An American Death

"I just want to get it done, come home, and continue my life."

For anyone who's worried about the return of a military draft, Pellegrini was living proof that we already have one in George W. Bush's America. He desperately did not want to serve in the Persian Gulf.

He was just two weeks away from finishing up his six-year stint in the Guard when he was told that his tour of duty was being extended and that he would serve in Iraq for at least a year, maybe longer. The news could not have come at a worse time for Pellegrini. He was training for his first pro fight, newly engaged to be married, and settling into his job as a Philadelphia police officer, just like his dad.

Instead, he was ordered by his government to fight a war that he did not believe in. He told us that the conflict in Iraq was "a so-called war" and that he saw U.S. troops as caught in an impossible situation.

In the end, Pellegrini's stay in Iraq lasted little more than eight months. This morning, his parents were notified that he had been killed in action.

If you have Children,

and want them to get a decent Education, Don't move to Kansas.

The Kansas Board of Education voted 6-4 Tuesday to include greater criticism of evolution in its school science standards, but it decided to send the standards to an outside academic for review before taking a final vote.

At least they will get at one additional review on this foolishness, maybe they can avoid their mistake of 1999, but I wouldn't bet that way.

Army Hits Recruiting Goal

For the second month in a row.

The initial AP report doesn't Indicate what the actual count was, but based on the numbers that were reported, it is clear that the count is still far below what is needed. I suspect that the biggest reason the Army hit it's target was the target was lowered.

After 10 months of recruiting the Army has brought in 55,000 new warm bodies, short of the target of 62,000 for the first 10 months of the cycle. The current numbers project into a final count for the year of about 66,000, 14,000 short of the stated annual goal of 80,000.

As for the Guard and reserve.

The Army National Guard, meanwhile, missed its recruiting goal again, recruiting only 4,712, about 80 percent of its July goal of 5,920 new Guard members, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The Guard has hit its target only once in the last 19 months.

The U.S. Army Reserve also fell short of its target, recruiting 2,131 new reservists, 82 percent of its goal of 2,585, Whitman said.

The Republicans are killing our armed forces.

Katherine Harris, out of the Gate, and Already Lying

Yellow Dog noticed that;

In a startling display of political athleticism, Republican Katherine Harris shattered the record for campaign "speed lying" by telling a lie about her opponent just minutes into her announcement for U.S. Senate.

Typical.

Stophernow may have Backfired

and has clearly stalled.

From MSNBC / Newsweek a short bit explaining how the effort to block a Clinton run for the White House has resulted in over 6 million for her, and less that a thousand for the effort to stop her.

Those behind Stophernow must have lost interest, since with only a little effort the would have raised hundreds of thousands.

The Stones are Speaking out

The Stones new album, A Bigger Bang has a song attacking Bush. The lyrics of Sweet Neo-Con include this;

You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite
You call yourself a patriot, well I think you're full of shit.

OK, folks on the right, let the attacks begin.

Iraqi Anthrax came from the UK and US

Of course, when we gave Saddam the Anthrax he was a peaceful, democracy loving, highly caring person.

A BRITISH cow that died in an Oxfordshire field in 1937 has emerged as the source of Saddam Hussain's 'weapons of mass destruction' programme that led to the Iraq war.

An ear from the cow was sent to an English laboratory, where scientists discovered anthrax spores that were later used in secret biological warfare tests by Winston Churchill.

The culture was sent to the United States, which exported samples to Iraq during Saddam's war against Iran in the 1980s. Inspectors have found that this batch of anthrax was the dictator's choice in his attempts to create biological weapons.

And, again I have to wonder, will this story even be noticed by the U.S. Media?



Updated


All Things Bright And Beautiful
All Creatures Great And Small
All Spores Vile and Botulus
Ron Reagan Sold Them All

or Drop by Organic Warfare for more on this unfortunate reality.

Bush is Proud of his Economic Efforts

and claims everything is just peachie.

But the truth is far more troubling, and sadly he appears to be clue-less.

