I've been up all night reading Harry Potter the last few days so "I know nothing, NOTHING!", as Schultz would say.  But I do know the tide must be turning when stories surface about how our darling Second First Lady couldn't get her one of her propaganda pieces op-eds published.

What's your favorite Condi memory?

Update [2007-7-23 11:48:30 by Steven D]: This AP headline from today is a Condi classic already: Rice Warns Kosovo Against Independence

Because, under Bush, we are for spreading democracy around the world -- except when we're not.

You have scandals like this one:

Citibank, one of the largest providers of student loans, as well as five universities have agreed to pay $5.2 million to students and the New York State attorney general to resolve an investigation into student loan practices, Andrew M. Cuomo, the attorney general, announced yesterday.

Citibank, which at year's end had $33.7 billion in student loans outstanding, agreed to pay $2 million into a fund to educate students and parents about student loans. [...]

Mr. Cuomo has singled out in particular a practice he called "egregious," in which loan companies give universities back payments that rise along with the volume of private student loans from the schools. Private loans are not secured by the federal government.

and this one:

Was what our government did right or wrong?

This is the public debate we are not having in the United States today.  Not in the media.  Not in Congress to any significant extent by either party. Certainly not by the Bush administration.  And often, not even in the blogosphere, on the right or on the left.

We may frame our arguments with the language of moral outrage, with righteous demands for justice or fairness.  We may imagine that moral themes form the central basis for the causes we espouse, and for the  policies we promote, but all too often we elide the moral dimension which underlies the central issues of our times. The public debates over the occupation of Iraq, the potential war with Iran; Katrina, the health care crisis, economic inequality, immigration, and even global warming all too often fail to grapple with the moral issues which lie at their core.

And it is precisely this failure to confront the moral dimension inherent in our politics  which has contributed to the current polarization in our country, and to Bush's ability to accomplish much of his political agenda, despite the disastrous consequences they have had for our country.

(cont.)

Perhaps you've heard of Disneys' ownership and apparent sponsorship of conservative hate radio flagship station KSFO whose talk show hosts include the vile Melanie Morgan and the excrable Lee Rogers. If you want the details of this story please read Mike Stark's diaries at Daily Kos, here, here, and here. The short version: Disney owns KSFO which employs radio talk show hosts who like to urge joke about the elimination (i.e., murder or death) of liberals, democrats, journalists and progressives.

So what can you do to stop Disney from promoting these lunatic, hateful and violent comments by the jerks at KSFO? It's easy, really.

(cont.)

Merry Christmas to all. Last night concluded the first season of BooTrib's own fantasy football league, the Frog Marchers. The winners of the championship bracket are as follows:

First Place (Gold Medal): Big Blue State (colorsplash62)

Second Place (Silver Medal): WW (wolverine writer)

Third Place (Bronze Medal: Peace Penguins (Steven D and his daughter)

The Consolation Bracket Champion was Guinea Pig Panini (Chris) who defeated the Purple Dust Bunnies (Cabingirl and Booman, I believe) for the honor.

Many thanks to all the participants. In an eventful political year, this was a wonderful diversion for my daughter and I, and I hope also for all the other players.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Update [2006-8-19 14:3:39 by Steven D]: Just so you know, my 11 year old daughter is the one who really has been pushing me to do this. She was my co-manager in a fantasy league last year, and she got hooked. So, it's a father-daughter thing as far as we are concerned.

I've created a Free Fantasy Football League for Bootribbers at Yahoo.com.  The league is open to all on a first come, first served basis.  Here is the LINK To JOIN.  Just click on the "Join Custom" button and follow the instructions.  You'll need to type in the League ID number and password provided below:

League ID: 505082  

League Password:  booman

The League's Name: Frog Marchers

One catch:  You'll have to register at at Yahoo.com if you're not a member there.  Here's Yahoo's Help page explaining how to register if you are not already a Yahoo member: LINK

More information on the flip . . .

A commenter at Booman Tribune, no3reed, pointed me to this Washington Post report on Zarqawi's death, and in particular to its penultimate paragraph:

Minutes after the Zarqawi's death was announced the long-debated interior, defense and national security posts were filled in a giddy session of parliament. Abdul Qadir Muhammed Jassim, a Sunni Arab and former Iraqi army commander, was named defense minister, Jawad al-Bolani, a Shiite, was put in charge of the interior ministry, and Sherwan Alwaeli, a Kurd, was named the country's top official for national security.

Very giddy, indeed (more on the flip).

He's betraying the troops! Just like that scumbag, Jack Murtha, he's spreading stories about the Marines in Haditha, but even worse, he wants the Senate to investigate what they did!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican Senator vowed on Sunday to hold hearings on U.S. Marines' role in the deaths of up to two dozen Iraqi civilians last November as a leading Democratic war critic alleged a military cover-up.

The U.S. military is investigating the November 19 incident in Haditha, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. The military has said 15 civilians were killed, while other accounts put the number at about 24.

Senator John Warner told ABC news the Senate committee he heads would probe "what happened and when it happened and what was the immediate reaction of the senior officers in the Marine Corps when they began to gain knowledge of it."

(cont. below the fold)

He's betraying the troops! Just like that scumbag, Jack Murtha, he's spreading stories about the Marines in Haditha, but even worse, he wants the Senate to investigate what they did!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican Senator vowed on Sunday to hold hearings on U.S. Marines' role in the deaths of up to two dozen Iraqi civilians last November as a leading Democratic war critic alleged a military cover-up.

