sibel edmonds part xxxx

further to my posts (here and here and here, for example) trying to understand what the hell sibel edmonds is trying to point us to when she refers to the nexus of lobbying and drugs and terrorism and State and Defense and 911 - for starters (which may or may not include Feith and Perle and Bolton and AIPAC) - i previously noted that "Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly morphed into Davis, Manafort and Freedman" - but that isnt all - it *also* morphed into another lobbying group calle BKSH where B is Charlie Black - from the group's website "Wherever in the world BKSH operates, clients can rely on the same commitment: the promise of efficiency, effectiveness and excellence"

as it happens, "BKSH has experience on the Iraqi front earned from work for Ahmed Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress." - its a small fucking world.

and just to add a delicious twist or six - other clients include the ukranian, nigerian , haitian
governments, yukos oil and Radio Voice of Iran (and chalabi) - if theres an international 'happening' taking place, charlie black has his fingerprints on it. fancy that. chicken or egg?

if you ever wondered why we see on tv (and in policy) the stuff that we actually see, charlie black might be the answer. (their corporate clients include GM, GE and Glaxo (and thats just the G's')).

im not sure where the BKSH name comes from - but the other main guy apart from Black is Gardner Peckham (MD) - "Peckham worked as senior policy advisor to former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on defense, intelligence and international trade issues, as deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs to Secretary Jim Baker and as an aide to national security advisor Brent Scowcroft" (link)

all those names will unfortunately be familiar to you - but for the moment, let me point out that Scowcroft is the head of the American Turkish Association (or was it the american turkish council?) - the VF article said that Scowcroft wasnt under any suspicion - but sibel later clarified that (in her Horton interview (?)) when she specifically stated that the author of the VF article simply hadnt found any evidence to that effect.

one of the cool things about this egAdminstration is that its completely different to the New Alqaeda which is apparently decentralised (ie - not an organisation) - the thing about this bAdminstration is that the same names are always only one degree away from each other. its *soooo* frustrating that the whole thing hasnt been unravelled yet - (hopefully this is where Fitzgerald makes a hero of himself and saves us all)

of course, we have only just started in chasing down the first degrees of separation

" BKSH & Assocs., has been hired by The Lincoln Group, one of three firms selected last month by the U.S. Special Operations Command to wage psychological warfare on behalf of the Pentagon in Iraq and other hot spots," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "BKSH has experience on the Iraqi front earned from work for Ahmed Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress. Col. James Treadwell, director of the Joint Psychological Operations Support Element, said TLG was selected to develop 'cutting-edge types of media,' including radio/TV ads, documentaries, text messages, Internet spots and podcasts for the U.S. military. The Pentagon expects to spend $3M in the first-year as a 'test,' and could spend up to $300M over five years if the 'psyops' operations conducted by TLG, SYColeman and Science Applications International Corp are deemed successful."" (link)

ok - all welll and good - who is The Lincoln Group?

well - according this wapo piece, they are*officially* psy-ops. a couple of things become clear at this point a) charlie black is at the center of everything b) everything u see in the media is controlled by the GOP - and has been for decades c) charlie is really good at this stuff d) its a very fucking small world e) if we assume the abramoff model (and we'd be stupid to think anything else) the money gets recycled though these channels back into the GOP for election fraud and presumably everything else

billmon - who is an old school journo (and a helluva writer) was completely taken aback by the Lincoln Group - go read the whole piece - but here's a snippett "Perhaps we shouldn't read too much into Iraqex's hiring policies" - (iraqex is the Lincoln Group - before a name-change) - he was referring to some iraqex hirings - "Swift worked for the Bush-Cheney campaign in Illinois, and Blessing worked for the state GOP"- as luck would have it, if im not mistaken, Pat Fitzgerald actually does have a problem with certain hiring practises in Illinois (which incidentally is the same scandal that we are contemporaneously watching in Kentucky - and perhaps in ohio)

billmon continues: "Lincoln Alliance has left light footprints on Google and Nexis. And the web address listed on the export.gov site has been redirected to the new Lincoln Group site -- which, as I mentioned, seems rather deliberately uninformative about the firm." - ive found the same thing looking into all the other organisations in this investigation - global promises, no footprints - if anyone can find me a website for Brewster Jennings, let me know.

billmon again, discussing Lincoln:

"So to sum up: We have a tiny start-up venture, controlled by persons unknown, that suddenly materializes in late 2003 doing "private equity" deals in the middle of a war zone, and then obtains a huge PR contract from the Pentagon, and then hires a bunch of unemployed GOP campaign operatives to execute that contract, and then is absorbed by a shadowy DC company that specializes in corporate and political detective work and that may have close ties to both the Republican Party and the intelligence community, which then is awarded an even bigger contract to produce even more Pentagon propaganda."

inadvertently, billmon also points to this:

"Collaborative Human Understanding of Networked Knowledge (CHUNK)

Lincoln has been pursuing research into the analysis of sensitive information through the use of networked information workers. Developed in 2001, the concept allows for the fusion and analysis of sensitive information through the atomization of key information while maintaining the anonymity and integrity of the source data. "

which sounds a little bit like the grandchild of Able Danger...

and billmon also points to this - which is a link between Lincoln and party-girl jennifer8 at the NYT

lets pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster that within Fitzgerald's 8 redacted pages are the links between between Daley and Hastert and Plame and Perle and Feith and Bolton and Black and everyone else - the wait is nearly killing me

oh no

"Nearly 650 Iraqi Shi'ites died in a stampede on a Tigris River bridge in Baghdad" (link)

OH NO!

Operation Milestone Millstone - imminent

Ive justed posted my latest post over at Operation Milestone Millstone. we are just a 'successful' attack or two away from the 2000 dead-americans-in-iraq milestone.

"We Will Defeat The Hurricanists"

* "Two released sex offenders who were on a registration list available on the Internet have been murdered. A man is believed to have posed as an FBI officer, went to their apartment and shot them." (link)
thank you oreilly.

* juancole: "There are indeed rumors flying around of continued changes in the draft of the constitution. All sorts of key issues, from Iraq's Arab identity to human rights are still in flux. Major politicians have left or are leaving the country, which means any tinkering is being done in their absence!
It is the damnedest thing."

* "The survey also found that Sheehan, who has been protesting the war outside Bush’s ranch near Crawford, Tex., has become the most visible symbol of the anti-war movement. Fully three in four Americans have heard or read about her." (link)
apparently 25% of americans *never* watch the news. that would explain why bush's ratings are so high.

* i hope blinky gives himself a pay raise as soon as he gets back to DC from the vacation - how cool would that be :-)

* "Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.
Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming....Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."" (link)
freedom isnt free.

* watching blinky speechify about the hurricane, i keep expecting him to pound the table and jaw-jut and defiantly stare into the camera "We Will Defeat The Hurricanists"

* a group called the Columbia Christians sent out an email claiming that the hurricane looks like a fetus - and a full HALF of LA's abortion clinics are in new orleans, ergo... you know the rest. (link)

* wapo ed: "Whatever the legal arguments taking place (re PlanB), this unexpected delay at this stage of the approval process makes the FDA -- long admired around the world for its neutrality and professionalism -- look like an easily manipulated political tool." (link)
im not sure about the veracity of the 'neutrality and professionalism' part - but i'll support the conclusion that the FDA (and just about *every* other USG agency is indeed 'an easily manipulated political tool'

* further to my recent comments about perle and fitzgerald, heres FireDogLake: "Because as far as we know, if Patrick Fitzgerald indicts him, Perle is the only one who will have to ask: in what case?"
so sweet.

our democratic idea of public accountability is misunderstood in other parts of the world

* "A judge said Tuesday he was hesitant to release pictures and videotapes of detainee abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison while top government officials insisted that deaths could result...
U.S. Attorney David Kelley told the judge that insurgents and propagandists in Afghanistan and Iraq would claim that a judge's order to release the pictures was a "deliberate war act" by the U.S." (link)
raping boys isnt an act of war. nor is taking photographs. nor is absolving those people accountable. nor is instituting torture polcies. but a judge following FOIA laws? sure.