Oil prices just hit a new high

We produced only 205,000 new jobs last month.

Bush's own Treasury Secretary admits that the poor and uneducated are being left behind by this administration.

As an example of how Bush's claims are overblown, and duplicitious; On today's Al Frankin Show it was noted that the President has started to crow about how 'more Americans are working now' than ever before. Of course, due to population growth about every president since Hoover could make this claim. In fact, when you break down the numbers, Bush can make this claim for only about 16% of the months of his term in office. For comparison, Clinton's numbers for his term, 91.7%.

Sad, isn't it

Forced into Faith?

or just a Faith Based success story?

Residents of a Westmont public housing complex for seniors said in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that they were coerced and harassed by management into practicing Christianity and pressured to attend Bible study classes.

_________


Elderly non-Christian residents of the 60-unit complex said they live in a "religiously hostile and intimidating environment," where they are barred from using common rooms for anything non-Christian, including card playing, according to the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs Shen Tong Bea Tu, 87, and Yue Ru Lee, 86, who are non-Christian, say they hid in their apartment bathrooms with the lights off every Wednesday so they wouldn't be forced to attend Bible classes.

Others Rushing to Stand with Cindy Sheehan

military families Speak Out has published this Press Release.

CRAWFORD, TX : More members of Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP) and Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) are traveling to Texas to join the protest outside of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he is vacationing for the month of August.

Starting today, Gold Star families from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Arkansas and other states whose loved ones have died as a result of the war in Iraq will be joining one of their members, Cindy Sheehan, at the protest. Ms. Sheehan, whose son Army Specialist Casey Sheehan was killed in Sadr City, Iraq on April 4, 2004, has been in Crawford since August 5th, demanding a meeting with the President. These families will be joined by military families with loved ones currently serving in Iraq or about to deploy or redeploy to Iraq. All of these families are coming to Crawford, Texas to share their stories about the personal costs of the war in Iraq and add their voices to the call for a meeting with President Bush.

On August 3, 2005 President Bush, speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in early August, said

"We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission" The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause." Gold Star and military families coming to Crawford know that the cause was not noble; that their loved ones died, or are currently in harm's way, serving in a war based on lies.

In the first 8 days of August, 36 service members died in Iraq; countless Iraq children, women and men are dying each day. All of the families traveling to Crawford will carry the message to the vacationing President: Honor our fallen and honor our loved ones service by ending the occupation, bringing the troops home now and taking care of them when they get here.

President Bush has consistently tried to hide, and to hide from, the cost of the war in Iraq. This August, these costs are being brought right to his doorstep.

Members of Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out who are traveling to Crawford will be available for interview beginning on Tuesday afternoon August 9th.

It will be interesting to see if the President has the courage to meet with the families who are most effected by the decisions he has made.

Despair is the Only Thing Growing in Baghdad

AMEICAblog has a bit out of the London Review of Books on life in Baghdad.

Gloom is deeper in Baghdad now than at any time since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Even Iraqi officials in the relative safety of the Green Zone, once invariably optimistic, are beginning to despair. It is not only the increase in the number of suicide bombs. There is a water shortage in some parts of the city. Electricity supply is down to five hours a day....

We have been in Control for 24 months, and this is all we have been able to achieve, 5 hours of Electricity.

Nobody knows how many soldiers and policemen actually turn up for work. Mahmoud Othman, a veteran Kurdish political leader, says that an army unit supposedly numbering 2200 men was sent to Kirkuk. The Kurds counted them: there were just 300 men in the unit. Nobody knew what had happened to the other 1900. "They say that there are 150,000 men in the army and police," Othman says, "but I believe the real figure is 40,000." The rest either appear only to draw their pay or never existed in the first place....

When 2,200 is only 300 we have real trouble. This again points out the lie that the Bush Administration keeps telling, that Iraq is getting close to defending itself.

What a freaking mess.

Cindy Sheehan, a Threat to National Security

Skippy is reporting that on Thursday Cindy, and her supporters, may be arrested as threats to national security.

One has to ask, why is she not a threat today, but will be on Thursday?

