Casual browsing of the 'nets led me to stumble over this bombshell.
It's one of those minor niggling points that escapes notice for far too long (inexcusably long), but once highlighted, makes you feel as if you were awakened by being dunked in a vat of ice-cold peppermint mouthwash. Yeah, one of those moments.

I don't know if we should blame profiteering defense contractors for providing our military with faulty equipment, or if our troops are not receiving their proper training, or if the insurgents have somehow developed some sophisticated new defensive armor, but I firmly believe that addressing this Achilles' heel will provide us with far more than a pair of rhetorical crutches..  

...

What now?
I haven't been active in contacting my Representatives lately; I'm glad that Washington State has its hands clean regarding FISA but I admit that I can't take the credit.
But what now to do with your Representative? And what to do with all of these now-useless copies of 4A sitting around?
...

It's a tough question. I decided to pose it to dkos after reading this excellent diary condemning the bomb attack against Cheney while he was recently in Iraq. Substitute any philosophically opposed official if you like, it's all rhetorical anyway.

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Posted in response to the good Major in a certain infamous diary..
I'm posting the entire rant plus below the fold because I just wrote it in one long stream-of-consciousness in one of That Diary's discussions..
Feel free to tag, and I hope that this is as enjoyable to read as it was to write...

"Our respect for human rights requires us to execute him..."

There's a lot there to jump on, once that ice-cream-headache reaction to outrageous bullshit recedes a little..  

I could jump on the obvious paradox of how to respect human rights while violating them. What was it that was said during Vietnam? "We had to destroy the village to save it"? Bull-oney. Fighting for peace, fucking for virginity, honk if you love peace and quiet.

I could rant and excoriate al-Miliki and the usual gang of idiots for profaning the very concept of human rights, or I could launch a satisfyingly frustrating debate about the death penalty. Or..

"What I lack in political sophistication I make up for in moral clarity." - OPOL

"You're just as bad as George Bush, leading from The Gut!" - various respondents paraphrased

The worst OPOL is guilty of is Echo Chamberism.

We all "know wrong when we see it." No matter who you are, one thing is certain: Something, somewhere, is wrong and Something Must Be Done About It. It doesn't matter what's wrong, we all have the capability to learn about some event or condition and simultaneously judge it.

George Bush is one such person.
I am one such person.
OPOL is one, and so are you.

That's right, you heard it here first, folks! Get your first peek at their new logo!

I'd encourage everyone to save this logo and splatter it messily about the internet. I'm particularly proud of the elephant's trunk...

"I, baccaruda, being of arguably sound mind and body, hereby release the above image into the public domain."

The Extended body of this diary contains nothing more than other URL listings where this is hosted, in case the first Imageshack listing craps out. Enjoy!

..rants and raves, that is. Spokane.craigslist.org might not SEEM to be a seething hotbed of political intrigue and turmoil, and that's because it ain't. It's called Spokapathy for a reason, kids.
But I have to take what I can get and settle for it, and tonight, I settled for this guy, who took a break from slinging slimy slurs at Democrats to respond to a lefty; said lefty had made a genuine effort to transcend pie-fighting and stooge-slapping and the entire city was graced with an actual sorta-civil discussion.
That's where *I step in*.

... by Adam Corolla, courtsey of Fark, courtesy of Crooks & Liars.

Also titled, "WHEN NEOCON LUNATICS RUN LATE!"

 

Szamko at GNN posted the relevant article, "DU's Effect on DNA Established", and I doubt that many of us here are surprised to hear it verified that DU does indeed cause cancer.

"Northern Arizona University biochemist Diane Stearns has established that when cells are exposed to uranium, the uranium binds to DNA and the cells acquire mutations... some of which can lead to various cancers."

"Stearns' research... confirms what many have suspected for some time - that uranium can damage DNA as a heavy metal, independently of its radioactive properties."

Dear Mr. President:
I am so sorry for my unpatriotic attitude regarding your efforts against the terrorist threat to our country. I can see now that you and your advisors were much more farsighted than many Americans could have imagined...

While reading Kos' Where Should I Move diary, I of course was paying attention to where everyone seemed to be from, in relation to where I'm from (Spokane).
I once posted an abortive diary endorsing a companion forum for dailykos, to keep the BS off the main page and to enable us to communicate and network with each other easier.

Merry Christmas** everyone!

I'm an atheist. I'm a moral atheist, meaning that I derive my morals from what is (proven to be) conducive to a well-run society as a whole. My morals are pretty close to Christian morals, except I love adultery. Safe, monogamous adultery, that is.
Anyway, I also think Jesus was a pretty great guy, one of the finest humanitarians who ever lived. Not "pop-culture is-my-homeboy" Jesus, but the real Siddartha-like Jesus.
I don't hate Christians or religion, although I will admit that supernaturality in general is distasteful to me. Give me existentialism, humanism, give me Nietzsche (or in a pinch, the Tick would do).
..............extended entry fun awaits.

As soon as I figure out who to sell this idea to, I've got it made. Inspired partly by bonddad's wonderful college debt diary..

OK, so college is getting to be unmanageably expensive, right? We can't afford to educate our own citizens. Here's the trick: We make it easier to outsource high paying jobs to countries that DO offer easier financial access to higher education. All I have to do is figure out who would be willing to sell out their own country for the sake of a few bucks. Besides myself, of course.......

Skralyx' suggestion that we expand the display potential for diaries prompted me to write this call for a BBS system, which I've had in the back of my head for a while. That and it's my lunch break: ham and swiss with an apple!

So why would I want a forum system as well as a diary system?......

Through fark:
FEMA Sends Trucks Full Of Ice For Katrina Victims To Maine

"The trucks started arriving this weekend, and they're expected to keep coming through Sunday.

City officials say they have no idea why the trucks are here, only that the city has been asked to help out with traffic problems. But the truck drivers NEWSCENTER spoke to said they went all the way down to the gulf coast with the ice -- stayed for a few days -- and then were told by FEMA they needed to drive to Maine to store it."
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This from drudgereport.com:

Amid the chaos and confusion that engulfed New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck, a local congressman used National Guard troops to check on his property and rescue his personal belongings -- even while New Orleans residents were trying to get rescued from rooftops, ABC News has learned.
On Friday, Sept. 2 -- five days after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast -- Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who represents New Orleans and is a senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, was allowed through the military blockades set up around the city to reach the Superdome, where thousands of evacuees had been taken.

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