I hate to be a cynic but do you think maybe the White House knows that the jig is up?

Spotted on 10/19, by an eagle-eyed Wonkette reader: The Mid-Atlantic Shredding Services truck making its way up to the Cheney compound at the Naval Observatory.

"Goddamnit can't you guys shred any faster? The election is next Tuesday!"

I feel a little less lonely today.

Nearly half of Americans are not sure God exists, according to a poll that also found divisions among the public on whether God is male or female or whether God has a human form and has control over events.

The survey conducted by Harris Poll found that 42 percent of US adults are not "absolutely certain" there is a God compared to 34 percent who felt that way when asked the same question three years ago.

Well it certainly does feel better having more Americans coming a little closer to my way of thinking.

There still only 3% of us who are actual Atheists however.

This finally puts to rest the question of whether courts favor women in child support cases. The answer? No shit!

A proposal from the Licking County Prosecutor's Office might put an end to an Upper Arlington man making child support payments to his ex-wife -- even though she died in April, and he has custody of their three children.

Joe Randolph, 44, has been instructed by Licking County Child Support Enforcement Agency officials that he must continue the payments until a court tells him he can stop. Thus, he has been paying more than $1,300 per month to nobody in particular.

I have heard some real horror stories about child support cases, not to mention mine and my brother's, but this easily takes the cake. She is dead and he is still paying her! Somewhere my ex-wife is seething with jealousy.

According to Charlie Cook there are huge changes coming to the House.

With the election just eight days away, there are no signs that this wave is abating. Barring a dramatic event, we are looking at the prospect of GOP losses in the House of at least 20 to 35 seats, possibly more, and at least four in the Senate, with five or six most likely.

If independents vote in fairly low numbers, as is customary in midterm elections, losses in the House will be on the lower end of that range. But if they turn out at a higher than normal level, their strong preference for Democrats in most races would likely push the GOP House losses to or above the upper levels.

It is rare for me to read anything that I want to be true as much as I want this to be true. This would finally give me hope that this country is salvageable.

It may take decades to train Iraqi forces to take control of their country.

The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., predicted last week that Iraqi security forces would be able to take control of the country in 12 to 18 months. But several days spent with American units training the Iraqi police illustrated why those soldiers on the ground believe it may take decades longer than Casey's assessment.

Seventy percent of the Iraqi police force has been infiltrated by militias, primarily the Mahdi Army, according to Shaw and other military police trainers. Police officers are too terrified to patrol enormous swaths of the capital. And while there are some good cops, many have been assassinated or are considering quitting the force.

"None of the Iraqi police are working to make their country better," said Brig. Gen. Salah al-Ani, chief of police for the western half of Baghdad. "They're working for the militias or to put money in their pocket."

A good rule of thumb is to take anything that the Bush administration tells you and believe just the opposite and there you will find the truth.

The Republicans are spending millions of dollars to create a new reality that suits their needs, but for those of us who have been paying close attention none of that will do them any good.

If you are a voter who is confused by the conflicting messages coming from the two political parties then you have a responsibility to educate yourself for the good of yourself, your children, and your country.

Democrats remind the voters that this election is about the Iraq war, not gay marriage!

As the death toll for U.S. troops in Iraq passed 100 for the month, officials said ads criticizing Republican candidates for following the president's lead on the war would air in the campaign's final week in Connecticut, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Iowa and other areas they declined to name.

Public opinion polls show widespread public dissatisfaction with the war, helping give Democrats their best chance in more than a decade at winning control of at least one house of Congress.

This Republican president and his supporters lied about Saddam Hussein's WMD's, they knew that he did not have them!

This President and his supporters went into Iraq with no idea what to do after they defeated the Iraq army.

This President and his supporters were caught flat footed by an insurgency which was predicted by multiple sources before the war even began!

This President and his supporters have continued sending our children, wives, brothers, husbands, sisters, fathers, and mothers over to Iraq to face possible death even after having their lies revealed to the American people.

This President and his supporters have no intention of leaving Iraq as long as it sits over one of the richest oil fields in the world.

They are never going to do anything different unless they are forced too! And how can they be forced too? By electing as many Democrats as possible to send to Washington to put the brakes on an out of control Presidency and Senate.

Forget any differences you may have with the Democrats. We need them to save our country from this criminal administration. They are, quite literally, our last hope.

What does it mean when every newspaper in your state endorses your opponent? Well it must mean that you are Katherine Harris and you are DOA.

There are 22 daily newspapers in Florida.

All 22 have endorsed Bill Nelson for re-election to the U.S. Senate.

I would feel bad for Ms. Harris but I make it a policy to withhold my sympathy from soulless bitches.

Just ask my ex-wife.

Screw Halloween! If you want to be really frightened then read this!

George Bush may be facing defeat in the upcoming mid-term elections from an electorate alarmed by Middle East wars and ballooning federal spending, but one corner of the country remains firmly behind him - the Christian right.

For these evangelists, the war in Iraq is not a disaster, but the beginning of the fulfilment of biblical prophecies that culminate, possibly very soon, in a mighty struggle between good and evil at Armageddon.

This belief lies at the core of the teachings of the bespectacled pastor, who argues that Christians and Jews must make common cause against forces of darkness he identifies as Arabs, Russians and even a future president of the EU. Christians who fail in their duty will be "left behind" when the obedient are summoned to heaven.

"Listen up, president of Iran," booms the pastor. "We are going to be your worst nightmare, Mr Ahmadinejad. The pharaoh threatened Israel, he ended up fish-food in the sea. When you say Israel is going to disappear in a sudden storm you may be predicting the way you disappear."

By taking the bible as literal truth, these evangelists argue that Israel can do no wrong because their enemies are, by definition, forces of darkness who can be disposed of.

There is very little in this world as frightening as religious zealots, whether they be Muslims, Christians, or any other religious group. When believing overtakes thinking it endangers us all.

Why are the insurgents so well armed? Where did they get the weapons?

Thousands of weapons the United States has provided Iraqi security forces cannot be accounted for, and spare parts and repair manuals are unavailable for many others, a new report to Congress says.

Nearly one of every 25 weapons the military bought for Iraqi security forces is missing. Many others cannot be repaired because parts or technical manuals are lacking.

You know I think that I have discovered why we are not making much headway in Iraq.

We are providing weapons to the bad guys!

You know the world used to believe that the United States military was the most powerful fighting force in the world. Now they believe that we are the Keystone Kops! Who is going to fear us now? Even that midget in North Korea is thumbing his nose at us these days.

It is beyond time to pull out and regroup. Just because the Republican sycophants are not using the "stay the course" phrase anymore does not mean that they have an alternative plan.

Maine television stations ban stories on Global Warming. Stephen King is under his bed in the fetal position.

Michael Palmer, the general manager of television stations WVII and WFVX, ABC and Fox affiliates in Bangor, has told his joint staff of nine men and women that when “Bar Harbor is underwater, then we can do global warming stories.”

“Until then,” he added. “No more.”

Mr. Palmer said he wanted no more stories broadcast on global warming because: “a) we do local news, b) the issue evolved from hard science into hard politics and c) despite what you may have heard from the mainstream media, this science is far from conclusive.” Mr. Palmer said in his e-mail message to his operations manager and two women who served as a news anchor and a reporter that he placed “global warming stories in the same category as ‘the killer African bee scare’ from the 1970s or, more recently, the Y2K scare when everyone’s computer was going to self-destruct.”

It is good to see that there is such competent leadership in Maine.

And by the way the "killer bees" actually did terrorize a couple of towns and killed several dozen people. Not to mention almost destroying Kate Jackson's career.

I like to make my guests feel welcome.

It is probably only a matter of time.

I just hope I don't get waterboarded. I just hate getting water up my nose.

Does anybody else think that sex is getting weirder all of the time?

So apparently this is for those times that you don't get sexually harassed.

Good to know.

Pagan prisoners are being given Halloween off from work. I am guessing they will not be going Trick or Treating however.

Hundreds of Pagans serving prison sentences are to be given the day off work for Halloween out of respect for their religious beliefs.

Prison Service bosses have instructed staff to grant the convicts, who include Devil worshippers and Satanists, special privileges on Tuesday.

While fellow prisoners sew mail bags and undertake other jail work, the Pagans will be allowed to celebrate their 'holiday'.

I think it very interesting that prisoners are being afforded more rights then certain people in the real world. When was the last time your boss offered to give you Haloween off? Never going to happen.

I have been called a pagan, but of course that is not an accurate label for me. Nice try though!

It is Sunday so what better day for an Immoral post! Gotta protect the rep.

As Aaron Strickler sees things, the world would be better off if others could see him having sex on film.

"Filming sex is fun and bringing joy and levity to other people is the biggest thing we can do in this life," he said before he premiered a short film of explicit footage in a split-screen, black-and-white format.

Now who could argue with that?

I am a man so my views on porn do not have to be stated on this page, however I do feel that amateur porn is far more stimulating then the more commercial porn. All of the surgical enhancements and fake moaning are very distracting, and not much of a turn on at all.