Well, it could be because Bush has a couple of high profile guests visiting Thursday, and some big money visitors Friday. We wouldn't want her to spoil these events, would we.

Another point that is pointed out. IF she is arrested under the provisions of the patriot Act, she may be held without access to a lawyer.

Is this a great nations, or what.

The Minutemen, Racism and Nazism

All come together in this report in Orcinus.

Funny how they all ended up melding into one group.

Bush Administration Aided Bin Ladens Escape

I know, old news, but now a CIA Commander is confirming this.

In his book titled "Jawbreaker" the decorated career CIA officer criticizes Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Department for not providing enough support to the CIA and the Pentagon's own Special Forces teams in the final hours of Tora Bora, says Berntsen's lawyer, Roy Krieger. (Berntsen would not divulge the book's specifics, saying he's awaiting CIA clearance.) That backs up other recent accounts, including that of military author Sean Naylor, who calls Tora Bora a "strategic disaster" because the Pentagon refused to deploy a cordon of conventional forces to cut off escaping Qaeda and Taliban members. Maj. Todd Vician, a Defense Department spokesman, says the problem at Tora Bora "was not necessarily just the number of troops."

This was a hot button issue in the Fall, when the Kerry Camp pointed out that Bush Administration Policies had allowed Bin Laden to escape. Of course, since this was during the election, it was denounced by the right as being a treasonous lie.

It would appear that the real act of treason would have been allowing Bin Laden to run free, but different points of view are not uncommon.

Remember Bush didn't care about Bin Laden, we can all recall this bold statement by George:

I don't know where he is. Nor, you know, I just don't spend that much time on him really, to be honest with you. I....I truly am not that concerned about him.

So unconcerned, that Bush seldom mentions him, unless directly asked. It was Saddam he was focused on. Why worry about those who are attacking you, when you can focus on someone who has no ability to attack you. The Bush administration had their own plan, focus on Saddam, ignore Bin Laden.

Yet, this is the man who ordered the attack on our country. This is the man who has inspired thousands to join his war on the west, and this is the man George chooses to ignore.

Inspiring, isn't he.

Of course lets not forget the overall reaction to Kerry's claims last fall.

The right attacked and vilified Kerry for telling the truth, and defended and supported Bush for his helping this mass murderer escape.

Also inspiring, isn't it.

Great News, the insurgency is weakening

From CNN Sunday.

A letter apparently written by a rebel leader to terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi decries the insurgency's leadership in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a hotspot in the war.

Security forces seized the letter last week in a raid on a safe house that netted arrests and other items. Task Force Freedom, based in Mosul, issued a copy of the letter and a statement about it Saturday.

The letter, from an insurgent named Abu Zayd, who calls himself "emir of Farming reform battalion on the west side," cited the incompetence of Mosul's emirs and the disobedience of other people in the network.

But, this is creating a sense of deja vu, No More Mister Nice Blog tells us why.

From CNN Last May

The U.S. military said Tuesday it has seized a letter from Iraqi insurgents believed to be intended for Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi complaining about low morale among followers and weakening support for the insurgency.

and the New York Times last Spring.

The memo says extremists are failing to enlist support inside the country, and have been unable to scare the Americans into leaving. It even laments Iraq's lack of mountains in which to take refuge

All of these reports came from the US Army, the bastion of integrity who got caught passing of the same 'witness' quotes in two car bombing stories.

This could be true (God, I hope it's true), but based on recent history it may just be time to sent the public affairs officers to another creative writing class.

Welcome the Palmetto Bloggers.

A collection of diverse voices from South Carolina.


A Lie A Day (my little home on the web)
Arguing with Signposts
Backcountry Conservative
Crack the Bell
The LaurinLine
MUSC Tiger
S.C. Tourist
Truth. Quantefied.

While our viewpoints on issues and our political philosophies differ widely (and sometimes wildly), South Carolina bloggers share ideas, sources and readers. That's why we've decided to form an advertising network of "Palmetto Bloggers" - so our readers, companies and candidates with something to say can reach our diverse audience quickly and easily.


