an american terrorist

* american grunt deaths in afghanistan this year are now 50% higher than any other year - and at this rate, we can expect another 50% - which would make 2005 more than twice as deadly as any previous year. if we add in the 'coalition' deaths - those numbers would look much worse.

* black helicopters and 'counter'-terroism squads decended on a legal party in utah. i wish i could move off george bush's planet. (link)

* at least im not a woman in bush's New Iraq (tm). or a woman in blinky's New America.

* given that nobody knows why 'we' invaded iraq - i wonder if the neocons are really actually fervent greenies and they figured that the best way to stop global warming was to make it economically necessary to stop relying on fossil fuels - and the best way to do that was to drive up energy prices...

* amygoodman is calling blinky's 'ranch' an 'estate' - can everyone please follow suit?

* cnn cant call eric rudolph a terrorist - hell, even fox called him "an american terrorist" - complete with a title graphic

* athenae: "We'll be leaving (iraq) soon, but that doesn't mean they get away with it. Democratic Congress in 2006 or bust, bitches. It's the only way we're ever going to find out exactly what happened, and punish those responsible, though we'll never be able to punish them enough.
If anyone needs me, I'll be in the library, reading everything I can find that supports the existence of hell." (link)

* "U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has prosecuted mobsters, terrorists and even journalists... And always, he has methodically, inexorably pursued his investigations to target the man at the top of the organizational pyramid... That's how he operates: Apply maximum pressure to reluctant witnesses in order to build an air-tight case against the most senior member of a criminal conspiracy... "You get the sense that there are absolutely no sacred cows with him. He aims straight for the top."" (link)

* compare the above re Fitzgerald, with this recent Salon piece: "Last week, Associated Press reporter Pete Yost wrote a relatively aggressive article about potential conversations between Karl Rove and President George W. Bush about Valerie Plame Wilson. But Yost's piece considers only the possibility that Rove lied about his involvement in the leak to Bush after the fact... Yet, strangely, even the most probing report has refused to raise the possibility that George W. Bush had any advance knowledge of or direct involvement in the leak. It's an irresponsible choice, considering Bush has more experience as a political operative than as president of the United States." (link)

* "Let us be clear about the lesson to be drawn from (wilgoren's creationist) coverage in the nation’s “most serious” newspaper. Any religious zealots with millions of dollars and some committed pathological liars on staff can, without producing any credible scientific research or any scientific evidence, convince the “newspaper of record” for the educated public to present its quackery as raising doubts about matters on which there is no scientific dispute." (via arthur)
good fucking grief - i thought the fact that the nyt was doing a single article on the ID-iots was disgusting. they are doing a series. (latest installment) how column inches will they sell to these stupid people?

* is everyone getting swamped with junk email? theres some stupid virus floating around. grrr.

* i highly recommend you read driftglass' wrapup of the sunday chat shows.