* "The ACLU today also released previously redacted government documents.. in which they argue that the photographs and videos should not be made public. Included in papers unsealed today is General Myers' argument that the photographs must be withheld because "our democratic idea of public accountability -- the airing of misdeeds by government officials and employees in order to hold government to the highest standards of conduct -- is an idea that is misunderstood in other parts of the world."" (link)
brilliant.

compared to human conversation, it sounds absurd

from froomkin

"Actress/novelist/playwright/essayist Cintra Wilson infiltrated the White House press corps last month.

In one passage, the newcomer recounts McCllellan asserting: "The president [also talked about] our strategy for prevailing in the war on terrorism and defeating the ideology that the terrorists espouse."

Writes Wilson: "Since this was my first exposure, in real time, to the administration's spin jingo, straight from the larynx of a living person, I was so stunned I emitted an involuntarily, hysterical gasp and one of McClellan's frozen über-blondes tried to turn me into a pillar of salt with a penetrating fish-eye.

"The corps is inured to this ideological Esperanto, but it is vertiginous and risible when you first hear it live -- compared to human conversation, it sounds absurd. . . .

"My first revelation: Nobody in the room asks questions like 'How does one militarily defeat an ideology, short of killing everyone who feels that way and their families, then destroying all writings ever produced about that ideology, and disappearing any scholars who've ever had a passing interest in it?' And/or 'Has the president noticed that historically, ideologies usually persist, despite genocide and other disincentives?'

"That's not how questions are asked in the briefing room. How it's done is far more complicated, Byzantine and ineffectual."

She concludes: "McClellan infantalizes the press corps. . . . his tone suggests your persistence in asking these awful questions means that you are crabby and need a nap.""

Bourbon Street saved

juancole:

"In the terms of (Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell's) logic, and given today's news about Bourbon Street being saved from destruction, only three conclusions are possible.

1. God does not exist.

Or:

2. God does not use natural or man-made catastrophes to punish people for moral failings.

Or:

3. God does not actually object to people having a good time occasionally."

never forget 911

this from our anti-peace friends at crawford.

mmmm, history

pardon the blankets

* atrios thinks this article in wapo is the stupidest thing he has ever read. thats a helluva standard the premise of the column is that the existence of athletes prove Intelligent Design. its difficult to disagree with atrios.

* arianna: "Reading the latest New York Times Judy Miller editorial is the journalistic equivalent of watching a bombing comic pull out all the stops in a frantic attempt to wring a reaction out of his audience. You can feel the flop sweat dripping off the page"
she proceeds to tear it apart deliciously.

* the nyt Miller editorial quotes Reporters Without Borders to justify their position on judy - however xymphora says "Reporters Without Borders is another bought-and-paid-for American government propaganda outlet. The perfect advocates for Judith Miller." they are funded by the US State dept (via NED)

* "(kentucky) Governor Ernie Fletcher, in one of the more audacious displays of political grandstanding, in a setting full of cheering and clapping political supporters, announced that he was thumbing his nose at the Kentucky criminal justice system, announced he was issuing "blanket" pardons (calling it amnesty, but Section 77 of the state constitution does not contain the term 'amnesty', only 'pardon') to anyone who "might have violated" state's Merit System laws." (link)
are they gonna syndicate this gig nationally?

* "U.S. forces first used DU in the 1991 Gulf War, when some 300 tons of depleted uranium... But in the current wars in Afghanistan and, especially, Iraq, DU has become the weapon of choice, with more than 1,000 tons used in Afghanistan and more than 3,000 tons used in Iraq. And while DU was fired mostly in the desert during the Gulf War, in the current war in Iraq, most of DU munitions are exploding in populated urban areas.
One way or another, the Pentagon will pay a price. “DU is a war crime. It’s that simple,” Rokke says. “Once you’ve scattered all this stuff around, and then refuse to clean it up, you’ve committed a war crime.”" (link)

* "KURDISH politicians negotiating a draft constitution have criticised the US ambassador to Iraq for allegedly pushing them to accept too great a role for Islamic law... Mr Khalilzad had specifically supported those provisions, urging other groups to accept them ." (link)
(via xymphora)

* "Mideast analyst Kenneth Pollack is one of two U.S. government officials referenced in the indictment against two former staffers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee" (link)

* holden pointed to this: "An evangelical group has begun a weeklong advertising campaign in Iowa criticizing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for backing expanded embryonic stem cell research." with the comment "Frist is the New Gay Marriage" :-)

evil cindy sheehan: baby killer

"Democracy Now!'s Yoruba Richen talked to Bill Johnson, who is the owner of the Yellow Rose in Crawford, a store that boasts the largest collection of George W. Bush paraphernalia in the country. Johnson also helped organize the pro-war rally that took place Saturday. This is what he had to say about Cindy Sheehan and her supporters":

"YORUBA RICHEN: What do you think about the position of the anti-war protesters that the war was based on untruths and that the troops should be brought home now?

BILL JOHNSON: Well, you know, I’ve got a picture over here of Saddam Hussein's palace, and it has – It’s huge, and behind the throne is huge missiles going out from his place. You know, let me tell you what: The intent was there. There's no doubt. And it's just a matter of him getting enough oil and enough money to get it done. Whether he did or not, I don't know, and I'm not sure anybody totally knows, but you know, there was enough time to get those out or bury them, and there still may be some there. But it doesn't matter. This man murdered thousands and thousands and thousands of kids, but the thing is, he's murdered whole villages. I mean, if we are supposed to love our brothers as ourself, how in the world can she stand out there and let them be murdered? And at the same time she stands for abortion. And she’s sworn to help kill millions and millions of babies. I mean, baby killers. Baby murderers. What is this? I mean, where is the values at? She is okay for one but not the for the other? How can they justify it?

[snip]

YORUBA RICHEN: what do you think about Reverend Sharpton coming this weekend?

BILL JOHNSON: I think that’s great, because I’ve got a man ready to debate him at 2:30 when we get through with Cindy. So invite him out. We’ve got a gentleman coming in here from Washington, D.C. And I won't give you his name right now, but he will be here. He's a black guy, and he's the right answer to Mr. Sharpton.

YORUBA RICHEN: Anything else you want the public to know about what you are doing here and why you are doing it?

BILL JOHNSON: Yes, and I want to finish up with Reverend Sharpton. You know, welfare isn't the way. In the last verse of Thessalonians, it says “If a man will not work, let him not eat.” That means these people need to get off welfare and get out and get to work."

there u have it.

apparently all the weather journos are male. im surprised cable doesnt turn it into a wet-tee-shirt competition. cnn always do the next best thing and put gay icon anderson cooper in the middle of storms

for all the potential horror of the hurricane - the media cant help but do the 'made for tv' thing

cnn is showing footage of two police cars parked across a big bridge - apparently blocking traffic - the problem is the cars are in the middle of the bridge. surely if they were trying to stop traffic , they'd be at the entry of the bridge - are they there for the cameras? have they ever heard of witches hats? odd.

note to journalists - dont stand out in bad weather.

the reporter on fox is wearing swimming goggles. funny.

note to self: do not provide aid and comfort to (external) enemies

also, do not provide aid and comfort to (internal) enemies. in fact, give em hell.

How can 59054087 Americans be so dumb?

* another highlite from the sitecounter - someone googled "What is the answer to "How can 59054087 Americans be so dumb?"" - i wish i knew the answer.

* i havent been posting about iraq - cos its such an unspeakable disaster and theres nothing interesting to say. the best outcome is so heartbreakingly bad that there isnt really much to say. we can only all pray to the FlyingSpaghettiMonster that she decides to give us one of those good options, and not one of the immeasurably worse outcomes like, say, Turkey getting fully sucked in. if that happens, do all NATO countries have to join in? i wish we could all jump in a global time machine and go back 3 years. or 5 years.