I think that someday amateur porn videos will take the place of youthful drug use as a barometer to determine the morality of future actors, or school board members, or even Senators. There are so many couples filming themselves now days that there are actually workshops being offered to help them get the lighting and camera angles right.

From a completely moral view I am of course conflcited by porn. I am not in favor of women being victimized by an industry that treats them as an object rather then a person, or forces them to do something degrading for money.

However I have the same view of the music industry and Hollywood.

I guess that is why I have less ambiguous feelings concerning amateurs making tapes then the porn industry at large. But this raises the question of whether both participants were willing that their intimacy to be viewed by other people. If either one was against that then we have no right to infringe on their privacy. And this goes for the tapes of famous people as well.

Don't you hate moral quandries? I know I do.

Here is the reason why Prime Minister Maliki is not America's "man in Iraq".

Juan Cole: Maliki is protecting himself by being feisty, showing Iraqis that he is not taking orders from Washington. But he also has a serious policy dispute with the U.S., and a sense of betrayal. They promised him, last summer when they launched the major security offensive to retake Baghdad, that the U.S. would take care of Sunni guerrilla movement in Baghdad before moving against Mahdi Army [the Shi'ite militia of Moqtada al-Sadr, whose stronghold is in Baghdad]. That way, Maliki could to go to the Shi'ite elders in Baghdad and say, you are safe, you no longer need militias and they are a source of discord, so they must be disbanded. But the Americans failed to dislodge the Sunni insurgents, and then they go after the Mahdi army anyway — and that enrages Maliki because it weakens his government in such a way that it could fall.

So Maliki's outrage over attacks on the Mahdi Army are not a matter of principle; it's about the fact that the U.S. hasn't first done what it said it would do, which was to eliminate the threat of the Sunni insurgents in Baghdad. The reason Shi'ite communities believe they need militias is to protect them from the Sunni guerrillas, which they say the government and the U.S. are not doing. And Maliki can't go and tell them to get rid of their militias while they remain vulnerable to attack by Sunni guerrillas.

These broken promises from the Bush administratino place Maliki in a great deal of danger. Does anybody have any doubt that Maliki's life will not be worth a damn once the American troops leave the area? He has to get some "street cred" with the Iraqi people by showing himself to be independant of the United States because he cannot help but see the writing on the wall and know that the Americans are getting ready to pack their bags and go.

The American people are fed up and do not want to lose any more of their loved over in Iraq. Which means that Maliki has to quickly garner support from a large segment of the Iraqi population or else he better get in line behind the departing troops and make sure he gets a flight out before the shit storm that follows.

Very timely comic from one of my favorite cartoonists.

I feel tiny.

This is the crab nebula.

There is just so much to learn in one lifetime isn't there?

GOP uses gay-baiting tactics to fire up their base.

Republican charges of a San Francisco "homosexual agenda'' and allegations that a liberal "San Francisco majority'' in Congress would endanger the nation have emerged as themes in the final two weeks of the Nov. 7 midterm election campaign.

The latest salvos are variations on a constant GOP refrain this year, tied to the prospect that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a "San Francisco liberal,'' would become speaker if Democrats make at least a 15-seat gain in the midterm elections.

Using shared hate to inspire your fellow Republicans is just about the slimiest of all tactics. We always hear how the Republicans are for morality and values, and yet they are the first ones to use racism and homophobia to degrade a political opponent.

It certainly will not take much for the Democrats to demonstrate themselves to be the real party with ethics now does it?

If you have not registered to vote do so now. We need every person with an ounce of common sense to go to the polls and help us get our country back. Even if you think your vote will not change anything remember how few votes determined the Presidential election of 2000 and 2004. I believe that more of these Republican Senators and House members are in danger then we have been led to believe.

Suspicious white powder sent to Bill Clinton's office.

Police and Secret Service agents determined Friday that a suspicious substance found at former President Clinton's office in Manhattan was inert and non-toxic.

A woman opened an envelope that contained a white powdery substance and called authorities. Clinton was not at the office at the time.

Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren said officials determined through a field test that the substance was inert and non-toxic. He said the envelope was turned over to the Secret Service for investigation, but would not comment on if anything else was found in the envelope, or how it was addressed.

I know what you are thinking, a white suspicious substance, that a woman discovered in Bill Clinton's office. Well let me point out that it was a powdery white suspicious substance that a woman found in Bill Clinton's office!

And you, by the way, need to get your mind out of the gutter.

Bush and Cheney say we don't torture. But if not for torture we would probably never have invaded Iraq.

An Al-Qaeda terror suspect captured by the United States, who gave evidence of links between Iraq and the terror network, confessed after being tortured, a journalist told the BBC.

Iban al Shakh al Libby told intelligence agents that he was close to Al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and "understood an awful lot about the inner workings of Al-Qaeda," former FBI agent Jack Clonan told the broadcaster.

He (Libby) claims he was tortured in jail and that would be routine in Egyptian prisons," Grey said.

"What he claimed most significantly was a connection between ... Al-Qaeda and the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. This intelligence report made it all the way to the top, and was used by (former US secretary of state) Colin Powell as a key piece of justification ... for invading Iraq," he told the broadcaster.

Well if the torture that we do not engage in, made it possible to start this delightful war, then how could we possibly find fault with it? Look at how successful it has been so far.

According to the White House we do not "waterboard", even though Cheney seems to have alluded to using some sort of water based tactic to gain information from detainees. I am confused by that. Perhaps they are just making the prisoners engage in a vigorous round of "bobbing for apples". I mean it is almost Halloween you know.

Creationism rears its ugly head in Alaska Gubernatorial race.

The volatile issue of teaching creation science in public schools popped up in the Alaska governor's race this week when Republican Sarah Palin said she thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the state's public classrooms.

Palin was answering a question from the moderator near the conclusion of Wednesday night's televised debate on KAKM Channel 7 when she said, "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both."

Her main opponents, Democrat Tony Knowles and Independent Andrew Halcro, said such alternatives to evolution should be kept out of science classrooms. Halcro called such lessons "religious-based" and said the place for them might be a philosophy or sociology class.

You know I really had a lot of repect for Sarah Palin right up until this point. I had already decided to vote for Tony Knowles, but I really was split due to her extraordinary ethics.

But bringing up this ignorant debate makes Palin look like just another anti-science, anti -education, Republican who will kowtow to the religious right and allow them to put their superstitious nonsense into our tax funded classrooms.

I want ethics, morality, and intelligence in my next Governor. Sarah Palin seems to only have two of those attributes.

What do you give the child that has everything? A chance to shake her moneymaker for Peekaboo Dance Dollars.

Tesco has been forced to remove a pole-dancing kit from the toys and games section of its website after it was accused of "destroying children's innocence".

The Tesco Direct site advertises the kit with the words, "Unleash the sex kitten inside...simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!

"Soon you'll be flaunting it to the world and earning a fortune in Peekaboo Dance Dollars".
The £49.97 kit comprises a chrome pole extendible to 8ft 6ins, a 'sexy dance garter' and a DVD demonstrating suggestive dance moves.

What the hell is wrong with people these days?

You know this reminds me of those horrid "kiddie pageants" where little girls dress up like grown up streetwalkers and parade aroung the stage for adult approval. I hate those things!

Scientology vs Schizophrenia. Let's see who wins this one!

Why would a 28-year-old man, described as sweet, kind and gentle, take a knife to his mother one morning in 2003 and stab her over 70 times?

Jeremy Perkins, who had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, came to believe that his mother, Elli, was evil and out to get him. Experts say the brutal murder might never have occurred, had he received proper treatment to control his psychotic delusions. But Jeremy’s parents were devout Scientologists and their religion strongly opposes psychiatric treatment.

Yeah that Scientology is a real winner against mental illness.

I feel bad for the family and Jeremy, it was a disaster that could have been avoided if they had not been sucked into a cult based on superstitious nonsense.

New Rule: When scientists want to learn something obvious they have to just ask me and save all that taxpayer money.

Women are grumpier than men in the morning, a survey has found.

The report, which confirms what many men have long believed, adds insult to injury by saying women also stay in a bad mood for longer.

The survey by The Sleep Council, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of good sleep, found 24 per cent of men say they never wake up grumpy, as opposed to only 14 per cent of women.

It also found that 13 per cent of women stayed in a bad mood for two to four hours, compared to 10 per cent of men.

How is it possible that these people did not know this? Have none of them been married?

Countries accused of prisoner abuse respond with, "America did it first"! I just can't hide my pride.

Some countries try to refute criticism over their treatment of prisoners by saying they are only following the U.S. example on handling terror suspects, a U.N. human rights expert said on Monday.

Manfred Nowak, the U.N. investigator on torture, told a news conference that "all too frequently" governments respond to criticism about their jails by saying they handled detainees the same way the United States did.

"The United States has been the pioneer of human rights and is a country that has a high reputation in the world," Nowak said. "Today, other governments are kind of saying, 'But why are you criticizing us, we are not doing something different than what the United States is doing.'"

He said nations like Jordan tell him, "We are collaborating with the United States so it can't be wrong if it is also done by the United States."

