Finally someone is standing up to Halliburton/KBR. Vanity Fair is running a piece titled “The People vs the Profiteers”. It is a truly mind opening, and brings to light not only the HUGE overruns and fraud connected with the subcontracting of the war, but the DOJ’s efforts to NOT investigate potential fraud.
Between Halliburton, KBR and the slew of other contractors the American taxpayer is being raped by no-bid, cost-plus contracts, billions upon billions of dollars are going straight from our paychecks into the coffers of the multi-nationals.
You can say all you want about the connections between Cheney and Halliburton, KBR and Gonzales, and many others in the administration. The facts speak for themselves.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/halliburton200711?currentPage=1
Technorati Tags: Iraq, profiteer, vanity fair, Halliburton, KBR
Pill Popping Rush Limbaugh came out recently saying troops that don’t back the strategy in Iraq are “phoney soldiers”.
I caught this on youtube and thought it was appropriate.
Technorati Tags: rush limbaugh, iraq, youtube
Apparently a Spanish official has released a transcript of a private talk between Dubya and Jose Maria Aznar of Spain in early 2003.
The gist of the conversation is that Dubya is going to invade regardless of what the world thinks, and is dead set on the “fact” that Saddam is an immediate threat to the US.
He also believed that the takeover would happen without widespread destruction.
Even with the Spanish prime minister pleading for patience and for letting diplomacy handle Iraq, the decider would not accept any else’s advice.
There is a crude Google translation of the transcript in the article
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003646639
Technorati Tags: bush, aznar, spain, US, iraq, invasion
Mr. Bush spoke to deadening silence at the UN yesterday, calling for action in every corner of the world. It is the opinion of Mr. Bush that the UN itself needs to
Every civilized nation also has a responsibility to stand up for the people suffering under dictatorship,� the president said. “In Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Iran, brutal regimes deny their people the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration� of the United Nations.
He forgot Myanmar (Burma). So now we call on the UN to remove everyone that disagrees with us. Can he please just shut up, I really doubt calling for the international overthrow of every dictator in the world is really going to help our cause. Remember the last time we asked for that kind of help, we’re still there, almost alone.
Now I know this is unrelated but Mike McConnell told the Senate Judiciary Committee today that Al-Qaeda can use the European visa waiver to sneak people into the US undetected. If there is another attack I pity whatever country has nothing to do with it, because they are going to be in trouble.
Technorati Tags: myanmar, burma, iraq, bush, Iran
So everyone and their dog is ranting about Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York, so why should I be different.
Why is this causing so much friction. I know about the supposed links between Iran and the Iraq insurgency, I know about them developing nuclear technology, and I know how evil they are supposed to be.
My big thing is that we are being told all this by the same administration and media outlets that told us about how evil Iraq was, how they were developing nuclear technology and their link to Al-Qaeda.
Shouldn’t we embrace something like this, the opportunity for America to show their strength and tolerance? For America to listen to the view of someone we are being told is our enemy?
Robert McNamara wrote “In Retrospect” (basis for the movie Fog of War) and I think these 4 of his 11 points have a lot to say about this situation:
1. We misjudged then — and we have since — the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries . . . and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions.
2. We viewed the people and leaders of South Vietnam in terms of our own experience. . . . We totally misjudged the political forces within the country.
3. We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values.
4. Our judgments of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders.
In my view we should listen to Mr. Ahmadinejad as we can only stand to better understand the man, the culture and the society he presides over.
Technorati Tags: iran, iraq, Ahmadinejad, new york
Here is a clip of Garofalo bringing up some good points on Real-Time with Bill Maher. Rants on Blackwater, Iraq, Bush, Halliburtan, etc. Even Salmon Rushdie (of Satanic Verses Fame) chimes in. Why doen’t we hear more people speaking like this in the mainstream media?
Technorati Tags: garofalo, mahr, rushdie, oreilly
This girl really went off the deep end. Seriously, Athiests are not the problem, and in my never so humble opinion, Athiests are traditionally more accepting than those with devout religions conviction. I’ve never seen an Athiests go door to door trying to convert people, I’ve never heard of an Atheist blowing themselves up.
My Rebuttal :
First off nutbag, “In God We Trust” was added to the currency in around 1837, it is not in the Constitution, it is not in the Declaration so it is not what this country was founded on. The country was founded with the consideration that all people should be able to worship in any way they saw fit, which includes the “non-believers”. You cannot push your views on another person, which is why Prayer should not be in schools. What would you say if we instituted Prayer in schools and forced everyone to Pray to Jesus, Muhammad, Budda, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Krishna, L. Ron Hubbard and whatever else you can think of? Would that be better? Or is it better to have you do that in the privacy of your own home, church, mosque, synagogue? How can practicing nothing be evil? And how the hell does being an Atheist have anything to do with Crime…even without the bible most people know right from wrong, and what is acceptable behavior. The 10 commandments, I consider to be human truths rather than religious truths. These are things that are engrained into the basic makeup of people, and that is why those themes are carried throughout most major religions.
You really need to get off your horse and realize that not everyone (thank God) thinks the way you do.
Technorati Tags: religion, Athiests, constitution, in god we trust, crazy people
People need to get over themselves, just because someone attempts to show you another point of view DOES NOT MEAN they are insulting your beliefs. One of the best things about America is the fact that EVERYONE can have an opinion, and those opinions differ, and those opinions can co-exist.
I bring this up since a Community College professor is saying he was fired for saying that people should not take the bible as literal truth.
One note to those that DO take the bible as literal truth, unless you have read the original texts
(dead sea scrolls, etc) in the original language (Aramaic) you cannot take it as literal truth. It has been recited, edited, condensed, translated, reworked hundreds of times over the centuries. I’m thinking people’s own perceptions, notions, and views have worked their way into the text. It is amazing how ones own opinions can affect the translation. That and you have to read ALL the books, not just the ones that have been canonized, there is a lot more out there that may or may not have just as much meaning.
http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/103880
Technorati Tags: bible, religion, teaching, iowa, college, free speech