* "ABC News reported Aug. 1: "When members of the Louisiana National Guard left for Iraq in October, they took a lot equipment with them. Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad, and in the event of a major natural disaster that, could be a problem.
"The National Guard needs that equipment back home to support the homeland security mission," said Lt. Colonel Pete Schneider with the LA National Guard."" (link)

* the other day i mentioned the NH phone-jamming scandal - it turns out that abramoff's fingerprints are on it :-) (link)

* "Indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff claimed in e-mails sent in 2002 that the deputy secretary of the interior had pledged to block an Indian casino that would compete with one of the lobbyist's tribal clients. Abramoff later told two associates that he was trying to hire the official." (link)

* juancole: "So I think Sunni opposition to the constitution may be considered more or less unanimous. The division is between those who want to fight it at the ballot box and those who want to fight it with bombs." (link)
(emphasis his)

* is pat robertson directing Katrina? is he trying to direct it away from the coast? or is he intentionally targetting the sinners in new orleans?

* "Omri Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister's elder son and campaign manager, faces up to five years in prison after being indicted on charges of illegal fundraising for his father's successful contest in 1999 for the Likud leadership and later for the premiership... The Prime Minister's son was charged in Tel Aviv magistrates' court yesterday with forging corporate documents, perjury and breach of trust." (link)

* Malaysia is running an ad campaign on the teeve - apparently for tourism - the message seems to be "the air quality isnt *that* bad" - how bizarre.

* is anyone at the Notting Hill carnival?

pssst secret

from our friends at postsecret (i think i saw somewhere that they are a top10 blog or something!)

weather porn

from americablog

New Orleans mayor launches secret plan to get Bush to stop
vacationing and fly back to DC to help on hurricane.

Renames storm: Hurricane Terri

lets hope new orleans lives to fight another day

Tammy Pruett's sons

* "UN Ambassador John Bolton's standard operating procedure is simple and straightforward, but it is often difficult to perceive unless one is looking for it. Basically, his method is to use procedural tactics to sabotage general process, thereby creating paralysis, hoping for eventual stagnation, which is then held up as "the process is broken" to justify both further inaction and rule-breaking. Basically, systemic subversion." (link)

* "After examining all the possible reasons why the bombers left bomb-making components in the boot of a car at Luton railway station, investigators consider it likely that the four terrorists had intended to build devices with at least 20lb of home-made explosives.
The suggestion that the explosives, nails and other components found in the red Fiat had been left there for a follow-on terrorist team has been discounted. One posssibility is that their rucksacks were too small for bigger devices." (link)
there you go then. we have a new winner.

* there was a leading politician here in australia on the teeve saying that muslim women covering their heads are just being defiant.

* "A FORMER Scottish police chief has given lawyers a signed statement claiming that key evidence in the Lockerbie bombing trial was fabricated.
The retired officer - of assistant chief constable rank or higher - has testified that the CIA planted the tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting a Libyan for the 1989 mass murder of 270 people." (link)
(its a fascinating article)

* we have a terrific tv station here called sbs, and they have a really cool show called 'cutting edge' - altho this week they are running a documentary called "Bribes From Baghdad" on the phony oil4food thingy - this from the description: " In this revealing documentary, McKenna interviews many of those accused of stealing from the starving children of Iraq in a scheme designed by Saddam Hussein himself." fuck off.

* Janis Karpinski has a book coming out later in the year (she was in charge of abu ghraib and got nailed). she has a lot to say :-) she recently gave an interview and nailed cheney and rumsfeld and sanchez and miller. "I had been hesitant to speak out before because this Administration is so vindictive. But now I will ..." i cant wait for the book...

* the top bbc story at the top of the hour is about the political situation in iraq - who do they bring on to discuss? hans blix. odd. (separately, just the other day i was wondering what he was up to - particularly given scott ritter and his inability to get any media coverage in america)

* "In one heated moment, members of the pro-Bush crowd turned on what they mistakenly thought were a group of anti-war protesters, cursing them, threatening them and tearing down their signs. A police officer rushed the group to safety." (link)
ready. hate. fire. aim.

* frank rich (read as always): " Last week Mr. Bush started saying that the best way to honor the dead would be to "finish the task they gave their lives for" - a dangerous rationale that, as David Halberstam points out, was heard as early as 1963 in Vietnam, when American casualties in that fiasco were still inching toward 100."
(sheehan made a comment the other day something like 'ive finally found out what the NobleCause casey died for - its so that others can continue to die in his 'honour')

* more from Rich: "If there's a moment that could stand for the Democrats' irrelevance it came on July 14, the day Americans woke up to learn of the suicide bomber in Baghdad who killed as many as 27 people, nearly all of them children gathered around American troops. In Washington that day, the presumptive presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held a press conference vowing to protect American children from the fantasy violence of video games." (as always, this article of Rich's will ping around blogtopia)

* "The University of California sets admissions standards that require applicants to have completed high school courses in a broad range of core subjects, “including science, mathematics, history, literature and the arts.” To receive credit for taking a science class, a student must be taught course content that is generally accepted in the scientific community.

Some students from Christian schools haven’t satisfied those admissions standards because their instructional programs substituted faith for science. The Association of Christian Schools International and the Calvary Chapel Christian School have sued UC, claiming its admissions standards violate the civil rights of their Christian students." (link)
perhaps they just didnt pray sufficently hard to the Flying Spaghetii Monster - or His Admissions sub-branch (and i dont mean 'branch' in an evolutionary tree kinda way)

* id be prepared to bet a lot of money that all of Tammy Pruett's sons have all been moved to really really safe jobs in iraq. if not, i hope that one of them dies instead of someone else's son. (of course, what i really hope is that we call of the war tomorrow and no kids ever dies in such folly again)

zogby promised

as you know, ive been grumpy at zogby for not asking the impeachment question - but they have promised to ask it again in september - perhaps it works to our favour that rather than seeing incremental increases in that number over time, we might jump from 40% to 50 or 55% in one step - the newsworthy-ness will be indisputable. (altho hopefully zogby asks a different , more direct, question than last time)

the first time zogby asked that question it was kind of treated as a bit of an olbermann-only-oddity - and when zogby chickened out and didnt repeat the question (as promised), it disappeared under the radar (despite my best efforts). we need to hold zogby's feet to the fire here and make sure that a) he asks the question and b) it gets the requisite attention. (natalie - i might need your help here (and thanks for your recent tci emails))

ftr - zogby emailed me and said: "We'll skip the summer and get back to it in September." - ive just sent a reply email "will you be asking this question early in September?" - i dont want to be an ass, but i want to let them know that someone is watching, and waiting.

(ftr - one of the reasons that i wanna keep their feet to the fire is that when i sent them the original emails, it seemed to cause some consternation (although i cant be sure) - i wont bother telling the story here, now, but my sense is that they are nervous about this question for one reason or other. and its tempting to think that they are nervous because of some presuure from the egadministration - and if the egadmin is nervous, then lets shine the light on em.

and if my speculation is completely unfounded, then so be it, but id still love to see zogby ask these questions, and id really really love to see the answers.

hell hath no fury like a girlie-voter scorned

ive been meaning to point to this post at Rising Hegemon for a few days:

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Bush administration has conducted the war in Iraq? (IF APPROVE/DISAPPROVE, ASK:) Is that strongly or somewhat?(Results from June 2005 in parentheses)

--Strongly approve, 20 percent (26)
--Somewhat approve, 16 percent (15)
--Somewhat disapprove, 13 percent (11)
--Strongly disapprove, 45 percent (45)
--Not sure, 5 percent (3)

TOTAL APPROVE -- 37 percent (41)
TOTAL DISAPPROVE -- 58 percent (56)"

i dont believe in polls much - and i havent been crowing like the rest of the blogosphere about blinky's appalling numbers - but to the extent that these numbers have any validity at all, the internals are much much worse than the headline numbers.

for years, its been drummed into our 'beautiful minds' that you either love or hate the Inappropriate Sniggerer and that the nation is 'divided' (although this mantra has noticably (notably?) disappeared).

but look at those internals - the 'Strongly disapprove' is twice the size of the 'Strongly approve' - and worse than that - the middle is basically hollow. (i appreciate that this specific question is about iraq - but its a proxy, of sorts). the true wingnuts will hang on - but there are fewer and fewer of those - and looking at the numbers, its a precipitous decline from 'with us' to 'against us' - people dont hang out in the middle for very long. people dont seem to hang out in either of the 'somewhat' camps for very long, once the reality of reality sets in.