Of all of the terrible things that George Bush has done to this country, this might be considered the worst. He has destroyed our reputation around the world as a nation of reason. Now we are viewed as criminals and are often compared unflatteringly with Al-Qaeda.

Has any single Presidency done so much to damage this country's credibility with other nations?

I think not.

Former weapons inspector says Iraq was better off under Saddam.

Former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix on Wednesday described the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq as a "pure failure" that had left the country worse off than under the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein.

In unusually harsh comments to Danish newspaper Politiken, the diplomatic Swede said the U.S. government had ended up in a situation in which neither staying nor leaving Iraq were good options.

"Iraq is a pure failure," Blix was quoted as saying. "If the Americans pull out, there is a risk that they will leave a country in civil war. At the same time it doesn't seem that the United States can help to stabilize the situation by staying there."

I believe that there are more and more people who feel this way but are too timid to say it.

But I am not! To me it is obvious that the people of Iraq were better off under Saddam Hussein. He was a dangerous dictator, but he did manage to stave off the wholesale slaughter that we are seeing today.

October proves deadly month for soldiers in Iraq.

The number of American troops killed in Iraq in October reached the highest monthly total in a year on Thursday after four Marines and a sailor died of wounds suffered while fighting in same Sunni insurgent stronghold.

The U.S. military said 96 U.S. troops have died so far in October, the highest monthly total since October 2005, when the same number of American forces was killed. The highest monthly death toll prior to that came in Jan. 2005, when 107 U.S. troops were killed.

I have no doubt that there are going to be more and more active duty military who will be calling for an end to the Iraq occupation. Our soldiers are wandering around, watching the situation deteriorate, while trying desperately to stay alive. I doubt I can fully understand just how horrible of an existence that must be for them.

US Generals endorse Democratic takeover of Congress.

Two retired senior Army generals, who served in Iraq and previously voted Republican, are now openly endorsing a Democratic takeover of Congress. The generals, and an active-duty senior military official, told Salon in separate interviews that they believe a Democratic victory will help reverse course from what they consider to be a disastrous Bush administration policy in Iraq. The two retired generals, Maj. Gen. John Batiste and Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, first openly criticized the handling of the war last spring, when they called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"The best thing that can happen right now is for one or both of our houses to go Democratic so we can have some oversight," Batiste, who led the Army's 1st Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, told Salon. Batiste describes himself as a "lifelong Republican." But now, he said, "It is time for a change."

Eaton, who was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004, agrees that Democratic control of Congress could be the best way to wrest control from the Bush administration and steer the United States away from a gravely flawed strategy in Iraq. "The way out that I see is to hand the House and the Senate to the Democrats and get this thing turned around," Eaton explained, adding that such sentiment is growing among retired and active-duty military leaders. "Most of us see two more years of the same if the Republicans stay in power," he said. He also noted, "You could not have tortured me enough to vote for Mr. Kerry or Mr. Gore, but I'm not at all thrilled with who I did vote for."

There are just so many endorsements coming in for the Democrats that it is hard to keep track of them. The tide has not only turned it is going to sweep these horrible Republicans completely out of office.

I am beginning to hope for not just the Congress, but the Senate too.

Ahh but I am just a dreamer, or am I?

There are now 346 active military soldiers calling to end our occupation in Iraq.

Under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act (DOD directive 7050.6), active-duty military, National Guard, and Reservists can send a protected communication to a member of Congress regarding any subject without reprisal.

Earlier this week, 65 military service members and National Guardsmen sent appeals for redress to members of Congress to urge an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. That total is now up to 346 service men and women, 125 of whom are on active duty.

One service member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity of her recent year in Iraq, said that she "was hit by IEDs, by mortars... I was hit by snipers in my convoy and I’ve seen friends injured and affected by deaths in my brigade and my unit. I can tell you that many of them are not quite sure what their purpose or focus is now.

"A lot of people don’t want to admit it," she insisted, "but we are stuck in a civil war and it’s hard for the soldiers seeing the ethnic fighting going on around them and feeling like they’re stuck in the cross fire and not really feeling like there’s anything they can do to stop it.

George Bush can lie to Americans all day if he likes, but these Americans know the truth.

Is he going to call them terrorist sympathizers too?

This dog is still stuck in the 70's.

Lady "was really perky, and happy, and generally excited to see you when you came in the door every day," recalls Andrew Mirsch.

But that was before the Mirsch family moved into a new house.

"We noticed Lady spending an awful lot of time down by the pond in our backyard," Laura Mirsch recalls.

Lady would wander the area, disoriented and withdrawn, soporific and glassy-eyed.

"Then, late one night after I'd put the dogs out, Lady wouldn't come in," Laura Mirsch says. "She finally staggered over to me from the cattails. She looked up at me, leaned her head over and opened her mouth like she was going to throw up, and out plopped this disgusting toad."

"We couldn't keep our dog's addiction a secret any longer," Laura Mirsch says. "The neighbors all knew that Lady was a drug addict, and soon the other dogs weren't allowed to play with her."

I would have thought that all of the empty potato chip bags and twinkie wrappers would have tipped the owners off a little faster then this. I wonder if you can get your dog into a 12 step program?

I remember my toad licking stage. They did not get me high but they did taste kind of good.

Druggy Limbaugh attacks Michael J. Fox for being too sick while pleading for help in battling his disease by voting Democrat.

His body visibly wracked by tremors, actor Michael J. Fox appears in a political ad that was the subject of widespread discussion on Monday after conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh claimed Fox was "either off his medication or acting."

A victim of Parkinson's disease, Fox speaks out in the ad for Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, who supports embryonic stem cell research.

"I think this is exploitative in a way that's unbecoming of either Claire McCaskill or Michael J. Fox," Limbaugh said on his syndicated show.

Oh Rush, you done fucked up!

You cannot attack Michael Keaton/Marty McFly and get away with it! Not in this country buddy!

This may be the lowest thing said so far in this election cycle. Apparently the Republicans are not interested in appearing compassionate and fair this time around.

P.S. I guess that Rush sort of apologized for his remarks.

"All I'm saying is I've never seen him the way he appears in this commercial for Claire McCaskill," says Limbaugh. "So I will bigly, hugely admit that I was wrong, and I will apologize to Michael J. Fox, if I am wrong in characterizing his behavior on this commercial as an act, especially since people are telling me they have seen him this way on other interviews and in other television appearances."

I am guessing that he is a little too late.

The President is holding a press conference. Let the disinformation begin!

The key phrase for today is "benchmarks". Can you say "benchmarks" boys and girls?

I may be a bit slow but what exactly is different about calling for benchmarks from the Iraq government and the old policy of "when the Iraqi government stands up, we will stand down"? I am having trouble determining the difference there. I don't see anything new being said here today.

By the way Bush is a mess up there on the podium. He is hesitant, fumbling, and keeps falling back on basic talking points to answer questions. He looks like he needs a drink. And that makes two of us.

The President is satisfied with how Rumsfeld is fighting the war. (Maybe he is already drinking this morning.) Bush once again says that he "believes" the war will be successful. So still no "thinking", just "believing".

Okay I think that Bush just took the blame for how the war in Iraq is going. Is that possible?

Bush is now suggesting that one of the possible reasons that there is such hostility toward the Maliki government is left over anger at hoe the Saddam regime treated its people. "Imagine how you would feel if a family member were killed by Saddam?" And as you can imagine there was not a hint of irony in his words. I am waiting for some brave reporter to stand up to suggest that perhaps the anger of the Iraqi people toward this government might have more to do with a family member that was killed by American military forces.

Bush believes that the Republicans will maintain control of Congress. (More drinking?)

If Bush did not believe that we could win the war in Iraq he would bring our troops home now. So in other words if he stopped listening to the voice in his head and started listening to the experts on the ground we could be out of there tomorrow!

Hillary claims she was cute in high school, McCain says he used to look like a male model, and John Edwards reminds everybody he is good looking NOW!

Sen. Hillary Clinton doesn't really want to reduce her reelection campaign to a debate on her looks.

But if you must know, the former First Lady thinks she was a cutie in high school.

The odd discussion about her appearance came after her long-shot opponent, Republican John Spencer, suggested to the Daily News that Clinton had undergone "millions of dollars" in plastic surgery, and pointed out she used to be much less attractive.

"You ever see a picture of her back then? Whew," he told Daily News columnist Ben Smith during a plane ride to Rochester last Friday. "I don't know why Bill married her."

Million of dollars of plastic surgery? What kind of plastic surgery costs millions of dollars? Even Michael Jackson did not spend that much to be turned into white woman!

And no offense to Hillary, but if she paid anywhere near that amount in surgery costs she has the makings of an airtight malpractice case.

And looking at her high school picture I have to say that I would probably have hit that. I have always had a thing for smart women who are domineering and will forgive a little philandering.

I have to say that it is patently ridiculous for us to spend any time talking about the physical appearance of any of our future presidential candidates. This is not a beauty contest. It is a contest to pick the most qualified person to salvage what is left of our country and bring it back to its former glory.

Because if it is all about the looks then you cannot beat an Edwards/Obama ticket! Those two hunks of beefcake are delicious!