The U.S. military is investigating the November 19 incident in Haditha, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. The military has said 15 civilians were killed, while other accounts put the number at about 24.

Senator John Warner told ABC news the Senate committee he heads would probe "what happened and when it happened and what was the immediate reaction of the senior officers in the Marine Corps when they began to gain knowledge of it."

(cont. below the fold)

I found this poem on the internet today.  Sometimes writers and artists are the most prescient people.  Read on:

have another one cuz the first didn't do ya any good.

in the camps they had morning exercise
then gruel. we learned how to use cell
phones properly, the adjective text msg.
networking.

revise retro test proc to reflect slop in lenses.

adjust laws to reflect the needs of changing times

i still remember the senate. it's an ancient institution
founded back in greece, wasn't it? no matter how
much they make me scrub the walls, sweep the dirt
floors of our communal space, dig new latrines
i still remember some things. the way they used to be.
they have me on this detail b/c i was talking on the line.
when you can talk and work the machines at the same time
they know what you're in for and they don't want you around
the ones that are in b/c they bounced a couple of checks
or fell behind on repaying the welfare. they want you
dying, slowly or quickly it's all the same to numbers,
as long as you're quarantined. for victory, home, and apple
orchards. i liked the camp in the northwest best
but they moved me to this one bordering las vegas.
every morning they take a crew of the most docile
into town to clean bathrooms there. the commandant
will never put me on that detail, no matter how square
i dig this shit hole. the senate. they still have that don't they?

the man from texas comes by. he spiels to drafting
while i'm washing the windows. you know sez he
who is the most discriminated against? she says
i know what you're going to say. he says it anyway.
it's all i can do to keep from overspraying the windex
onto his silk armani. he takes out his pocket
tivo, covered with the great leader's face and stars n stripes ring tone.
i dream of chlorine injections while wiping my blade
up and down the window, avoiding, as best i can, streaks. i
hope the man from texas will not remember me
from when i used to repair his hummer's circuitry after a run
thru the dunes on la braca. where has my zen abandoned me?
i take a bow, notch an arrrow, pull.
his footsteps clip down the hall.

in the camps i learned how to consume
properly. the aversion therapy sessions didn't work
as well for me as the straight out lobotomy.
they've refined the process. it's all chemical now.
viruses spliced with surgical precision. this row
of connections severed, t his one left in.

i forget nothing. i just
don't care about it anymore.
they still won't let me go to vegas yet.
maybe i need to forget more. i know-- i'll ask
the doctor for an adjustment. they gave me
the choice of memory wipe, and i believe
i chose wrong. plus i think there must be something
wrong with the process b/c if you remember then
you can' t help but care. there's a senator coming
to the camp today. there are whispers, like a pope.

when you find this, you'll either execute me
or wipe my brain--a different execution.

when you find this, i'll be face down
in las vegas, hunkered over the dollar slots.

when you find this. you'll burn it.
congratulations
you've passed the exam.

This diary is for For Justice: Day 3 regarding Alito's violations of judicial ethics.

The following letter is ready to send to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as well as other Senators. Feel free to adapt it as you see fit.  Click here for Senate Judiciary Members and click here for for a list of all Senators.

(Letter follows after the break)

[promoted with a very heavy heart- BooMan]

(Cross-Posted at Daily Kos)

(Hat tip to Mark Kraft, an emailer to Eric Alterman's blog, Altercation for finding this admission by the US Army)

That's right. Not from Al Jazheera, or Al Arabiya, but the US fucking Army, in their very own publication, from the (WARNING: pdf file) March edition of Field Artillery Magazine in an article entitled "The Fight for Fallujah":

"WP [i.e., white phosphorus rounds] proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes when we could not get effects on them with HE. We fired 'shake and bake' missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out."

(cross-posted at Daily Kos)

Once again bio-detectors in the United States are showing an airborne exposure to Tularemia, and once again officials are downplaying the event:

Public health officials are downplaying the detection of an airborne potential bio-terror germ in Santa Clara County, saying it probably came from a natural source.

On Sunday morning, an air monitoring station in an undisclosed location picked up a low reading for the presence of the tularemia bacteria, but at follow-up tests were negative, according to the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health. No other air monitors in the area picked up any readings.

Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County health officer, said today there was no danger to the public, adding that the source was likely a natural one. There is, he said, no reason to suspect terrorism based on one positive test detecting a low amount of the germ.

"All of our subsequent follow-up and testing and air monitoring have been negative," he said."

Cross-posted at Daily Kos

Yes, why people lie may seem obvious, but then, in these days of spin, particularly Republican Right Wing Conservative Movement spin, stating the obvious is sometimes necessary.  

A great deal of media attention has been, and will continue to be, focused on GOP pundits attempting to downplay the seriousness of Mr. Libby's alleged crimes in Fitzgerald's indictment: false statements, perjury and obstruction of justice.  We will be repeatedly told that these are crimes that don't count, that somehow lying to the FBI and the Grand Jury is merely  business as usual in Washington, and that Fitz's failure to charge the "real crime" of unlawfully outing Valerie Wilson as a covert CIA agent somehow makes the charges in the indictment frivolous and/or mean spirited harassment of a hard-working public servant such as Mr. Libby.

Well, let's take a brief refresher course in why people tell lies and see what light that sheds on these GOP talking points, shall we?