much has been written about the pyschological need of bushvoters to make the facts fit their prior assumptions - and the subsequent justifications - but there is also the 'ex-smoker' paradigm - lets hope hell hath no fury like a girlie-voter scorned.

respondagain

when we built the (ex?) fabulous ford.com.au website way back when (for which we won the inaugural award at Cannes) we used to look at the server logs and marvel that people would actually search for "www.ford.com.au" rather than just type it into their browsers. it used to happen *a lot*. i figured that it had something to do with the infancy of the internet or some such.

it seems i was wrong.

the other day i mentioned in passing the new erectile dysfunction campaign here in australia - not for any particular reason, other than it was a funny shift from the apparently failed, oddly disturbing, campaign called weekendretreat.com.au (with a man in a penguin suit at a casino and a pretty young girl) to the new campaign - www.respondagain.com.au - which also sounds like it has come straight from some focus group in a shopping mall.

why do i mention these two apparently disparate facts in the same post? cos ive been getting a lot of hits from people searching for www.respondagain.com.au - its odd that people are searching for a URL, and its odd that they are ending up here.

if you search at yahoo, im the only result.

altavista is the same.

here's a hint to all the marketing gurus at drug companies - you are stupid. for $100k i can give you some advice about how not to fuck up a campaign.

here's a hint to all you people looking for erectile dysfunction drugs - if you want them for recreational purposes, try taking it with cocaine or marijuana or acid. in my younger days, i heard that it could be good fun.

driftglass

* if you arent reading driftglass regularly, you really should - often for the biting incite (sic) but also for the magnificent prose. here he is describing his chicago this morn (using words in this manner should be illegal):

"The sky here is a brilliant blue. And, I must say, a sexy, provocative blue; not a vulgar and smutty blue.

As great strippers and fan-dancers all know, something must be left to our imagination. A solid wall of a single color is boring, as mere nakedness on stage is dull. Sheer flesh can be a yawn, but like the wise and subtle artist, the sky here has donned a white boa of clouds, cumulo-pasties and strapped itself into a pair of six-inch Cirrus heels and is slow-dancing across the dome of heaven while I shout "Oh Baby!" much to the confusion of the other brunchers."

sigh. i have a blogcrush on an elderly male blogger. nuthin wrong with that.

chuck hagel. hero.

i have to quote this in full:

"Rep. Charles Rangel was being interviewed on NY1, the New York City-based all-news channel, when he was asked Friday night whether he thought President Bush was taking too much vacation time this summer.

"Oh no, it makes the country a lot more safe," the Manhattan Democrat said. "The further Bush is away from Washington, the better it is. And sometimes I don't even think Cheney is awake enough to know what's going on. Rumsfeld is the guy in Washington to watch. He's running the country,"

"Cheney's not awake enough?" reporter Davidson Goldin asked.

"Well, he's a sick man you know," Rangel said. "He's got heart disease, but the disease is not restricted to that part of his body. He grunts a lot, so you never really know what he's thinking."
Asked whether he was suggesting that Cheney was not healthy enough to do his job, Rangel said, "Why do you think people are spending so much time praying for President Bush's health?"

"If he ever leaves and Cheney's in charge, there's not very much to pull together for the rest of our nation," he concluded. "This is a sad state of affair."

The White House declined comment Saturday."

bitch in the ditch

brilliant.

shivving chavez

* heres xymphora on chavez/robertson - xymph reckons rumsfeld is lying when he says that assassination is illegal.

* billmon has a terrific piece on robertson/chavez - in it he quotes this awesome wingnuttery from TheConservateVoice:

"I would assume . . . that Robertson has already prayed for Chavez, particularly for the latter's conversion to the Light of God. And I would also presume that Robertson has done good toward Chavez in warning him in some way that he, Chavez, will answer to Creator God at the judgment for his cruel schemes.

Then with praying for Chavez and doing good toward Chavez by warning him of his mean ways, Robertson has done all he can do as a mortal among mortals. With that, Robertson then would warn Chavez that he might be setting himself up for assassination. That in itself is another Robertson move as a Christian to caution Chavez to change his ways and so work for the good of mankind."

sheehan on billmaher

* ""Congressman Leach has broken the silence of the Republican Party on the Downing Street Minutes," said John Bonifaz, Co-Founder of the After Downing Street Coalition. "His willingness to co-sponsor Congresswoman Barbara Lee's Resolution of Inquiry is bound to make the White House nervous. It is not possible for the President to paint this demand for documents as coming solely from his opponents. " (link)

* "Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham "demanded and received" a bribe from a Pentagon contractor who paid far above market value for the congressman's Del Mar-area home in 2003, according to court documents filed yesterday by federal prosecutors." (link)

*bolton on the haririkiri investigation: ""Let there be no ambiguity about the American view that Syria's lack of cooperation ... is not acceptable," (link)

* arianna looks at some more of the changes that bolton is proposing in the UN document. (link)
he truly is a piece of work.

* "MORE than two years have elapsed since Tony Blair was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for being a “staunch and steadfast ally” of the United States in the war on terror, but Downing Street yesterday said the Prime Minister still does not know when he will pick it up.
This exceptional 772-day delay is beginning to raise eyebrows in Washington, where suspicions are growing that Mr Blair wishes to avoid being photographed receiving America’s highest civilian honour from President Bush." (link)

* heres gilliard on the hitch/jonstewart takedown (link)

* here a vid of sheehan on billmaher

* i made some jokes yesterday about the viagra respondagain campaign - im getting lots of hits from people searching for 'respondagain' - lol

bomber at mcdonalds

a couple of days ago i wrote this post about 7/7 busbomber going to mcdonalds and calling his mates - and i mentioned the "plot development" where the story went from the Independent where 'he called his mates' to the Guardian where 'he called them at 9am' to the Times where some anonymous git was quoting the breathless vmails.

i wrote that post in the same way that i write most of my posts where i read an article and then comment on it, and then read another and quote from it and comment on it, and so on (rather than writing an 'article' where you'd do all the research first, before you start writing) .

in that post, after reading the Times piece, i wrote "i would imagine that much of the Times' report is pure fabrication." remarkably, this story didnt echo back through media. neither the Independent nor the Guardian have updated their stories or referred to the Times article - and hardly anyone else touched the story.

as far as i can tell, the bbc only came up with 2 sentences, and didnt mention the cctv footage at mcdonalds, and no mention of the vmails:

"Hasib Hussain, 18, called his three accomplices on his mobile phone before killing 13 people on the No 30 bus.

But Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, Germaine Lindsay, 19, and Shehzad Tanweer, 22, had already killed themselves and 39 passengers on three Tube trains."

The Mirror offers just a few sentences - also ignoring both the McDonalds thing and the vmails:

"THE bus bomber who killed 13 people in London made mobile calls to fellow gang members before blowing himself up, police believe.

Hasib Hussain, 18, rang three different numbers just before 9am. All went unanswered...

Police specialists have since uncovered details of a phone Hussain was carrying and checked billing records.

Three trains and a bus were the targets that day. Hussain's calls also cast doubt on the idea that an unknown "mastermind" was in London on July 7.