Teenage boy learns important life lesson. Sometimes hot teen girls are really disgusting older men.

"We started chatting and she told me she was living in Pietermaritzburg and was 14 years old," Samuel said, adding that he was very pleased with himself for finding himself a 14-year-old female friend who described herself as "spunky, cute and sugar-sweet".

It was after about a month of chatting on MXit that "Claudia" asked Samuel to meet in person.

Samuel readily agreed, eager to put a face to the name and meet his new friend.

The two set up a meeting for a Saturday afternoon at Milky Lane in Scottsville, where Samuel was going to be identified by the black Quicksilver T-shirt and military cargo pants he was wearing.

"After about 10 minutes of waiting, I was approached by an old man who had been standing nearby. He asked if my name was Samuel. I did not answer him because I was scared," he said.

The man told Samuel that he was Claudia and wanted to "get to know him better".

"He made a move for my hand and I just bolted," Samuel said, adding that he ran to the public restroom, locked himself in and called his parents.

"I broke down. I told this man such intimate and personal things about myself and my family. I am so ashamed," the young boy said.

Hey look I feel bad for you kid, I really do. But it could have been even worse. It could have actually been a hot fourteen year old girl. You could have fallen in love, got married, had kids, only to find that she had grown into a disgusting middle age woman who spends every day telling you what a loser you are.

I am only imagining this scenario of course, it is not like I have had any experience with something like this or anything. Nope not me.

The message here kids is that chicks lie! And old men pretending to be chicks lie even more!

Science proves that men are perverts and all women are closet lesbians. Or something like that.

Nothing focuses the mind's eye like an erotic picture, according to the results of a new study. Even when such pictures were actively canceled out, subliminal images of female nudes helped heterosexual men find the orientation of a briefly shown abstract shape. Such nudity-driven focusing worked almost as well for women, as long as the image accorded with their sexual preference.

Apparently the test used a subliminal picture to determine if the subjects eye could detect it.

Heterosexual men notice the naked babe, but not the naked guy. Heterosexual women noticed both, as did homosexual men.

Now the only part that surprises me is that the gay guys noticed the naked female pictures. How is that useful to them?

I am not at all surprised that the women noticed the naked women because I have been married and know that my wife would notice a hot girl way before me and then wait to see if I noticed her so that she could accuse me of having a wandering eye. Bitch!

But what the study seems to prove is that people respond to naked pictures of other people. Gee really? Who would have imagined such a thing?

First rule of teaching: Do not eat the children!

The former Huntington Station teacher accused by federal authorities of a cannibalism fetish and sexual preoccupation with children was indicted Monday on 10 counts of possessing child pornography as his attorney prepared a defense that claims the images were the result of unwanted e-mail and spam.Michael Kelly Reiner, 46, of East Meadow, was fired from his 18-year teaching job at the Long Island School for the Gifted after he was arrested Sept. 27.

Prosecutors said Monday that Reiner had 10 computer files containing about 500 sexually explicit images of children, along with 60 similar videos. Prosecutors said Reiner's home computer also held about 2,000 stories about the sexual abuse, torture and cannibalism of children, each story about two pages long.

There are so many things wrong with this story that I almost don't know where to start.

For one thing the unwanted e-mail defense is a non-starter. You do not save unwanted e-mails onto your computer. And exactly what sites do you visit that would then be sending you spam that contained child porn? That is just a bullshit excuse!

And another thing, cannabalizing children? Are you crazy? Have you ever seen what these kids eat? There is no way that they could be considered nutritious. I would assume that your cholesterol would go through the roof if you were to snack on elementary school kids.

The world is a sick and twisted place, usually I like that, but not this time.

(No children were harmed or bitten in the creation of this post.)

More lies revealed. Pentagon knew full well that they were engaging in torture and that it was useless for gathering intelligence.

In extensive interviews with MSNBC.com, former leaders of the Defense Department’s Criminal Investigation Task Force said they repeatedly warned senior Pentagon officials beginning in early 2002 that the harsh interrogation techniques used by a separate intelligence team would not produce reliable information, could constitute war crimes, and would embarrass the nation when they became public knowledge.

The investigators say their warnings began almost from the moment their agents got involved at the Guantanamo prison camp, in January 2002. When they could not prevent the harsh interrogations and humiliation of detainees at Guantanamo, they say, they tried in 2003 to stop the spread of those tactics to Iraq, where abuses at Abu Ghraib prison triggered worldwide outrage with the publishing of graphic photos in April 2004.

According to the President these tactics helped to get information that is keeping our country safer. There are many who disagree with that statement.

Whenever you hear two versions of anything that this administration has done, and one of those versions comes from the White House, then you should have no problem choosing who to believe. You can never be too cynical when it comes to this administration.

We have not just lost the high road, if we started climbing today it would take us five years to even reach the high road again! We are being compared to Al-Qaeda, and we are suffering by comparison! How is that possible? Wasn't it just five years ago, right after 9-11, when the whole world stood by our side, felt our pain, and voluntered to help us hunt down the criminals who attacked us? And where is that good will now?

This President took the world's compassion and treated it like it was a blank check to stomp all over the world like a giant two year old, wreaking carnage with every step. And now Americans have to pretend to be Canadians just to keep from getting spit on in Europe.

Are we safer? Is that a trick question?

If anybody has a right to ask for an end, these guys certainly do.

Sixty five active duty service members are officially asking Congress to end the war in Iraq -- the first time active troops have done so since U.S. invasion began in 2003.

Three of the service members will hold a press conference Wednesday explaining their decision to send "Appeals for Redress" under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act to their members of Congress. Under the act, National Guard and Reservists can send communications about any subject to their member of Congress without punishment.

I am not going to comment because they do not need me to speak for them anymore. I wonder how many more will join them?

There is a pantless Mark Foley doll for sale on E-Bay. It is really bad taste, so I had to post the link here. It's not my fault, I have a disease.

Sorry, I just find this damn funny!

Yes I know I am going to hell. I already have my bags packed.

Monday funnies.

Assuming that all Americans are mentally retarded, Bush claims he never said "stay the course" in Iraq. I have a headache.

BUSH: We will stay the course. [8/30/06]
BUSH: We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. [8/4/05]
BUSH: We will stay the course until the job is done, Steve. And the temptation is to try to get the President or somebody to put a timetable on the definition of getting the job done. We’re just going to stay the course. [12/15/03]
BUSH: And my message today to those in Iraq is: We’ll stay the course. [4/13/04]
BUSH: And that’s why we’re going to stay the course in Iraq. And that’s why when we say something in Iraq, we’re going to do it. [4/16/04]
BUSH: And so we’ve got tough action in Iraq. But we will stay the course. [4/5/04]

I just cannot believe people voted for this tool. How embarrassing it must be for you now.

(Yes I am a lazy bastard who just links to Think Progress after they do all of the research for me. I don't feel bad. I am only blogging because it is too early to look at porn.)

So what is the difference in how the Taliban treats prisoners and how the US does? According to this man, not very damn much!

Abdul Rahim insists he's an apolitical student who fled a strict father. But he's fallen into a black hole in the war on terror in which first the Taliban and then the United States imprisoned him as an enemy of the state.

Arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan in January 2000, Rahim says al-Qaida leaders burned him with cigarettes, smashed his right hand, deprived him of sleep, nearly drowned him and hanged him from the ceiling until he "confessed" to spying for the United States.

U.S. forces took the young Kurd from Syria into custody in January 2002 after the Taliban fled his prison. Accusing him of being an al-Qaida terrorist, U.S. interrogators deprived him of sleep, threatened him with police dogs and kept him in stress positions for hours, he says. He's been held ever since as an enemy combatant.

"We have met the enemy and he is us" Pogo.

I can only imagine that our forefathers are rolling in their graves at a fearsome rate. We are indeed a nation of shame.

Election day is coming, don't let it pass without making your voice heard.

Abramoff is spending his days in prison ratting out lawmakers.

Jack Abramoff, the lobbying scandal figure, has become such a chatty rat that probe insiders say he's been given a desk to work at in the FBI. We're told he spends up to four hours a day detailing his shady business to agents eager to nail more congressmen in the scandal. And when cooperative witnesses spend that much time inside, they get a desk. As a result of his help in the ever expanding investigation, we hear that the Feds hope to keep him in a nearby prison after he's sentenced on his conspiracy admission.

Gee I wonder who the FBI is building a case against. Could it be our fearful leader? Or perhaps his fearmongering VP. Or maybe the fear obsessed Karl Rove?

Only time will tell. I know I will stay tuned.

Bush is trying to turn teachers into whores.

The Bush administration is handing out money for teachers who raise student test scores, the first federal effort to reward classroom performance with bonuses.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings planned to announce the first of 16 grants, worth $42 million, including $5.5 million for Ohio, on Monday. The government has not announced the other grant winners.

Teachers normally are paid based on their years in class and their education. Yet more school districts are experimenting with merit pay, and now the federal government is, too.

It is not always popular. Teachers' unions generally oppose pay-for-performance plans, saying they do not fairly measure quality and do nothing to raise base teacher pay.