Our network is expanding daily and so is our readership - don't miss your opportunity to get your idea, product, service or candidate in the eyeballs and on the minds of our audience.

At the Beach

and avoiding the news. Thus, I will not be offended, shocked or amazed, and should not post much this weekend.

Check out the links to the right, and take care

Tales of Abuse, the Result of Rendition.

The fact that the US is actively involved in rendition can no longer be ignored. The use of unmarked planes and a network of secret prisons has been well documented.

The Bush Administration worked to create justification to allow the use of torture on persons who we have swept up in our 'war on terror' and has worked hard to prevent these prisoners from getting basic legal protection, going as far as to fix the trials.

Now more tales are being told about what is happening to those who we have put into this system of black holes. Men talk of abuse that is bloody and cruel.

One of them took my penis in his hand and began to make cuts. He did it once, and they stood still for maybe a minute, watching my reaction. I was in agony. They must have done this 20 to 30 times, in maybe two hours. There was blood all over. "I told you I was going to teach you who's the man," [one] eventually said.

They cut all over my private parts. One of them said it would be better just to cut it off, as I would only breed terrorists. I asked for a doctor.

They talk of spending months in an underground prison. All tell stories that sound almost beyond belief. Stories that at one time could be easily dismissed as absurd because the US would not do something like that.

Sadly, thanks to the criminal actions of the Bush Administration, we have to consider that these stories may contain truth. That our nation, once a standard for behavior that all nations could look to, has sunk to depths that at one time were only explored by the worst of the worlds despots.

We will have to spend generations cleaning up the reputation of the US, the White House and our Government after the disgrace and shame that Bush has thrust upon his office, and our land. These days, at times, it is hard to be proud to be an American.

Military Death is the Theme of this Morning

The first three stories I ran across this morning echo with reports of death from Iraq.

First, there are reports that 3 more members of the Georgia Guard were killed in Iraq, this makes 11 in the last few weeks.

Then we learn that two men based at Ft. Hood, back from Iraq, have killed themselves.

A reminder of the Ohio marines killed in two attacks earlier this week.

And now a 4th and 5th

In Ramadi, yet another Marine has died.

and Afghanistan

and all of this death is for nothing. Iraq will be a failed state, a land of bloody civil war, and a training ground for terrorist, as soon as we leave.

It's Official, Bill O'Riley is the Dumbest Person in

America. This quote of his is just vile.

O'REILLY: I don't give them any protection. I don't feel sorry for them. In fact, I probably would have ordered their execution if I had the power.

Of course, the brain dead masses that listen to him may actually qualify as dumber than Bill, that is if his zombies can be considered capable of any independent thought at all.

Think Progress sums this up very well;

The United States is holding more than 500 foreign detainees at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These men have been deprived of basic legal and civil rights, and reports of abuse, torture and grotesque mistreatment are rampant. Many, if not most, of the detainees have been there nearly four years, yet in all that time, only four have been accused of any crime. And even then, military prosecutors recently charged the military trials against those four have been rigged.

The entire mess is playing into the hands of the terrorists, who now use Guantanamo Bay as a recruiting tool.

The video is up at Crooks and Liars

Teaching the Bible in Public School

is a task to tough to attempt.

The Bible could be taught in a religious studies class, but you have to stick to teaching it in a non dogmatic manner. I suspect that is not possible for the vast majority of programs. As example consider what will be taught in this Texas Program.

Chancey's review found that the course characterizes the Bible as inspired by God, that discussions of science are based on the biblical account of creation, that Jesus is referred to as fulfilling Old Testament prophecy, and that archaeological findings are erroneously used to support claims of the Bible's historical accuracy.

He said the course also suggests the Bible, instead of the Constitution, be considered the nation's founding document.

That doesn't appear to stick to a secular and academic approach, but it does sound a lot like missionary work.