The source said: "He would have phoned that person instead of the other bombers.""

both the bbc and the Mirror repeat this lie: "The most likely explanation was that he had tried to board the Northern Line, but it was closed" - altho we know that isnt correct - there were no problems with the Northern Line. Even the Times said: " contrary to earlier reports, there were no problems on the north-bound section of the Northern Line."

wouldnt you think that that the media would at least be interested in a few elements of this story? imagine if there were some vmails from atta to some of his associates as they boarded the planes..

or how about the simple fact that there is cctv footage of hussain - isnt that supposed to be 'chilling' or something? or that fact that he stopped for a hamburger (or whatever)?

remember all the previous consternation that they were trying to understand what happened in 'the missing hour' and where he got on the bus and all that? surely part of that story is that he went and hung out at mickey D's answers some of that question? why the silence?

also note the Mirror's odd phrasing "a phone Hussain was carrying" - normally you'd say "Hussain's phone" right? or are they trying to provide cover for the fact that i'd previously called them on their bullshit that they said that they'd found Lindsay's phone number in Hussain's phone? the other interesting thing is that it has taken 6 weeks to find out this information from the phone records. has it taken the police 6 weeks to ask the phone company to get his records? i imagine that would have been one of the first things they did - they are trying to catch the 'mastermind' afterall - im sure they were onto the phone records immediately. are the constructing a story ex-poste?

and amid all the handwringing stories about "how could a brit kill his fellow citizens?" stories, is there not a single journo who comprehends the juxtaposition of an 'islamo-terrorist' going to McDonalds as a refuge? or wondering whether he bought a non-halal hamburger? even for ironic purposes - or clash-of-civilisation purposes - or just to highlight how confused he might be? nope. not only that. many of the reports dont even mention the visit. if he'd been cctv'd at Falafels R Us - itd be all over the news. surely. apparently, if it doesnt fit the narrative, its not news.

but in the media, i havent seen a single report even point to the absurdity/futility of him asking his friends for advice, even though he presumably knew they were dead. and theres no speculation as to why he waited so long to call them. and theres no indication as to what time he was cctv'd at McDonalds - if they were truly trying to understand his final hour, why not announce when he was seen there? he was seen there on cctv, and cctv images are time-stamped - its quite simple.

another interesting thing is the development of the story - the original story appears to have been the Independent which said "Hussain also made a number of telephone calls, at least one of which was to one of his fellow bombers" - from that, the story seemed to quickly morph into "he called all 3" - we also dont know when he called his friends other than "at around 9am" - which is a surprising lack of specificity - we are trying to unravel the last hour - for some reason, specifity isnt relevant in this case, even though phone records are presumably timestamped down to the second. why the secret?

this should be much easier than it is.

lets go back to the original Times article:

"Hussain is believed to have first called Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, the alleged leader of the group, saying: “I can’t get on a train. What should I do ?” Then in quick succession he left the same message for Shehzad Tanweer and Jermaine Lindsay as, clearly agitated about his next move, he hurried away from the station.

A police source who has heard the telephone calls said: “His voice was getting more and more frantic with each call.” Investigators could tell from his breathless voice that Hussain was walking fast as he made these calls."

this anonymous police source wasnt quoted anywhere else - if these stories arent true, then s/he is lying for some other purpose. and given the lack of attention given to this story, we can imagine that the entire media establishment has been sucked into a story that was meant to perpetuate one or other myth. its increasingly looking similar to rollout of the dead brazilian story - altho we now know why the dead brazilian story was rolled out the way it was. we dont yet know why this story is being rolled out in this manner.

good grief, bad grief

"When I arrived at Camp Casey II this afternoon I was amazed at what has changed since I was gone. Now, we have a huge tent to get out of the sun; caterers; an orientation tent; a medic tent (with medics); a chapel, etc.

The most emotional thing for me though was walking through the main tent and seeing the huge painting on canvas of Casey. Many things hit me all at once: That this huge movement began because of Casey's sacrifice; thousands, if not millions of people know about Casey and how he lived his life and the wrongful way in which he was killed; but the thing that hit me the hardest was how much I miss him. I miss him more everyday. It seems the void in my life grows as time goes on and I realize I am never going to see him again or hear his voice. In addition to all this, the portrait is so beautiful and moving and it captures Casey's spirit so well. I sobbed and sobbed... I didn't mean to have such a dramatic re-entrance to Camp Casey, but the huge portrait of Casey really surprised me.

I can take all of the right wing attacks on me. I have been lied about and to before. Their attacks just show how much I am getting to them and how little truth they have to tell. What really hurts me the most is when people say that I am dishonoring Casey by my protest in Crawford. By wanting our troops to come home alive and well, that I am somehow not supporting them."

who's gonna argue with the pure honesty of a grieving mum?

sparrin' with darwin

did the bombers catch the 7.24 train at luton?

financialoutrage.org.uk has done some work on the luton to kingscross trains on 7/7.

i had previously been working off timetables - but these people got the actual details of train times on that day - including what time each train left luton, and what time it arrived at kingscross.

the press has been claiming that the bombers had caught the 7.40am train - but as it happens, that train was actually cancelled. given all of the delays and things, the only train they could have caught was the 7.24 train which apparently left luton on time (altho the site doesnt demonstrate that it did), and then lost 20mins in transit to arrive at kingscross at 8.20.

the cctv footage of them entering luton was taken at 7.22 - the site posits that there is no way there is sufficient time to get from where the picture was taken to the platform in those 2 minutes - let alone buy tickets.

it is possible that they had previously bought tickets - the police seemed sure that the bombers bought return tickets, although we were never told how they know that - did they match up the transactions with cctv footage at the ticket desk? were they bought with a credit card? were all the tickets purchased in one transaction or did each bomber buy their tickets separately? it'd be nice to know when that transaction(s) took place.

more confusion

xymphora blogrolled me. sigh.

* the erection/viagra ads on tv here used to point to some campaign called weekendbliss.com.au or weekendretreat.com.au or some such - ive just seen a new version of the ad pointing to respondagain.com.au. funny. more here.

* "A federal prosecutor said he will reconvene a grand jury in a case involving the jamming of Democratic phone lines in 2002 - raising the possibility that other Republicans might be implicated.
Phone lines were bombarded with electronically generated calls, jamming lines set up for voters seeking rides to the polls on Election Day." (link)
itd be nice if this caught some more repug evil-doers - but the thing that i wanted to highlight is just how nefarious and 'sophisticated' *and comprehensive* these people are. they apparently think nothing of illegal election activities - no problem there - but to what end? to preclude those who are seeking rides to the polls! its almost as though its just dirty tricks for fun. seriously, what % of dem voters call a phone line trying to get a ride? i dont have a clue how close the 2002 NH election was sposed to be - but criminal activity to try to stop, what, 100 voters? how many voters are there who cant drive or walk to a polling station, and cant get a lift from their family or neighbours, but still desperately want to vote to the extent that they are willing to ride with strangers? imagine what these dirty tricksters would do in a target-rich environment! imagine what else they are doing.

* "I mean, we expel kids from school for writing up violent fantasies, but apparently a so-called Christian can call for a hit on national TV, before an audience of 1 million" (link)

* "Here's a buried nugget from WaPo: "Large sections of the Roberts files that have been made public have been heavily redacted with black ink."" (link)

* driftglass is trying to sucker in the comment-spambots - read the comments (link)

* xymphora blogrolled me. sigh.

* i mentioned earlier that bolton has hijacked the UN document - there are some details here
including "p.1: CUT: "respect for nature"". please tell me he is fucking kidding. of all the egregious crimes of this radministration... im speechless. its difficult to not imagine him with his hand down his pants as he pulls out the red pen and opens up page one of the report (granted, its also 'difficult' to imagine it...)

IDiots

* heres a harris poll from june: "Regardless of what you may personally believe, which of these do you believe should be taught in public schools?"

Evolution only 12%
Creationism only 23 %
Intelligent design only 4%
All three 55 %
None of these (vol.) 3 %
Unsure 3%

im sure that you could get completely different results if you asked the question differently - which is one of the reasons i hate polling, but still! the same poll says that 74% of american idiots believe they were "Created Directly By God" (rather than "Evolved From Earlier Species") - even oldpope didnt buy that nonsense.

bolton. sticking it to the world. . .hard and nasty

* steve clemons: "There is evidence bubbling to the surface -- not altogether clear -- but pointing to the possibility that Bolton has already stepped out of his holding pen and is undermining Condi Rice and Bob Zoellick -- again with Dick Cheney's blessing." (link)

and: "Bolton is doing exactly what his critics expected of him. He is sticking it to the world. . .hard and nasty." (link)

* " In the extraordinary intervention, John Bolton has sought to roll back proposed UN commitments on aid to developing countries, combating global warming and nuclear disarmament." (link)

* "The address was his, but the name on the credit-card offer took Sami Habbas by surprise: "Palestinian Bomber." "I thought it was a joke or something," said Habbas, 54, a Palestinian American who served in the U.S. Army.
Habbas opened the letter, and the salutation read "Dear Palestinian Bomber."
When he called the company, JPMorgan Chase & Co., provided his ZIP code and invitation number, two operators said to him: "Yes, Mr. Bomber, what can we do for you?"" (link)

* " Robertson’s statement could be a trial balloon to see how Americans would react to the idea of a new U.S.-backed intervention or assassination in the region." (link)
no shit - i said the same thing the other day

* a few people are pointing to this: "How can you tell when Donald Rumsfeld is lying? When he sucks his lips. When does he suck his lips? Pretty much every time he appears in front of the TV cameras. Marc Cooper, who is getting trained in poker body language this week, explains here."
id add another one - he bounces on the balls of his feet.