Which teacher do you want? The one that is dedicated to nurturing your child's unique gifts and interests, or the one that is motivated by bringing class scores up high enough to get a pay-off from the government?

Most teachers enter the field, not to get rich, but because of a genuine desire to enrich the lives of children. They are rewarded by observing a child overcome an obstacle in their learning or by the smiles they see when a child's eyes light up as they learn something truly fascinating. Or perhaps from hearing the parents recount how excited their son or daughter were to come to school that day. No amount of money can replace that feeling. That sense of accomplishement is not for sale.

The effectiveness of American education cannot be determined solely through test scores. The drop out rate in this country is 30%! Does anybody really believe that teachers motivated by greed are going to try to keep those children in schools knowing that they will help keep test scores low. How will that teacher get his/her pay off if "Johnny" doesn't test well? Making test scores the focus of all education is a losing propostion. It fails to take into account the needs of those more eclectic students who may have much to offer our society, but whose potential cannot be captured through a simple high school test score.

History is filled with poor students who became great men and women.

Einstein failed the entrance exam for the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School on Zurich. What if he had been discouraged from trying again?

Edison had such difficulty with the boring studies at his schools that he dropped out.

Mozart, Beethoven, Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, how do you think these great minds would have been affected if their school life was focused on test scores and conformity? The world would be a much less beautiful place if the genius of these people had been extinguished in the rush to homogenize the student body.

Perhaps it is time to stand up to this administration and tell them to keep their hands off of the minds of our children.

Maliki tries to hide Iraq civilian death toll from UN.

The United Nations office in Baghdad says that Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, has ordered the country’s medical authorities to stop providing the organization with monthly figures on the number of civilians killed and wounded in the conflict there, according to a confidential cable.

Maliki has learned from his American masters how to be deceitful and corrupt.

This is not going to help him win support from the Iraqi people. He better watch his ass, because if the coalition forces pull out his life will not be worth a damn! Let's face it his days are numbered no matter what happens.

German Ex-Chancellor talks bout his misgivings about Bush.

While meetings with Bush at that time were friendly, Schroeder said he could not reconcile himself with the feeling that religion was the driving force behind many of Bush's political decisions.

"What bothered me, and in a certain way made me suspicious despite the relaxed atmosphere, was again and again in our discussions how much this president described himself as 'God-fearing,'" Schroeder wrote, adding he is a firm believer in the separation of church and state.

Schroeder accused some elements in U.S. as being hypocritical when it comes to secularism in government.

"We rightly criticize that in most Islamic states, the role of religion for society and the character of the rule of law are not clearly separated," Schroeder wrote. "But we fail to recognize that in the USA, the Christian fundamentalists and their interpretation of the Bible have similar tendencies."

Yeah, well buddy it bothers us as well.

This is the point that many Americans fail to understand. When standing up to religious fanatics it weakens our position if the rest of the world sees us as extremists as well. I am not talking about the average American who takes their children to Sunday school and attends services once a week. I am talking about the people who believe that every word of the bible is true and that anybody who does not worhsip like they do are pagans. Bush is in this category, whether he admits it or not.

The strength of our country in the past has been that we have seemed reasonable. Resonable people do not talk about how much more powerful their God is then the other guys God. That is primitive, uneducated, hateful language and it does not gain us support from the more intellectual erudite Europeans who are forced to choose sides. It makes us all look like crazed religious fanatics.

That only hurts us in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Just when I thought I knew everything, it is apparent to me that I have to go back to college.

An undergraduate program at Canada's august University of Toronto offers discussions on flogging, restraint, and role-play, as well as an arts course called "Queerly Canadian." But teachers and students insist it's a serious academic program that isn't simply about sex.

"It's not sexy sex sex, where we're talking about whips and chains, but we will talk about whips and chains," said graduating student Robbie Morgan, 33, who left her job teaching sex education in Chicago to attend the Sexual Diversity Studies program, one of the largest of its kind in North America.

"We'll talk about whips and chains in a political, social, cultural, religious context of sexuality and how that sexuality affects those institutions."

I am fascinated how my nipple clamps may affect politics and religion. I mean I know it makes voting more exciting.

I also have this image in my head of the final exam involving tying the instructor up and whipping her until she gives you an "A". Sounds tremendously satisfying to me.

Democrats! Do not let this asshole represent us on television anymore!

Okay the link above is just an example of this guys writing on Huffington Post. However I am not concerned with what he posts on a webpage that is visited mostly by people who are already in the liberal camp. What I am concerned about is how this guy represents himself, and us, on CNN and other news programs.

I just watched this asswipe debate a female Republican apologist, and he acted like a misogynist frat boy. He interrupted her during her response to a question, talked over her reponse to his statement, and then insulted her directly by suggesting she may not have had enough oxygen to her brain.

This does not help us! If we are going to appear credible to the American people we cannot send out a name calling, snorting, patronizing prick to make the Democratic argument on national television. We can do better then this!

We are at the brink of getting this country out of the hands of the most incompetent administration in history and we must not shoot ourselves in the foot by giving the opposition ammunition to use against us. We get to take the high road because we are right! You don't have to shout the truth, you only have to whisper it in the right ears.

Damn this guy is a dick!

We know that the pen is mightier then the sword, but can a textbook stop a bullet?

In the wake of recent school shootings, a candidate for Oklahoma state superintendent of education has announced a bold new proposal to keep kids safe without spending more on school security. Republican Bill Crozier suggests that students can defend themselves from school shooters by using textbooks to stop bullets fired at them. “If elected” he promises that thick used textbooks will be placed at the ready under every school desk.

Wow I thought the guy that suggested that we arm our teachers was out in left field! This guy is not even in the ballpark! What a loon!

Turkey is the new Poland.

The Turkish press Wednesday questioned the competence of high-level security staff after an unconscious Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was accidentally locked in his car while being taken to hospital for low blood sugar.

Struck by panic after Erdogan suddenly fell ill, his driver and bodyguards all jumped out of the car and slammed the doors as they arrived at the hospital, activating the vehicle's automatic lock system as the unconscious prime minister lay inside.

They reportedly struggled for about 10 minutes to break the thick window of the armored car, aided by workers at a construction site near the hospital who brought a sledgehammer and a chisel.

Did you hear the one about the Turkish guy who locked his keys in the car? It took him almost ten minutes to get his Prime Minister out.

I still think that joke works better with a polish driver.

Don't we still have suspected terrorism suspects in Turkish prisons? I wonder if they have lost any of them?

They owe, they owe, so it is off to Iraq they DON'T go.

Thousands of U.S. troops are being barred from overseas duty because they are so deep in debt they are considered security risks, according to an Associated Press review of military records.

The number of troops held back has climbed dramatically in the past few years. And while they appear to represent a very small percentage of all U.S. military personnel, the increase is occurring at a time when the armed forces are stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We are seeing an alarming trend in degrading financial health," said Navy Capt. Mark D. Patton, commanding officer at San Diego's Naval Base Point Loma.

"We are seeing an alarming trend in degrading financial health". Gee ya think?

If the choice is to buy a bunch of cool stuff and run up your credit cards or go to Iraq and face constant danger and inhumane conditions, what would you choose?

Bill O'Reilly makes a terrorist threat against the internet. I am taking a page out of the Republican scare tactic handbook.

O’REILLY: I know for a fact that President Bush doesn’t know what’s going on in the Internet. I know that for a fact because I did ask around.

SABATO: Well, he’s lucky.

O’REILLY: But.

SABATO: He’s lucky.

O’REILLY: He is lucky, because these are hired guns. These are people hired — being paid very well to smear and try to destroy people. And that’s the difference, Dr. Schiller. That had never happened before. I’ll give you the last word.

BROWN POLITICAL SCIENTIST WENDY SCHILLER: Well, I think that one thing is for sure. The millions of voters that go to the polls in 2006 aren’t spending most of their working hours during the day reading blogs on the Internet. They’re working for a living. They’re taking those kids to school. They’re going on with their lives. So yes, there’s a lot of vitriol out there. It’s a marketplace of ideas. It’s a free country last time we all checked. And it still is. It’s a great country.

O’REILLY: All right.

SABATO: It’s free for that reason.

O’REILLY: I think - I have to say President Bush has a much healthier attitude toward this than I do. Because if I can get away with it, boy, I’d go in with a hand grenade.

I think that Bill has a fundamental misunderstanding as to how the internet works. You cannot really blow it up with a hand grenade. You could upload a virus to try and take it down I guess, and by "you" I mean somebody far smarter then Bill O'Reilly. So the hand grenade comment is an ignorant thing to say, which I am sure is no surprise to anybody who knows Mr. O'Reilly.

And by the way, who is getting paid to make liberal blog posts? I am doing something for free that I could get paid for again? I tell you that is the story of my life!

China begins its long predicted assault on America. First they send in the Pandas.

A panda cub bit off part of the thumb of an American visitor who was feeding the animal at a reserve in southwest China, state media reported Thursday.

The Chinese are brilliant! They know that we Americans are helpless to defend ourselves against an attack by pandas. I mean they are just so damn cute!

"Look at the little panda. Whose a little panda? You are! Yes, you are!"

We are doomed!

