. That's why emergency plumbing troubles are relatively common in households. People tend to panic when they notice unusual plumbing patterns, especially when they occur particularly early or late in the day. Typical signs of major plumbing emergencies include pipe leakage, sewer line difficulties, wall damage, water that appears strangely rusty and oddly slow drainage. People who have any of those signs should immediately call us for their courteous, attentive and detail-oriented professional assistance.
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I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin' Good Dating Simulator Review
Posted On 13.11.2019	 Erika Mäkelä 0
Capitalism has reached its peak. As corporations struggle to get that sweet sweet brand relatability, the results have gotten truly absurd. For example, here's a review for KFC's visual novel styled dating simulator.
Credit where credit is due. I must admire how the character artist managed to turn a wrinkly old man in a white suit into a fairly good-looking anime guy. Also, the soundtrack was surprisingly enjoyable, especially in the more sentimental scenes. Otherwise the game doesn't have much to offer.
The plot isn't that important but just to summarize your character is a bright culinary student who tries to seduce the class' valedictorian, Colonel Sanders. Along with your stereotypical cast of tropes as your best friends and foes you compete in cooking challenges which are supervised by professor Sprinkles, who is a talking corgi. The choices you make in the game affect the endings, of which there are multiple. Choices are made by picking one of the presented dialogue options.
The worst part of the game was that the advertising was so blatant that it broke immersion. Yes, I am aware that the game was itself an advertisement but seen as I am reviewing it as a game it's something that can't be ignored. For example, every food that is complemented and praised in the game is an item from KFC's menu. It wouldn't even let you cook squid, and though it's understandable, it could've at least let you fail at cooking it.
Furthermore, Colonel Sanders spends more time talking about his future restaurants than anything else. Though the game is marketed as a dating simulator there's very minimal dating involved. It's just a big tease baiting you to play until the end. Even in the "bad ending" Colonel Sanders says he'll be your partner in life but not in business, which is supposed to be a bad thing. I doubt that anyone played this game wanting to start an enterprise of fast food restaurants. Of course, we all knew that it wouldn't be very hot and steamy, but this was just needlessly tame and lazy.
The game had some lag, but nothing too major, considering I was playing on a few years old MacBook. It did bring some difficulty to the cooking challenges where if you didn't choose the correct answer to a question before the timer ran out, it negatively affected your progress. I ended up getting the "bad ending" because of it.
As I am writing this review Wendy's has just released their own game, a tabletop RPG called Feast of Legends. Boasting an impressive 97-page rulebook it has promise to rise well above this piece of mediocrity I've played. But if it's similar in quality to this one we must all pray that these sort of advergames won't become a trend. Again.
Would I recommend this as a game? No, if you have literally anything else to do. The game is available for free on Steam, so you could just check it out for the meme. As an advertisement though, I'd say it was highly effective as I live in a country where there isn't even a KFC restaurant around and I can name at least five items from their menu. They got us good.
Release date: 24.9.2019
Developer: Psyop
Publisher: KFC
Genres: casual, indie, simulation
Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X
PEGI: –
#casual#Free-to-play#visual novel
How is Star Wars: The Old Republic as a single-player experience in 2020.


This study compares facets of self-concept in gifted and non-identified Israeli adolescent students. The self-concept mean score profile of gifted vs. non-selected Israeli students was significantly different, with gifted students reporting higher mean levels of academic self-concept, but lower mean levels of social, personal, and physical self-concepts when compared with their non-identified counterparts. Overall, gifted students showed different patterns of self-concept than their peers. The data are discussed in view of theory and past research in the gifted literature.


Greetings Travelers,Traders fighters and all members of Xsyon. My tribe falling valley is looking for a few dedicated hardworking and fun bringing members to our valley. I am currently constructing a nice village. I am working on terraforming walls and a moat. I plan to add screen shots and info of were my village is for more info talk to me in IRC as cognx12 or in game as Cognx.


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My Location: VA
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Learning Farm is an easy to use classroom resource that covers all of the next generation standards in an engaging format. Students receive computer adaptive practice and instruction for all standards while the program collects valuable diagnostic data and makes it available to teachers in easy to read reports. Each standard is thoroughly covered with an interactive lesson and instructional practice items in varied formats that are supported by immediate feedback and additional instruction.
The rigorous math and ELA content provides a deep and thorough coverage of the next generation standards in grades K-8.
Learning Farm's extensive library of literary and informational texts include over 3,500 original reading passages. Students will read and analyze a wide variety of texts written for their grade level. With practice items targeted toward each next generation standards including inferences, summarizing, reading comprehension, and many more, students will learn and practice essential literacy skills.


Despite your travel doctor's warnings about exotic illnesses like typhoid, malaria and rabies, the fact is that the most common health problems suffered by travellers are much more mundane things like diarrhoea, coughs and colds and accidents / injuries.
Abroad as at home, motor vehicle injuries are a major cause of trauma and for travellers there are the added hazards of unfamiliar traffic rules and often quite different general attitudes to traffic safety in foreign countries. In fact for travellers in developing countries it is more often as pedestrians, cyclists or on public transport that we are injured, rather than as the driver or passenger in a car.
This was brought home to me recently during a short visit to Singapore. Now Singapore is one of the more developed countries in Asia, with good roads and appearances in the city not so different from at home. But even here travellers need to be aware that they are not at home.
Walking back to my motel along the paved footpath beside the river, I was offered a ride on a Trishaw by a pleasant elderly gentleman. The price was reasonable and it seemed like the chance for a quiet easy ride along the leafy Esplanade and a rest for my feet after a day exploring Chinatown.
Unbeknownst to me, however, there was apparently one section of this Esplanade with some steps that the Trishaw couldn't negotiate, so once I had agreed the price and climbed aboard, my charming host headed off in the opposite direction! After he assured me he really was taking me to the correct motel, he proceeded to ride out to the main road and to my horror left the footpath to take up position in the middle of a busy major intersection!
While waiting for the traffic lights to change, I held on to the hope that we were going to cross with the pedestrians to the other side, but no. In fact he didn't even wait for the lights, but decided that the time was ripe for us to launch out into the main thoroughfare, do a U-turn and carry on down the road ignoring the rushing vehicles all around us! Being overtaken by a bus and a truck while we were in the right hand turning lane didn't phase him at all, and of course he gently guided us around a corner and eventually back on to the quiet riverside esplanade again. I had just about stopped quaking enough to pay him the fare by the time we arrived at the motel.
Needless to say there was no opportunity of a bicycle helmet on a trip like this, and the risk taking that was obviously an every day event for my driver left this Australian quaking and looking for the nearest Singapore Sling to calm her nerves.
I can look back on this little episode and laugh now, but many travellers aren't so lucky.
Hiring a motorbike to get around a beach resort in Indonesia or Thailand may seem fun, but is there a helmet provided? Do you know which side of the road you are meant to ride on? Are the road rules different from at home, and does anyone pay them any attention?
It's great to have a some adventure on your travels, but don't leave all your common sense behind!
Be aware of the local road rules – for instance, which side of the road are vehicles meant to drive on?
Take extra care as a pedestrian – don't expect the traffic to try to avoid you!
Ask for a helmet if cycling or riding a motor bike.
If you hire a car, ask for one that has seat belts and air bags. Avoid driving at night.
Take a first aid kit with you on your travels so you can manage minor injuries yourself.