* "They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore." (link)

* hitchens on the daily show: "you go to war with the president you have". jon destroys hitch.

* jon also discussed the chavez thing - including a quote by paula zahn: "is robertson onto something?"

* fwiw, the 5 year oil futures are at $62/barrel (link)

how to kill children

something really creepy happened - i was having a look at my sitecounter logs and 2 hours ago, someone in virginia somehow ended up at this post at wotisitgood4 by searching aol for "how to kill children". ( i cant even remember what the hell i was talking about when i wrote the post)

there might be an innocent explanation for why someone was searching for "how to kill children" - but thats not a risk im prepared to take - i called the police in virgina with the details.

i hope all kiddies in virginia sleep well tonight, and tomorrow night. im shaky.

De Menezes 'shot for 30 seconds'

from here:

"Armed police officers fired at Jean Charles de Menezes for over 30 seconds when they killed him at Stockwell tube station, according to a witness statement made to independent investigators and obtained by the Guardian.

The witness says the shots were fired at intervals of three seconds...

In her statement she says: "The shots were evenly spaced with about three seconds between the shots, for the first few shots, then a gap of a little longer, then the shots were evenly spaced again."...

She says two IPCC investigators who interviewed her were equipped with a map of Stockwell tube which had key features in the wrong place. This initially led them wrongly to challenge her account...

She also says a key detail she gave of the number of shots and the interval between them was missed from her final statement until she insisted it be included"

thats pretty incredible if true - she is apparently the only person who accurately recounted that there were ten or eleven shots.

if we accept for the moment that there was 3 seconds before the first and second shot, then we can probably assume that the first shot went through his brain and killed him - and the rest were just target practice - not very good target practice given that 3 shots missed.

its also interesting that people are still leaking documents...

unacceptable behaviours - with a 'u'

* The Independent does a story on italian phone bugging:
"Practically every public act in Britain today is recorded by CCTV cameras, but in Italy the ubiquitous form of surveillance is the bugged telephone.
The Eurispes think-tank has revealed that 30 million Italians between the ages of 15 and 70 has been bugged in the past 10 years. Their report says: "Every Italian family" has been touched by the phenomenon, "at least once." And the amount of bugging is increasing at blinding speed."
they forgot to mention that certain events arent recorded in britain - such as blowing up a bus. or shooting innocent people.

* "The Home Secretary set out a series of "unacceptable behaviours" yesterday that would be used to exclude foreign extremists from Britain and remove those already in the country. They include "fomenting, justifying or glorifying" terrorism, although he has dropped an earlier proposal to outlaw views "the Government considers to be extreme and that conflict with the UK's culture of tolerance"." (link)
have they defined terrorism? or justifying? or glorifying? is it a crime to try to understand terrorism? or to try to explain it? or are trying to understand and explaining the same as justifying it? is it ok to advocate for war against iran? i betchya it is.

* "A senior UN representative last night threatened to cite the British government for violation of human rights over its planned deportations of alleged terrorist sympathisers. .. (Clarke responded) "I wish the UN would look at human rights in the round, rather than simply focusing all the time on the terrorist."" (link)
note that one - people who justify terrorism are terrorists

* "One of the alleged bombers involved in the July 21 attacks married in a north London mosque five days before the failed bombings." (link)

'burning cross' theory

* "Suicide bomber Hasib Hussain ate a last meal at McDonald's before blowing up the No. 30 bus on 7 July, killing 13 people. " (link)
i used to love mcdonalds - but i gave it up in (a small) protest against america. i would imagine that a terrorist, presumably 'protesting' britains role in iraq, would also hate america, and ergo would also not associate with american brands. separate to that of course, is the issue that a) he obviously wasnt in a hurry and b) is it conceivable that an 18 year old was hungry at the exact same time he knew that his friends were suiciding and killing a bunch of people? let alone, an hour before his own demise? surely not.

* "Hussain also made a number of telephone calls, at least one of which was to one of his fellow bombers, before carrying out his attack on the bus which exploded in Tavistock Square in central London. There were reports last night he may also have spoken to the other two bombers." (link)
unfortunately these people havent even been able to give us a timeline - but as best we know, the crew were all together at kingscross at 8.28 (maybe later), and 2 of the trainbombers seemed to have got on their respective trains at 8.40 - if you assume that they had to wait a couple of minutes for their trains (on the platforms where they cant receive phone calls), then hussain called at least one, and maybe 3, of his buddies within minutes of leaving them. odd. id love to see the phone statements. i wonder if they exist.

* flashback 2 weeks: "Yet Lindsay's telephone number was stored in Hussain's mobile." - my comment at the time was "did we find an unexploded cell phone all of a sudden? thats news." - so we now know that hussain had his phone with him, *and* it didnt explode.

* and if we go back to jul 22, we were told that the plods couldnt find any timing devices, and therefore they were suiciders. a cell phone is a timing device - they have alarm clocks. i know this to be true. and we now know that at least some of them had cell phones. so their story doesnt hold. LIARS.
--------
* update: heres the guardian: "Hussain, 18, tried to call his accomplices at around 9am, but none answered because they had already killed themselves and 39 other people in their almost simultaneous attacks at 8.50am."
why did the independent leave out this information? the guardian quotes the independent - so someone is doing the karl-rove dial-around. leak a bit here - and then propogate the story with some 'new' 'information'

"Police officers watching hours of CCTV footage now believe that Hussain left King's Cross station to get a signal for his mobile phone to call the others. He is then seen going to a McDonald's restaurant nearby"

can someone please explain that to me? so fucking stupid.

"A terrorism expert, Michael Clarke, of King's College London, told the BBC that the calls showed that Hussain was in a panic and probably rang his accomplices to make sure their bombs had exploded."

fuckwit. panicky people dont go to mcdonalds. and calling his 'accomplices' couldnt have proved anything because they were underground where they couldnt be reached

---------
and heres the Times

"BUS bomber Hasib Hussain lost his nerve and decided not to go through with his mission to blow himself up on a London Tube train, according to a new theory last night.

After having second thoughts, Hussain then took refuge at McDonald’s, in King’s Cross...

Realising then that he was completely alone, he steeled himself to go through with his attack after all. There was by then no possibility of boarding any trains, so Hussain got onto a diverted bus packed with commuters and finally detonated his bomb...

The theory emerged last night after it was revealed that, contrary to earlier reports, there were no problems on the north-bound section of the Northern Line...

The youngest of the July 7 bombers, he made three desperate telephone calls begging for help from the other members of the terror cell minutes before he blew himself up on a London bus.

The frantic last messages are seen by Scotland Yard as vivid proof that the British-born Muslim extremists intended to die in the attacks...

Hussain is believed to have first called Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, the alleged leader of the group, saying: “I can’t get on a train. What should I do ?” Then in quick succession he left the same message for Shehzad Tanweer and Jermaine Lindsay as, clearly agitated about his next move, he hurried away from the station.

A police source who has heard the telephone calls said: “His voice was getting more and more frantic with each call.”

i would imagine that much of the Times' report is pure fabrication. the other 2 articles didnt even mention any voicemails, but the Times managed to speak to some anonymous plod who had heard the vmails. why would yuo ask someone who u presumed to be dead for advice? why is the Times lying? watch how desperate everyone is to fit the new facts to their purported theory - its astonishing (altho im sure im guilty of the same thing at times). and notice the Times trying to perpetuate the 'i cant get on the train' thing - even after the 'new' revelations that the Northern Line was acknowledged to still be open. its amazing that this myth has survived this long - its been apparent for weeks and weeks - it seems that they are still trying to buy into the 'burning cross' theory (from a fake alqaida claim).

i wont bother looking into the details - but when the Times says "After his stop at McDonald’s Hussain climbed on to a passing No 30 double-decker bus in Tavistock Square" - im pretty sure that is false. for starters, the bus exploded in Tavistock Square, which isnt near kings cross - and i dont even think the bus was anywhere near kingscross - that was part of the major questions - remember they couldnt even ascertain where he got onto the bus.

they fucking lie. and people die.

im so scared.

dreaded brazilian

* headline: "Watchdog: Police have footage of Tube death". 3rd last para: "However, members of the Brazilian delegation revealed that some of the CCTV cameras that would have filmed Mr de Menezes being shot may have been out of order. "Apparently there are parts of the film which do not exist," said Ambassador Manoel Gomes Pereira." (link)
shame on the Independent.