CNN airs tape of sniper attacks on American servicemen. Is this too real for Americans?

CNN executive said Thursday the network's effort to present the "unvarnished truth" about the Iraq war led it to televise portions of a video that shows insurgent snipers targeting U.S. military personnel.

In one instance, the tape shows a uniformed member of the U.S. military milling in a public area with Iraqis. A shot rings out. CNN fades the screen to black before the result — described as a victim falling forward — is visible.

It's one of 10 separate sniper attacks on Americans documented on the tape, which CNN technicians concluded was authentic, said David Doss, executive producer of Cooper's show, in a Web log entry describing the network's decision what to show.

I saw this footage yesterday and I can attest to the fact that it is quite disturbing. I certainly understand that this more then likely makes many of the insurgents very happy to see their footage being shown on CNN, and I know that it will have a chilling effect on the families of troops serving overseas, but does that mean that we should not know how bad it really is in Iraq?

I mean this administration just flat does not tell us the truth. Without CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and ABC placing their reporters in danger to bring us these stories we would have no fucking idea what is really going on over there. Our government would very happily leave us in the dark and feed us lies throughout this conflict.

And lets face it, seeing this footage has a much more powerful impact then just hearing the descriptions from journalists. I think that it is a necessary evil of war. The public may be exposed to just how horrible it is for their loved ones and countrymen in the middle of this conflict. And they should be allowed to see that.

General claims that Rumsfeld not responsible for Iraq debacle. God made him do it.

The top US general defended the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying it is inspired by God.

"He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country," said Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Wow! You would think that the Chrisitans would be pissed that they are dragging God into this mess! I mean if God is reponsible then he certainly loses some omniscient points doesn't he?

What would be God's excuse? "Look, I thought Saddam had the weapons too!"

These people are unbelievable!

Army admits they failed in Baghdad.

American and Iraqi efforts to improve security in Baghdad have failed to reduce bloodshed in the increasingly violent Iraqi capital, the senior US military spokesman in Iraq acknowledged on Thursday.

In an uncharacteristically gloomy admission, Major General William Caldwell said the recent surge in violence was “disheartening”. He said US and Iraqi forces would have to “refocus” security measures. The review was demanded by General George Casey, who commands the 140,000 US troops in Iraq.

You know my heart breaks for these guys. They were sent to this country under false pretenses. Then they were not given proper armor or instruction on how to deal with insurgents. And now they are discovering that everything that they have sacrificed is for nothing. There will be no victory and the country is almost completely destroyed. How that must weigh on the hearts of these brave men and women.

Bush has betrayed us all.

Have you noticed that the oil prices are dropping right before this election? Do you think that seems hinky? Want to know how they are doing it?

In September the difference between the cost of crude oil and the price of gas after the refining process (called the "crack spread" in the markets) has narrowed substantially, meaning oil refiners are extracting less profit because they're charging proportionately less at the independent gas station pumps.

Just as Enron and others could manipulate, if not directly control, California prices by closing power plants at will, so can oil companies reduce refining profit margins (which were gigantic) to keep their friends in power. That's easier to control than futures where other players are in the market, and it's something retailers pass on to drivers. This is not conspiracy, but self-preservation.

Other strong messages came from Washington. My favorite is the one that came directly from the Federal Reserve. For two years, the Fed has been raising interest rates due to inflationary pressures (such as the high cost of gas). Then, it stopped--the day after gas prices reached their August 7 peak of an average $3.04 per gallon. The next day, the Fed said that despite high energy prices, inflationary pressures would "moderate."

The market slide started that day, not a sudden change in supply or demand. On September 20, the Fed again left rates unchanged, saying energy prices were in check, causing a further slide. Global crude oil prices fell, but gas prices fell faster.

Wall Street analysts, traders and hedge funds don't care about any of these reasons. They just don't want to be caught behind the ball, so they sell the market, causing further price drops. Yes, those are market forces--but they are market forces with a lot of push from Washington-related signals. Why now? To say the election has nothing to do with it would be naïve. To say gas prices won't be up again afterward would be wrong.

You know the other side of this is that they raised the prices in the summer just to make this drop in price seem even more substantial.

I hate these guys!

Mark Foley says being a perv not his fault he was molested by priest. Priest says not his fault he was stoned. Drug companies lawyer up.

In the newspaper article, Mercieca described several encounters that he said Foley might perceive as sexually inappropriate, including being nude in the same room on overnight trips.

He was not quoted in the story as saying they had any "one night stands." However, the newspaper reported that he said there was one night when he was in a drug-induced stupor and he couldn't clearly remember what happened.

"I have to confess, I was going through a nervous breakdown," the newspaper reported Mercieca as saying from his home on the island of Gozo, south of Italy. "I was taking pills -- tranquilizers. I used to take them all the time. They affected my mind a little bit."

Now if you don't think that this post was very good, well it isn't my fault. I was naked in the same room with a priest once too. Of course it was a locker room, and he was changing to work out. But I am still emotionally scarred. Probably.

Have you had a cup of delicious Olbermann today? Olbermann builds strong minds twelve ways. Actually I don't know the exact number, but it is alot!

We have lived as if in a trance.

We have lived as people in fear.

And now—our rights and our freedoms in peril—we slowly awake to learn that we have been afraid of the wrong thing.

Therefore, tonight have we truly become the inheritors of our American legacy.

For, on this first full day that the Military Commissions Act is in force, we now face what our ancestors faced, at other times of exaggerated crisis and melodramatic fear-mongering:

A government more dangerous to our liberty, than is the enemy it claims to protect us from.

We have been here before—and we have been here before led here—by men better and wiser and nobler than George W. Bush.

We have been here when President John Adams insisted that the Alien and Sedition Acts were necessary to save American lives, only to watch him use those acts to jail newspaper editors.

American newspaper editors, in American jails, for things they wrote about America.

We have been here when President Woodrow Wilson insisted that the Espionage Act was necessary to save American lives, only to watch him use that Act to prosecute 2,000 Americans, especially those he disparaged as “Hyphenated Americans,” most of whom were guilty only of advocating peace in a time of war.

American public speakers, in American jails, for things they said about America.

And we have been here when President Franklin D. Roosevelt insisted that Executive Order 9066 was necessary to save American lives, only to watch him use that order to imprison and pauperize 110,000 Americans while his man in charge, General DeWitt, told Congress: “It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen—he is still a Japanese.”

American citizens, in American camps, for something they neither wrote nor said nor did, but for the choices they or their ancestors had made about coming to America.

Each of these actions was undertaken for the most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons.

And each was a betrayal of that for which the president who advocated them claimed to be fighting.

Adams and his party were swept from office, and the Alien and Sedition Acts erased.

Many of the very people Wilson silenced survived him, and one of them even ran to succeed him, and got 900,000 votes, though his presidential campaign was conducted entirely from his jail cell.

And Roosevelt’s internment of the Japanese was not merely the worst blight on his record, but it would necessitate a formal apology from the government of the United States to the citizens of the United States whose lives it ruined.

The most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons.

In times of fright, we have been only human.

We have let Roosevelt’s “fear of fear itself” overtake us.

We have listened to the little voice inside that has said, “the wolf is at the door; this will be temporary; this will be precise; this too shall pass.”

We have accepted that the only way to stop the terrorists is to let the government become just a little bit like the terrorists.

Just the way we once accepted that the only way to stop the Soviets was to let the government become just a little bit like the Soviets.

Or substitute the Japanese.
Or the Germans.
Or the Socialists.
Or the Anarchists.
Or the Immigrants.
Or the British.
Or the Aliens.

The most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons.
And, always, always wrong.

“With the distance of history, the questions will be narrowed and few: Did this generation of Americans take the threat seriously, and did we do what it takes to defeat that threat?”

Wise words.

And ironic ones, Mr. Bush.

Your own, of course, yesterday, in signing the Military Commissions Act.

You spoke so much more than you know, Sir.

Sadly—of course—the distance of history will recognize that the threat this generation of Americans needed to take seriously was you.

We have a long and painful history of ignoring the prophecy attributed to Benjamin Franklin that “those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

But even within this history we have not before codified the poisoning of habeas corpus, that wellspring of protection from which all essential liberties flow.

You, sir, have now befouled that spring.

You, sir, have now given us chaos and called it order.

You, sir, have now imposed subjugation and called it freedom.

For the most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons.

And — again, Mr. Bush — all of them, wrong.

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who has said it is unacceptable to compare anything this country has ever done to anything the terrorists have ever done.

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who has insisted again that “the United States does not torture. It’s against our laws and it’s against our values” and who has said it with a straight face while the pictures from Abu Ghraib Prison and the stories of Waterboarding figuratively fade in and out, around him.

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who may now, if he so decides, declare not merely any non-American citizens “unlawful enemy combatants” and ship them somewhere—anywhere -- but may now, if he so decides, declare you an “unlawful enemy combatant” and ship you somewhere - anywhere.

And if you think this hyperbole or hysteria, ask the newspaper editors when John Adams was president or the pacifists when Woodrow Wilson was president or the Japanese at Manzanar when Franklin Roosevelt was president.