Iraq Abuse, Using "Fear Up" to Justify Murder

a series of intense beatings and creative interrogation tactics were not enough to break his will. On the morning of Nov. 26, 2003, a U.S. Army interrogator and a military guard grabbed a green sleeping bag, stuffed Mowhoush inside, wrapped him in an electrical cord, laid him on the floor and began to go to work. Again.

It was inside the sleeping bag that the 56-year-old detainee took his last breath through broken ribs, lying on the floor beneath a U.S. soldier in Interrogation Room 6 in the western Iraqi desert. Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqi paramilitaries, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according to classified documents.

The sleeping bag was the idea of a soldier who remembered how his older brother used to force him into one, and how scared and vulnerable it made him feel. Senior officers in charge of the facility near the Syrian border believed that such "claustrophobic techniques" were approved ways to gain information from detainees, part of what military regulations refer to as a "fear up" tactic, according to military court documents.

The circumstances that led up to Mowhoush's death paint a vivid example of how the pressure to produce intelligence for anti-terrorism efforts and the war in Iraq led U.S. military interrogators to improvise and develop abusive measures, not just at Abu Ghraib but in detention centers elsewhere in Iraq,

But these events are just bad apples and none of this in any way indicates a systemic problem or an acceptance and use of torture by our armed forces.

Yea, right.

Ohio District 2 results are coming in

and the race is very close, Paul has done very well.

UPDATE

Paul ended up with 48% of the total vote, more than 20 points better than past Democrats in this district. In addition, there are the usual questions about vote fraud

Inside the Young Republican Convention

Daily Kos has a report from a man attended the convention as a delegate.

Father Jake has two Posts of Note

First he has an update on the situation in Connecticut. He then looks at the latest coming out of the Anglican Communion. It appears that Peter Akinola may now be pushing to have the Church of England suspended from the Anglican Consultative Council.

A look at the comments in both posts is time well spent.

Election Day in Ohio

Paul Hackett's run for congress reaches it's climax today.

In 12 hours we will know who will get this historically republican seat. No matter the final vote tally, this is a huge victory for Democrats. In a district where Democratic candidates don't get 30% of the vote, Paul has moved with striking range. In a district that Republicans thought they could win on auto pilot, they have been forced to spend hundreds of thousands of extra dollars.

Thank you Paul, and the people on his team. Excellent work, you are what this nation needs to turn us off this Bush path of destruction.

Non-American Conservatives look at Iraq

and see a picture that American Conservatives denounce as defeatist or 'just plain wrong'. What is interesting is their view seems to be the view that many on the left hold on Iraq, and the current state of affairs in the world.

Visit the Green Knight for the details

Incompetence, Lying and Corruption

are again proven to be the path to success in the Bush Administration.

The word is, John Bolton, who lied to congress, will get his recess appointment to the UN today.

I suspect it was evidence of his lie to congress that pushed him over to top. Proving you are willing to break the law in support of Bush Administration goals is a sure way to get ahead.

Is it Research if you are Just Trying to Prove a

pre-existing conclusion, no matter how much you twist the data?

Like astroturf political movements, these groups use false research and fake science to defend a political position.

President Bush had a ready answer when asked in January for his view of adoption by same-sex couples: ''Studies have shown that the ideal is where a child is raised in a married family with a man and a woman," the president said.

Bush's assertion raised eyebrows among specialists. The American Academy of Pediatrics, composed of leaders in the field, had found no meaningful difference between children raised by same-sex and heterosexual couples, based on a 2002 report written largely by a Boston pediatrician, Dr. Ellen C. Perrin.

But Bush's statement was celebrated at a tiny think tank called the Family Research Institute, where the founder, Dr. Paul Cameron, believes Bush was referring to studies he has published in academic journals that are critical of gays and lesbians as parents. Cameron has published numerous studies with titles such as ''Gay Foster Parents More Apt to Molest" -- a conclusion disputed by many other researchers.

Of course, this fits right into Bush's war on science. Where the results of research and facts are only valid when they fit his view of the world and who science fits within it.

What Book of the Bible am I?

I have never actually considered it.


You are Proverbs.


Which book of the Bible are you?
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