* guardian headline: "Police watchdog has 'crucial' Stockwell tube footage"
body:

"Mr Hardwick said: "Some of the CCTV footage we have had has been crucial to the investigation. I have seen it and it is very helpful.""

i.e. they dont have the 'crucial' footage - they have some which has been crucial. im so fucking sick of all the lies.

"But Nick Hardwick, chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), ... said there would be further verification but... there was "no reason" to believe any had been deliberately withheld."

in other words, they dont have some of it.

"There will be some material that cannot be disclosed for reasons of national security and because we do not want to prejudice any future action."

national security? wtf? its either a national security secret to prove that they lie, or that not all the cameras work, or that we shoot innocent people. fuckers.

"Meanwhile today, the Daily Mail reported claims that the police operation which led to the shooting had been hampered because the officers' radios did not work underground. The communication breakdown also meant that they were unable to take orders from senior officers at Scotland Yard."

theres the latest spin. bastards. the police on the scene knew that he was innocent, but the military folk couldnt know that cos their radios werent working, so they shot him? quick question: when did they consider that there might be an attack on the tube and did they ever test their comms?

"But last night a source told the Guardian: "Tapes were recovered with useful material, although they don't cover all parts of the station. There is CCTV coverage from the ticket area but there is an issue about the platform."
Asked if there was no useful footage from either the platform or the train, the source said: "You may be right."" (link)

"the chavez threat"

* cnn are doing a story on idiot pat robertson apologising - the graphic reads "the chavez threat"

* im not sure what the oddest thing about robertsons' assassination comment. is it that murder is illegal? that assassination is illegal? nah - its much worse than that. is it cos the assassination would probably not achieve what its apparently sposed to? maybe its that. or maybe its that the purported alternative to assassination is invading venezuela. yeah - thats probably it.

* modo: "For political reasons, the president has a history of silence on America's war dead. But he finally mentioned them on Monday because it became politically useful to use them as a rationale for war - now that all the other rationales have gone up in smoke.
"We owe them something," he told veterans in Salt Lake City (even though his administration tried to shortchange the veterans agency by $1.5 billion). "We will finish the task that they gave their lives for."
What twisted logic: with no W.M.D., no link to 9/11 and no democracy, now we have to keep killing people and have our kids killed because so many of our kids have been killed already? Talk about a vicious circle: the killing keeps justifying itself." (link)

* some (american - fwiw) website outed 76 mi6 agents - but it doesnt seem to be getting any attention. odd.

* houston chron: "The worst possible (plame-gate) scenario for the administration would be if it turns out that the Niger documents in question (which all now agree were forged) were fabricated by individuals who may have had a motive for getting us into the war. Shadowy figures previously linked to the Iran-Contra scandal have been mentioned as possible originators of the forged documents. (ledeen)
If there is any truth to these charges, the lid will blow off Washington — and the Bush administration will be history." (link)

* juancole: "The rule of law is no longer operating in Iraq, and no pretence of constitutional procedure is being striven for. In essence, the prime minister and president have made a sort of coup, simply disregarding the interim constitution. Given the acquiescence of parliament and the absence of a supreme court (which should have been appointed by now but was not, also unconstitutionally), there is no check or balance that could question the writ of the executive." (link)

* "Traces of bomb-grade uranium found two years ago in Iran came from contaminated Pakistani equipment and are not evidence of a clandestine nuclear weapons program, a group of U.S. government experts and other international scientists has determined.
John R. Bolton, now U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, served as the administration's point man on nuclear issuesduring President Bush's first term. He suggested during congressional testimony in June 2004 that the Iranians were lying about the contamination." (link)
of course, that won't change the egadminstrations certainty that they were right all along. or they will soon be right. or it was the iranians fault anyway. or something.

* i think blinky has stopped using the 'noble cause' rhetoric. yay cindy. although i did hear him say "the cause is just". the cause is just stupid.

* atrios: "NBC started their Robertson piece with "This was no extremist cleric issuing a death threat. This was Christian Minister Pat Robertson..."
So, it's a non-extremist cleric issuing a death threat. What do the extremist Christian clerics do?" (link)

* "Three Canadian warships were steaming through Arctic waters as Ottawa displayed a new and almost bellicose determination to protect the sovereignty of its northernmost boundaries."
thats from the independent! (link)

* the avian flu story seems to be growing scarier. lets hope that chickenhawks can catch it regardless of whether it fully crosses over into the human species (link)

stoopid stunts

how many of these type of stunts actually dont look stupid in retrospect? (even to those who bought them in realtime)

fuck glaxo

"The antidepressant Seroxat has been linked to an increase in suicide attempts among adults. Researchers suggest that patients and doctors should be warned of the propensity to suicidal thoughts while on the drug." (link)

these fucking murdering motherfuckers. remember when i 'mocked' them years ago when they said 'it might be bad for kids'? and remember then they said 'it might be bad for people up to the age of 30'? and now the spin is "while on the drug" - well fuck you mr glaxo. and fuck you for your fucking lies. and fuck you for killing lots of kids - and fuck you for killing lots of adults. and for those you didnt kill, fuck you for fucking up their lives, and fuck you for those that you didnt kill for putting them through hell. and after you had all the fucking data - before the drugs were released - and you fucking hid it - you willingly, knowingly, traded bodies for dollars - and i fucking hate you for it.

and in your fucking *marketing* you said 'if you feel bad, dont worry, you'll get better eventually' - but i dont think you believed it. and then you said 'its only dangerous for kids' - but you knew that wasnt true. and then you said 'well - up to the age of 30 it might be dangerous' - but you knew it wasnt fucking so. and all along your solution to 'it isnt working, and im going crazy' was 'just take more' - and i fucking hate you. and now you say it might be dangerous "while on the drug" - you fucking evil bastards. i know that you know thats not true.

just as cindy sheehan wants to meet the president to look him in the eye and ask what its all about - i wanna come visit you mr glaxo - maybe i should come camp in the gutter near your home you evil mother fucker. and no, it doesnt just affect teenagers. or those under 30, and it its fucking not only "while on the drug" - your latest evil fucking spin. the spinning has become a fucking habit - or a survival strategy - probably a combination - but lies all the same. murderous lies. and i fucking hate you for the lies. and then you fucking try to hide behind the argument that you also "do good" - then why the fuck do u lie about the risks and the costs? if u believe theres a net benefit - then lay it all out. the minute u dont do that, then you are comlicit in murder - i hope you get your ass vioxxed. and let me tell you, from my perspective, its a lot worse than that - it seems theres something worse than dropping dead, unannounced, and thats driving people to suicide. and the vioxx takers who nearly died but didnt, are a lot better off than the ssri customers who nearly suicided, but havent yet. theres something worse in being on the edge of suicide for years than being on the edge of a heart attack and not knowing it.

if you dont know that you are maybe about to have a heart attack, then you can still have a relationship. if you dont know that you are maybe about to have a heart attack, then you can still have a job. if you dont know that you are maybe about to have a heart attack, then you can still talk to your friends. if you are on the ssri-induced verge of suicide, then all that shit goes out the window. friends, family, job, future, lovers. and no, you cant just turn it back on. when you are on the edge of suicide for years - trying to get through the period when 'you just need more/stronger ssris' and 'you just need to get through the rough initial period' which goes on for years - well fuck you mr glaxo - and your friends.

and i wont let this 'while youre on the drugs' nonsense stick - i went clean on xmas day 20 months ago - and i still dont function properly

theres one thing i can categorically say - if it wasnt for ssris, wotisitgood4.blogspot.com wouldnt be what it is. fuck glaxo.

christian tv scares the christ out of me

* you might remember a post i wrote a couple of weeks ago proving (?) that the army was actually way underplaying their recruiting success in july - i was most surprised that it didnt get any play - even from the wingnut sites. i was hoping that the wingnutters would run with the story, because i assumed that the military were keeping it hush on purpose. i got a few hits on it today cos instapundit pointed to a relevant article today. (no links to instapundit for obvious reasons)

* billmon: " The constitutional deal submitted (kinda, sorta) to Iraq's temporary parliament not only wasn't a deal, it wasn't even a draft. The Washington Post's Ellen Knickmeyer explains:
We're told today there isn't a proper draft put together yet -- that the version as it is now exists in people's heads and in copies annotated with handwritten notes. There are a couple of new drafts floating around today, but I think they may reflect the drafts that various sides are putting forward."