And if you somehow think habeas corpus has not been suspended for American citizens but only for everybody else, ask yourself this: If you are pulled off the street tomorrow, and they call you an alien or an undocumented immigrant or an “unlawful enemy combatant”—exactly how are you going to convince them to give you a court hearing to prove you are not? Do you think this attorney general is going to help you?

This President now has his blank check.

He lied to get it.

He lied as he received it.

Is there any reason to even hope he has not lied about how he intends to use it nor who he intends to use it against?

“These military commissions will provide a fair trial,” you told us yesterday, Mr. Bush, “in which the accused are presumed innocent, have access to an attorney and can hear all the evidence against them.”

"Presumed innocent," Mr. Bush?

The very piece of paper you signed as you said that, allows for the detainees to be abused up to the point just before they sustain “serious mental and physical trauma” in the hope of getting them to incriminate themselves, and may no longer even invoke The Geneva Conventions in their own defense.

"Access to an attorney," Mr. Bush?

Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift said on this program, Sir, and to the Supreme Court, that he was only granted access to his detainee defendant on the promise that the detainee would plead guilty.

"Hearing all the evidence," Mr. Bush?

The Military Commissions Act specifically permits the introduction of classified evidence not made available to the defense.

Your words are lies, Sir.

They are lies that imperil us all.

“One of the terrorists believed to have planned the 9/11 attacks,” you told us yesterday, “said he hoped the attacks would be the beginning of the end of America.”

That terrorist, sir, could only hope.

Not his actions, nor the actions of a ceaseless line of terrorists (real or imagined), could measure up to what you have wrought.

Habeas corpus? Gone.

The Geneva Conventions? Optional.

The moral force we shined outwards to the world as an eternal beacon, and inwards at ourselves as an eternal protection? Snuffed out.

These things you have done, Mr. Bush, they would be “the beginning of the end of America.”

And did it even occur to you once, sir — somewhere in amidst those eight separate, gruesome, intentional, terroristic invocations of the horrors of 9/11 -- that with only a little further shift in this world we now know—just a touch more repudiation of all of that for which our patriots died --- did it ever occur to you once that in just 27 months and two days from now when you leave office, some irresponsible future president and a “competent tribunal” of lackeys would be entitled, by the actions of your own hand, to declare the status of “unlawful enemy combatant” for -- and convene a Military Commission to try -- not John Walker Lindh, but George Walker Bush?

For the most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons.

And doubtless, Sir, all of them—as always—wrong.

Keith still stands virtually alone in the mainstream media as somebody willing to stand up and call things as he sees them. He is trying to give us a voice and he deserves all of our respect and support for doing so. He will go down in history as a hero of our times.

God speed Mr. Olbermann. God speed.

Republicans yell "BOO! Vote for us!"

The Republican Party will begin airing a hard-hitting ad this weekend that warns of more cataclysmic terror attacks against the U.S. homeland.

The ad portrays Osama bin Laden and quotes his threats against America dating to February 1998. "These are the stakes," the ad concludes. "Vote November 7."

Brian Jones, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said the ad would run on national cable beginning Sunday, but he declined to discuss specifics of the buy.

The commercial tracks with Republican Party strategy to make the war on terrorism a central theme of this election. It will air as recent polls show Republicans losing ground as the party best able to combat terrorism.

There is a saying "You get the government that you deserve", if these type of ads work again then that cynical statement will be absolutely accurate.

Don't be an idiot, vote Democrat!

How is that for a campaign slogan?

There is a sex toy thief loose in Israel. Do you think it might be the Iranians?

Israeli police say they are on the lookout for 40 vibrators and a 200-dollar dildo after thieves plundered the automobile of a noted sexologist in Tel Aviv.

In all, the thieves made off with about 2,000 dollars worth of sex toys, Pasternak said, adding that the most valuable item was an elaborate vibrating dildo that sells for 200 dollars.

"It's a very unique one because it gives very high pleasure to women," she said.

A $200 dollar dildo? I will be a sex toy for two hundred dollars! I can give her "high pleasure", whatever the hell that is! And I will even make her breakfast the next morning. It won't be very good, but what can you expect for a measly $200?

Another female teacher sleeps with her male student and....wait for it....his father! Now that is an overachiever!!

A Cleveland teacher was arrested Friday after Johnston Sheriff's officials learned she allegedly had sex with an 11-year-old student in 2003.

According to The News & Observer, the teacher also had an affair with the boy's father.

Tammy Amaon, a sheriff's office spokeswoman, said Rebecca Sue Withrow, 30, of 265 Cambridge Drive, Clayton, is charged with first-degree rape of a child, indecent liberties with a child and sex offense with a student. She is accused of performing sex acts with one of her fifth-grade students at Polenta Elementary School near Cleveland.

Wow! This woman has totally raised the bar in the trampy teacher rapes male student sweepstakes.

She is an entirely different league. Do you think the dad knew about her and his son? I just cannot fathom what is wrong with these women.

Another minister helping to give Christianity a good name.

A Hong Kong church minister pleaded guilty to molesting a 15-year-old after persuading her to strip by recounting the Bible story of Adam and Eve, a news report said on Wednesday.

And they call me immoral.

Bush really does think he is God. He has claimed dominion over space. You know, the one with all of the stars in it.

President Bush has signed an order asserting the United States' right to deny adversaries access to space for hostile purposes.

Mr. Bush also said the United States would oppose the development of treaties or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit U.S. access to or use of space.

The provisions were contained in the first revision of U.S. space policy in nearly 10 years. Mr. Bush's order, signed more than a month ago, was not publicly announced, although unclassified details of his decision were posted on the Web site of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

What an arrogant prick! Space cannot be controlled by earthlings! It is fucking space!

And how in the hell do you enforce this law? Are we going to fire spaceships into space to battle each other? Actually that would be kind of cool.

North Carolina debate goes elementary school, as GOP candidate calls his opponent a "homo". Oooh classy!

Vernon Robinson, who has run a series of brash advertisements about the two-term Democratic congressman, charged that Miller wants to import homosexuals to the United States and supported scientific studies that would pay teenage girls to watch pornography.

"Those are San Francisco values, not North Carolina values," said Robinson, repeating a common theme of his campaign.

A bemused Miller countered by blasting Robinson for a campaign mailer that implicitly suggested the congressman was gay and criticized Miller for being "childless." Miller's wife had a hysterectomy more than two decades ago.

Wow this guy is some piece of work. I mean if you are going to play the "gay" card perhaps you should use it against somebody who is actually gay. And criticizing somebody for not having children after his wife's hysterectomy is probably going to cost a few female votes, don't you think?

But what was that part about teen girls getting paid to watch porn? Why should they get all of the good jobs? I just hate doing something for free that I could get paid for.

This must be that "Blame Game" that Republicans are always trying to avoid. You know, when it is directed at them.

The Bush administration, and it cronies, tried to lay the blame for the Nuclear build up in North Korea on Bill Clinton. That is quite a stretch of logic, not that logic ever slowed this crowd down.

However there are many willing to educate Bush as to who is really to blame. First we have George Soros, strident Bush critic and billionaire. We also have ex-President Jimmy Carter weighing in on the issue. Hillary's voice has also been heard defending her husband.

The fact is that both administrations have a share of the blame here. Under Clinton, North Korea was given nuclear technology after promising not to use it to make weapons. Oops.

But under Bush, North Korea has been frightened into believing that their survival depends on getting nuclear weapons. Bush was the one who placed them in the famous "axis of evil". Double fucking oops!

But the real question is what do we do now? Bush refuses to have bi-lateral talks with the country and the countries surrounding North Korea are not willing to play hardball. And so North Korea just continues to defy the world by building and testing nuclear weapons like crazy.
You know I may not be willing to lay the entire blame on either Bill Clinton or George Bush, but I certainly know who would be more capable of de-escalating the situation now. Clinton would have Kim Jong Il eating out of his hand in ten minutes.

"Children I know it is recess but you may NOT, repeat NOT, run or play!"

Children at the Willett Elementary School in Attleboro are not allowed to play tag, touch football or any games involving contact during recess.

Prinicpal Gaylene Heppe cited the safety risks and the school's liability in case of injury as reasons for the recess ban. Heppe, who is in her second year as principal, told CBS4 the ban is not new and has been in effect for years.

Attention adults! You are screwing up the children! Please stop trying to protect them from having fun. Let them fall down, brush them off, kiss their boo boos, and send them back into the game.

This is why kids are built so close to the ground, so they can fall down without getting hurt!

You know if I had my way I would bring back the metal monkey bars, the teeter totter, and the wooden merry go rounds. Those were great toys and lets face it, if you can't survive recess you are not very good genetic material anyway. That is what recess was for, weeding out the week and genetically inferior.

"I am sorry Johnny, you are pathetic and ungraceful, you will never get a date or be allowed to procreate. Now please go sit on the bench so I can call your mother and convince her to homeschool you."

Evolution is going to give men bigger penises and women nicer breasts, but we may be too sick to enjoy them.

By the year 3000, the average human will be 6½ft tall, have coffee-coloured skin and live for 120 years, new research predicts.

And the good news does not end there.

Blokes will be chuffed to learn their willies will get bigger — and women’s boobs will become more pert.

But there is also a downside, the study suggests. We will be more prone to disease and physically weaker because of our increasing reliance on technology.

I have often felt that this was going to happen if people keeping eating at fast food retaurants and never exercising. I did not predict the larger penises however. But what good is a big dick if an erection makes you pass out from loss of blood to your brain?


About 100,000 years from now, mankind may be divided into two distinct groups — with the genetic elite moving in more exclusive circles and losing contact with the rest of society.

The genetic “haves” will be tall, thin symmetrical, clean, healthy, intelligent and creative.

The genetic “have nots” will be short, stocky, asymmetrical, grubby, unhealthy and not as bright.

I am right square in the middle of those two descriptions. I guess that makes me perfect. Perfect I say!

Mark Foley finally identifies who taught him to be a pervert. Here is a hint, it was not a Buddhist.

Disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley, who claimed he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic clergyman when he was a teen, will reveal the man's identity to the Archdiocese of Miami, his attorney said Tuesday.

I am sorry, but I am fed up with people constantly blaming the church, and Christianity, for all of the things that have gone wrong in their personal life or the world at large.

Besides.....that is my job.

Want to know why the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq is so slow? Prepare to be educated.

One Western contractor, employed to manage transport for a construction company moving materials to foreign troops in the south, said that he was dramatically reducing his operation.

“We’ve lost five staff and our guards have killed thirty-four people in the last month and we’re just a construction company,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“This isn’t reconstruction, not construction, not even combat construction: this is war.”

He said that even on the Kabul to Kandahar route he was having to employ 100 Afghan gunmen to protect his trucks, ready to fight through ambushing Taleb columns up to 150 men strong.

The above company is doing the transportation in Afghanistan, but many reports out of Iraq paint a similarly bleak picture.

This may be the real reason that the administration does not want to pull the troops out of either of these countries. These companies are being paid by American taxpayers and they are also heavy contributors to the Republican party. So essentially Bush and Co. are using these wars to launder money from taxpayers to give to their friends. Can there be any more evil administration in history? (I usually resist using the word evil, but it applies here.)

The Page Scandal may be spreading to others. Now it is time for lawmakers to cover their asses, for a change.

Allegations of improper conduct toward teenage congressional assistants, which do not involve ex-Rep. Mark Foley, were discussed by the board overseeing the program, a Democratic lawmaker said.

Rep. Dale Kildee, the only Democrat on the House Page Board, would not elaborate on whether the discussion involved lawmakers. He said, however, that none of the allegations discussed have been proven.

Kildee testified Monday on the Foley matter before the congressional ethics committee as it continued to investigate Republican leaders' responses to the sex scandal that has marred the party's prospects just three weeks before nationwide elections.

Recent polls show the scandal has hurt the chances that President George W. Bush's Republican party will retain control over the Senate and the House of Representatives in the Nov. 7 elections. Democrats need to pick up 15 seats in the House of Representatives and six in the Senate. All 435 House seats and 33 of the 100 Senate seats are up for a vote.

I hate to be all selfish and everything but I certainly hope that this remains a Republican scandal. It would really muddy the waters if there are any Democrats being accused in this thing.

But I kind of doubt it since I am confident that if a Democarat had been accused of any impropriety Denny Hastert would have thrown them to the press way before this.

However if there are Democrats involved sexually with these children, through word or deed, they should be removed from office and investigated vigorously. Wrong is wrong regardless of political affiliation.

I have said this so often that I am worn out. So here let this reporter say it instead.

It's over.

American troops are still fighting and dying in Iraq and will be for months to come as we try to extricate ourselves from this mess, but it's over.

The U.S. Army may be planning ways to keep 140,000 troops in Iraq until at least 2010, but it's over. It's just over.

What we're doing in Iraq cannot be sustained, not militarily and not politically, and after the election a lot of people are going to start saying so. They'll say so if the Democrats take control of one or both chambers of Congress, and they'll say so if Republicans remain in control.

Because it's over, and everyone knows it.

I just cannot fathom how anybody in the world can have any other opinion about this war.

Things are so bad in America that citizens are seeking asylum in England.

A couple of years ago I met two black guys from the States who were over here because they thought they could get a better standard of living.

One was from Ohio and the other from Kansas. They claimed asylum because they said they were racially discriminated against at home.

But they freely admitted they were here for the free healthcare and accommodation. It is an absolute joke.

They could have been here for up to five years before their application was processed.
Last night the Home Office admitted five American nationals have claimed asylum this year alone.

These guys are pussies! If you don't like the way things are in America then get your ass back here and vote! We are going to take back our country and return its status as the greatest country on earth! And you guys are not invited to the party.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is staring right at the wall, yet fails to see the writing on it.

At his daily briefing today at the White House, Press Secretary Tony Snow fielded a barrage of questions related to the recent upsurge in U.S. deaths in Iraq and worries that the Iraqi government is failing to stem the tide of violence. Suddenly one reporter put the issue squarely: “Sorry. Just the simple question: Are we winning?”

Snow punted.

“We're making progress,” he replied. “I don't know. How do you define ‘winning’?

I feel it is incumbent upon me to help poor Tony Snow to understand what winning a war looks like. (I am a very attentive student of history.)

• When you are killing more of the enemy then they are killing you, you are winning. (I do not know what it means when they are killing more of each other then you are able to kill. That is a head scratcher.)
• When you find that the enemy is running out of combatants, you are winning.
• When you take back an area once controlled by the enemy and are greeted by the inhabitants as heroes, you are winning.
• When you see the number of deaths diminishing on a monthly basis, then you are winning.
• When you have a gut feeling that things getting better, then you are probably winning.

If I may be so bold Mr. Snow the reason that you cannot tell if we are winning is because we are not winning. We are losing!

Now I have never been to war, but I have won athletic events, contests, prizes and the girl. I have also lost a few times in my life. I can tell the difference without too much difficulty. Trust me sir, we are definitely not winning.

Top Ten Dumbest Congressmen. Republicans don't get your panties in a wad, there are some Democrats in there.

This was e-mailed to me. (I love it when I don't have to do much work.)

Below is the entry for our own Congressman Don Young. Just another reason I am so proud to be an Alaskan.

The scene: Fairbanks, Alaska, 1994. Congressman Don Young, already in office for 20 years, is on the stump preaching the virtues of Newt Gingrich's Republican revolution to a group of high school students. Just look at all the wasteful things the federal government does with taxpayers' money, he tells them. The National Endowment for the Arts, for example, funds art involving "people doing offensive things ... things that are absolutely ridiculous." One student asks, "Like what?"

"Buttfucking," replies the great scourge of obscenity and instructor of youth.

Young's performance remains a classic in the annals of congressional idiocy, offering that rare, supremely unselfconscious moment in which one of our nation's legislative solons lets his addled mind graze freely. But the real irony of this legendary gaffe is that the congressman lecturing on government waste was the very same man who, years later, would be responsible for Alaska's fabled "Bridge to Nowhere," a $233 million project constructed entirely of pork. And it's the same man who, when asked about his state's outrageous $941 million transportation bill, boasted "I stuffed it like a turkey," before adding that detractors of the bridge—equal in length to the Golden Gate but connecting to a town with a population of 50—could "kiss my ear."

You will notice that we Alaskans are not known for mincing our words. We are willing to call a "buttfucker" a "buttfucker" no matter how impressionable our audience. You don't want these kids learning this stuff on the streets do you?

Australian journalist, still happily living in the late 1950's, explains why men should earn more money then broads. What year is it in Australia?

So, what if the average woman in Australia earns $300 less per week than the average man.

That statistic fails to take in account the hours worked. In fact, the average Australian Joe Blow works almost twice as many hours as the average Jenny Blow, according to data HILDA, the Household Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia survey.

Since he's putting in twice as many hours, I hope Joe Blow would earn far more.

You know the argument could be made that the reason the woman is working less hours is because she is getting the work done in the time allotted. Perhaps she is not distracted from her work by online porn, or those insidious gambling sites. Perhaps Jenny Blow is more efficient. (Yes, I can hear the men knashing their teeth at that statement, but that does not make it wrong.)

By the way I would like to meet a nice Jenny Blow myself. I mean it is not guaranteed that with a name like hers she would be any more proficient in the oral department, but I knew a guy named Mike Dick once and he was a real....well you know.

Besides it would just be fun to answer her question of what I wanted for my birthday with "I would like a good you-job, thank you very much." Yep looks like another short term relationship for me.

The Big Island is doing the Hula.

A strong earthquake shook Hawaii early Sunday, jolting residents out of bed and causing a landslide that blocked a major highway. Ceilings crashed at a hospital, and aftershocks kept the state on edge.

I attended college in Hawaii, at the University of Hilo. I loved my time in Hawaii and have been back to the other islands on a few other occasions. I hope that the wonderful people of Hawaii are safe and that this is not a harbringer of more problems for the islands.

6.6 is a pretty healthy earthquake, even for Alaskans, and we get shaken fairly regularly.