* wapo via billmon: "U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad shuttled among Iraqi leaders, pushing late Monday for the inclusion of Sunnis in talks, negotiators said. U.S. Embassy staff members worked from a Kurdish party headquarters to help type up the draft and translate changes from English to Arabic for Iraqi lawmakers, negotiators said. (emphasis added.)"
Negotiation101 says 'if u can, get your own secretary to take the minutes of meetings' - Negotiation201 probably says 'use your own language as the base document'

* digby looks at the 700 club stats - lots of people watch their hero call for assassinating foreign leaders (which is defintely illegal), and nuking the State Dept (which is also presumably illegal). but go read the stats that digby has at hand. 7% of adults watch this shit *daily* - and only 40% dont watch Xtian TV at all. im so scared. (i dont think Fox qualifies)

* speaking of nutjob Robertson, driftglass quotes someone: "“I’ve had it up the here with Rev. Jerry Falwell...and all the rest of those TV clowns perverting the tenets of Judeo-Christian ethos with their non-specific mumble about moral rectitude...
They want to censor books and movies and tv and magazines to fit some ancient, worn-out idea of purity...”" (link)
thats from 1980.
i hope that person has the fortune of being dead now - although i expect he'll be turning in his gravy.

* re AbleDanger: "the military analyst who worked in Operation Able Danger, and who made the claims public, coordinated his allegations in advance with the House GOP leadership, and Steven Cambone at the Pentagon, as well as Fox News... What we may find here is that what started out as just another effort to redirect blame towards Clinton by Weldon and his buddies in the House GOP and Fox News turned into something that the Bush Administration doesn’t want its fingerprints on anymore, now that it turns out that Able Danger was terminated by Bush in March 2001, just as the operation found out how involved Saudi Arabia was in supporting Al Qaeda." (link)
wtf? try work that shit out. plamegate is *really* hurting the GOP game. (fwiw - the piece was published by moonietimes)

* joseph cannon: "As a National Review writer recently put it, the odd thing about (the Able Danger) story is that each day we learn facts which encourage both skeptics and believers. I would add that this story also intrgues both lefties and righties -- though for different reasons.... As you may know, I've toyed with the notion that the Able Danger "revelations" may be a set-up for a forthcoming disinformation barrage. After all, data-miners will probably determine responsibility for the next terror attack -- and as you know, this administration has already decided to blame Iran, no matter who is really responsible."
as ive repeatedly said - the only remaining question is why they dragged this shit out.

* "A recent report in the Los Angeles Times suggested Black was demoted because he was investigating Abramoff, whose lobbying tied him to major Republicans in Congress as well as President Bush. Such an investigation could have been a major liability for Bush, and might have brought to light a web of other scandals that are now being investigated by the Senate, the FBI, and the Justice Department." (link)

dead brazilian has 'deflected attention away from its battle against terrorism.'

* "The four terrorists who killed 56 people in London on July 7 triggered the bombs themselves by pressing a device similar to a button, senior police sources have told the Guardian." (link)
yada yada

* in the comments, postmanpatel asks whether the IPCC (the folks investigating the dead brazilian) can investigate *soldiers* who appear to have killed dead brazilian. good question.

* "Scotland Yard yesterday expressed frustration that the ongoing furore over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes had deflected attention away from its battle against terrorism.
The concern is shared by relatives of the victims of the July 7 bombings, some of whom are angry that there has been so much focus on the death of one man." (link)
in my somewhat-permanent near-crazy state - i speculate openly about whether the 7/7 bombings were state-sponsored. in my just-a-little-bit-more-crazy state, i wonder whether people of my ilk were getting a little too close to unravelling the 7/7 plot, and thats why they needed to distract with the 21/7 plot - and in my even-more-crazierer state, i wonder whether dead brazilian was again prepetrated for the same reasons - and the more we learn about dead-brazilian story, the more im inclined to believe that not only was he murdered for no reason, but that he was *intentionally* murdered for no reason (and i shudder everytime i hear a news report saying 'dead brazilian, who was mistakenly thought to be a terrorist...' - i shudder with the thought that maybe that isnt true) . the 'irony' now is that the police are 'complaining' that we just should all remember to be scared about the fact that evil domestic-foreigners are out to hurt us - and cant we just kick out all the bad guys and criminalise dissent and get a new Patriot Act or a National ID card or 'whatever it takes'. if so, mission accompliced. distraction accompished.

malagaoth - you were right!

invisible dead brazilian

apologies for my earlier comments about wapo speculating whether there was any dead brazilian cctv.

"John Cummins, a senior IPCC investigating officer, told the hearing there was still a "considerable amount of fresh work to be done" in their investigation.

Amid conflicting reports over whether CCTV cameras had captured the Brazilian's last moments, he told the hearing he had received a "comprehensive handover package" from the Metropolitan Police, but declined to say whether it included video footage.

The Independent has learnt that the surveillance camera that would have filmed Mr de Menezes being shot dead was providing "live'' pictures but, because of a malfunction, did not record any images.

Anti-terrorist police who seized footage from cameras at Stockwell hours after the attempted bombings on 21 July discovered that at least one camera was recording blank pictures. The faulty camera was believed to be on the Northern line where Mr de Menezes was shot dead.

Because of the malfunction, the camera was showing live pictures to Tube staff monitoring them, but when police studied the tape it was blank. That could explain why Tube staff have insisted that cameras were working at Stockwell yet the leaked police reports into the shooting say that they were malfunctioning.

It is unclear whether any of the other surveillance cameras were working on the Northern line platform where the shooting took place but even if they were, it was suggested that they were pointing away from the shooting." (link)

please tell me they are fucking kidding. where will the lies end? and again, i call on The Independent (and The Guardian) to please start practising journalism again. "That could explain..."??? wtf? is there another possible explanation? isnt it time to be at least a little bit incredulous? if not after the last 3 years, then at least after the last month? how heartbreaking it is to learn that the independent and the guardian are indistinguishable from murdoch. jeebus!

the cctvs on the bus on 7/7 were all broken (or 'they dont work when the bus engine isnt going' or 'the bus driver needs to manually turn them on, but he forgot'). theres no footage from kingscross, apparently, or at least we cant see it. there's no video from the surveillance team when dead brazilian left home because 'they were saving batteries' and the guy was 'relieving himself' - and now it looks like there wasnt any video footage of the last moments of the dead brazilian - because (take your pick) a) the videos were removed the previous day (and not replaced) b) they were all working except the one in the death carriage c) they were working but not pointing to the middle of the carriage. d) the cameras were working and pointing in the correct direction and people actually saw what happened, but somehow werent recording.

i wonder whether the train driver has a bank of cctv screens? that wouldnt seem out of the ordinary. perhaps thats why, after the innocent brazilian was shot, the special services folk chased down the driver and put a gun to his head and scared the shit out of him. i guess that would explain it. lets hope the ipcc is chatting to him - and offering him witness protection.

the whole 'disappearing cctv' thing could also explain this article from the eve before the itv story on the leaked ipcc report which claimed that there was no cctv footage - even though we were about to be treated with some pictures.

"In the absence of CCTV footage the inquiry will have to rely on the testimony of eyewitnesses, though many of those who claim to have seen the incident have provided contradictory accounts of what happened."

indeed.